Top 3 trends in sports marketing over next 5 years

I’ve just arrived in Austin for the South by Southwest conference. I’m very excited to meet all the crazy Internet folks down here and see what everyone’s up to .

Meanwhile, I got a voice mail from a co-worker what wants to know the answer to the following question:

What are the top three strategic trends or changes coming to the sports industry over the next 5 years?

Thought starters:
– merging of sports and entertainment
– trends in corporate marketing
– sponsor activation
– effects of digital and Web content
– globalization of sports
– ambush marketing

I’ve been so focused on the Internet for the past year I’m not sure I have proper perspective to answer this question…except as it relates to digital. (is there anything else?)

Plus, it’s difficult to plan 90 days out, and even more difficult to predict what’s going to happen next week, so this is not an easy question to answer.

I’ll be formulating my thoughts over the next day or so and I’ll share them here…but I’d love to hear from you too. I can’t be expected to know the exact answer…so maybe the wisdom of crowds can do it!