PANORAMA: Worries over Milan Cortina sponsorship sales; 3×3 ice hockey for 2030? Speraw leaves UCLA to be USA Volleyball chief exec

Five-time NCAA champion coach John Speraw is the new USA Volleyball chief executive (Photo: USA Volleyball)

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● Concerns over the progress of the Milan Cortina 2026 budget were voiced in the Italian Chamber of Deputies last week, with Deputy Minister of Justice Francesco Paolo Sisto questioned about the progress of the domestic sponsorship program.

Expected to bring €457.0 million, the partnership agreement signed as of the end of June showed €214.4 million (€1 = $1.11 U.S.).

What about the rest?

Sisto noted that the June report is already out of date, with five more sponsors signed: TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), Enel Group (energy), Airweave (mattresses), TicketOne (ticketing) and Juniper Networks (Internet network provider).

However, it was also noted that the total Milan Cortina 2026 budget is now “quantified at approximately 1,628 million euros” – that’s €1.628 billion or $1.813 billion U.S. – up from the bid projection of €1.362 billion and the 2018 revision to €1.553 billion.

● Ice Hockey ● Ready for 3×3? The International Ice Hockey Federation, at its semi-annual Congress, is preparing to offer its version of the schoolyard basketball format for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games in the French Alps:

“Proposals to introduce 3×3 hockey as an Olympic event in 2030 are coming close to D-day. Since the 2017/18 season, the IIHF has been developing a 3×3 tournament format, trialling different set-ups at the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne 2020 and Gangneung 2024.”

● “The International Olympic Committee is seeking proposals for new disciplines for the 2030 Winter Games in France and the IIHF is preparing its submission ahead of the Jan. 2025 deadline. A decision would be expected in March.”

● Said IIHF President Luc Tardif (FRA): “The boost that 3×3 basketball, rugby sevens or beach volleyball had on the original discipline was something that they never expected. It had a huge impact on recruitment and financial opportunity.

“There is an open door for hockey. This is our time.”

Adding the 3×3 hockey tournaments would mean 16 more teams (8 for men, 8 for women), bringing 240 more athletes to compete in the Olympic Winter Games. The IIHF view is “that 3×3 hockey can be a big way of engaging new audiences and increasing participation worldwide. It would also double the number of medals on offer in what is the biggest sport at the Winter Olympics in terms of participation numbers and competition time.”

● Tennis ● Italy’s top-ranked men’s tennis star Jannik Sinner is playing at the China Open in Beijing and expressed some sorrow at the appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency of the finding of “no fault” in his case from March:

“We can’t control everything. Of course I’m very disappointed and also surprised about this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings were very positive for me. I didn’t expect that.

“I knew for a couple of days that they were going to appeal and that today it would become official. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right place.”

● Triathlon ● The re-scheduled World Triathlon Championship Series races in Weihai (CHN) over the weekend produced a signal win for Paris Olympic champ Alex Yee of Great Britain.

Ninth out of the water, Yee was in the top five on the bike and in the lead group of 11 at the second transition. He then crushed the field in the 10 km run in 29:40, 15 seconds faster than New Zealand star Hayden Wilde, the Paris runner-up.

Yee finished in 1:48:21, routing the field with Paris bronze medalist Leo Bergere (FRA) second in 1:49:07 and first-time medalist Miguel Hidalgo (BRA: 1:49:18) third. Wilde faded to seventh (1:50:01); John Reed was the top American, in 15th at 1:51:10. It’s Yee’s seventh career Championship Series gold and he now leads the seasonal standings with one event left.

The women’s race went to Germany’s Lisa Tertsch, a 17-second winner over Britain’s Beth Potter and 58 seconds over Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR). Tertsch had a five-second lead out of the swim, maintained the lead and then had the fastest 10 km run by 14 seconds over Potter.

Tertsch, a member of the German gold-medal relay in Paris, won her first Championship Series gold, in 2:04:42. Potter, the 2023 World Champion and 2024 Olympic bronze winner, was second in 2:04:59 and Taylor-Brown, the 2020 World Champion and Tokyo 2020 runner-up, finished third in 2:05:40.

Rio 2016 Olympic champ Gwen Jorgensen was the top U.S. finisher in 2:06:08 in sixth.

● Volleyball ● A major shake-up in collegiate and USA Volleyball as UCLA head coach John Speraw, also the coach of the U.S. men’s national team since 2013 was named as the new President and Chief Executive of USA Volleyball, beginning on 1 October.

Said USA Volleyball Board Chair David Gentile:

“The search group composed of key USA Volleyball Board members concluded that John’s overall sport acumen, demeanor, energy, leadership skills and vision for the future of the sport were clearly aligned with the Board’s expectations for the next generation of USA Volleyball.”

Speraw, 52, was the U.S. men’s head coach for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, with the team winning the bronze, and another bronze at Paris 2024.

At the same time, Speraw was also a highly successful collegiate coach, leading UC Irvine to NCAA titles in 2007-09-12 and returned to UCLA – where he starred as a middle blocker on two national championship teams in 1993 and 1995 – and his teams won NCAA titles in 2023 and 2024.

Jamie Davis, who served as the USA Volleyball chief executive since 2017, announced he was leaving the position in July, and will begin as the CEO of USA Water Polo, also on 1 October.

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