This time last year, I penned a preview to what promised to be a most extraordinary year of sport, culminating in these now immortal words: “strap in for another year of exploration, expansion and excitement, as sport continues to push the boundaries, taking us to places we have never been before”
Well, we were certainly taken to new places, though not quite the ones we had hoped for. As Covid-19 gripped the planet, sport came to a standstill with several events cancelled or postponed.
Perversely, the flurry of postponements that characterised the first half of 2020 has left us – on paper, at least – with an even more tantalising year of sport ahead. So, without wishing to tempt fate once again, and with a huge disclaimer that these events are subject to change, here are 21 sports highlights to look forward to in 2021.
With both River Plate and Boca Juniors succumbing to semi-final defeats last week, there will be no repeat of 2018’s infamous Superclasico in this year’s Copa Libertadores Final. Instead, we have an all-Brazilian climax to enjoy, as state rivals Santos and Palmeiras do battle at the iconic Maracana on the 30th January. Expect fireworks.
In February, Athletes Unlimited – the organisation reimagining professional women’s sport in North America – will launch its inaugural Volleyball season. Fresh off the back of its successful first Softball season in Autumn 2020, AU will bring together the world’s top Volleyball players for an action-packed five-week tournament in Texas.
Sport meets sustainability in March, as the new electric racing series, Extreme E, launches its five-race global voyage across four continents. The brainchild of Formula E’s Alejandro Agag, Extreme E will see all-electric SUV’s race in some of the planet’s most remote regions, with the aim of raising awareness of the climate challenges faced by each ecosystem. From the Arctic to the Amazon, motorsport sets about redefining its relationship with our environment.
Old tournament. New name. April 2020 should have seen the World Finals of the 58th Fed Cup take place in Budapest. Instead, the largest annual team competition in women’s sport was bumped back to April 2021. This time, in homage to one of the game’s great, it will take place under a different nomenclature: The Billie Jean King Cup.
Both Euro 2020 and the Copa America were also moved back a year and, intriguingly, both were set to be held in multiple countries. The battle to control the spread of Covid-19 may put paid to that, although both governing bodies remain confident they will go ahead as planned. One way or another, the two pan-continental tournaments will give us a festival of football to enjoy come the summer.
Wimbledon and The British Open are two more returning favourites in 2021, which is music to the ears of tennis and golf fans across the globe. Curiously, both majors were the only ones not to take place in their respective sport in 2020. But both the AELTC and the R&A have confirmed that each event will go ahead in whichever form necessary this year, providing us with a welcome return to grass-court and links action.
Few teams capture the imagination quite like the British & Irish Lions. Historic and emotive in equal measure, a Lions tour remains one of the most cherished events in world sport. This year, if the pandemic relents, they will head to South Africa in July to take on reigning world champions, The Springboks, in an eerie repeat of the 2009 tour. There is no shortage of plotlines, as Gatland, Farrell and Co seek revenge for their World Cup heartache.
The Tokyo 2020 Organising committee faces a similarly agonising decision over how, or if, they deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. If it does go ahead, we will likely see a pared back version, with less of the pomp and circumstance we are accustomed to. Yet, Tokyo 2020 remains committed to delivering the most sustainable and technologically advanced Olympics to date. Combine that with the rise in athlete activism that has defined the past 12 months, and we have all the ingredients for a Games that delivers a legacy felt far beyond the track.
In September, there is a double dose of competitive team golf to look forward to. First up, Europe’s leading ladies will attempt to win just their second Solheim Cup on American soil, as they do battle with Team USA at the fan-friendly Inverness Club in Ohio. Just a few weeks later, the rescheduled Ryder Cup gets going in neighbouring Michigan. Both teams have altered the qualification process, with American skipper Steve Stricker now granted six wildcard picks. So, expect a few surprises on the shores of Lake Michigan as Team USA aims to win back the Samuel Ryder Trophy.
Towards the end of the year, the oval ball takes centre stage again, with two World Cups on the agenda. In Union, Rugby World Cup 2021 – the first in World Rugby’s gender-neutral naming era – will see the Black Ferns try and retain their crown on home soil. This tournament, predicted to shatter broadcast audience records, will also see the introduction of quarter-finals for the first time in its history.
Hot on its heels, the Rugby League World Cup 2021 kicks off in late October. Held across England, this will be the first time that the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournament take place together; a flagship moment for the sport. If plucky underdogs are your thing, look no further than debutants Greece and Jamaica in the Men’s event, or Brazil in the Women’s.
Cricket is another sport set for a whopping year, making it difficult to pick just one highlight. In the Test arena, England play India twice, there’s a World Test Championship Final at Lord’s and the small matter of The Ashes in December. Elsewhere, a T20 World Cup in India and the belated launch of The Hundred. The most significant moment, though, may well be the England Men’s and Women’s tours to Pakistan in October. The former have not played in Pakistan for 16 years, whilst the latter will make their first ever visit in a sign of progress for cricket in the country.
The London Marathon returns in October, with amateur runners welcomed back into the fold after Covid-19 made it an elite-only event last year. If all goes to plan, expect a bumper field to take to the start line, providing mass participation events in the UK with a welcome shot in the arm.
Having hosted both the Dakar Rally and Formula E’s season-opening Diriyah ePrix in early 2021, the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in November will cap off a momentous year of motorsport for the country. One of just two new venues on the calendar this year, this night race through the streets of Jeddah will provide a spectacular affirmation of F1’s continuing expansion into the Middle East.
There are also a smattering of events rumoured to be on the horizon in 2021, but as of yet without a date in the calendar. The biggest of those, and a strong candidate for event of the year were it to go ahead, is the proposed double-header between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Top of the wish list for any boxing enthusiast, this would be this generation’s equivalent to The Fight of the Century, as Britain’s heavyweight world champions slug it out for a lifetime of bragging rights.
One other events worth keeping an eye on is Ocean Race Europe – a new sailing competition that aims to put The Ocean Race’s sustainability agenda in front of a European audience, set to launch towards the end of the year.
The real highlight of 2021, though? The safe reintroduction of supporters into stadiums. For events such as the Ryder Cup, a Lions Tour or the Olympics, the travelling fans are at the centre of the spectacle. If 2020 taught us anything, it was that sport is an irrepressible industry. In the face of a global pandemic, it found a prudent way to re-emerge. This year, let’s hope it can identify a similarly safe way to bring back its lifeblood: match-going fans.
Harry Eckersley is Senior Account Executive at ESA Member CSM Sport & Entertainment. He was awarded Top Student in the ESA Diploma Class of 2019.