Previous sporting breakaways

Late Australian media mogul Kerry Packer changed the face of world cricket in 1977 when he secretly recruited top players for a series of day-night matches for his Channel Nine TV network. Cricket authorities were horrified and players were banned, but public support forced them to accommodate the new cricket order.

One-day cricket remains essentially the game forged by Packer with the shorter Twenty20 game building on that success.

Billie Jean King was one of nine professional women's players who launched a campaign for equal prize money after the sport's Open era began in 1968. The "Original 9" fought with the tennis establishment and broke away to join promoter Gladys Heldman in forming the Virginia Slims circuit, signing US$1 (S$1.33) contracts in 1970 despite the threat of being banned from Grand Slams. Their actions paved the way for the formation of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973.

The International Swimming League (ISL), a team-based professional series with a budget of US$20 million, was founded in 2017 by Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin.

In response, governing body Fina urged all national federations not to cooperate with the new competition and threatened to ban swimmers who took part.

Top swimmers, including Adam Peaty, were already unhappy with Fina's handling of the sport and threatened to form an independent swimmers' union in 2018, forcing Fina to back down. The ISL began in 2019.

REUTERS