This is episode 8 of ReThinking Sport, our series made in collaboration with Portas, the global strategy consultancy dedicated to sport and physical activity. Our guests today are Kieran Maguire and Nic Coward. Kieran is a British academic, author and broadcaster best known for The Price of Football, the hugely popular podcast he hosts alongside comedian Kevin Day, which is based on Kieran’s book of the same name. Nic Coward’s career has seen him working at the very top level of British sport, in roles including General Secretary of the Premier League, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, joint chief executive of The FA and the first chair of the global Sports Rights Owners Coalition. He is currently chair of UK Athletics and Golf England and is an expert partner at Portas. The conversation takes several of the threads that emerged from previous episodes in this series, from conversations with Rick Parry, chair of the EFL, Mark Bullingham, CEO of The FA, Paul Conway, head of Pacific Media Group and Kelly Simmons, head of the FA’s Women Super League. Each of these episodes can be found on UnofficialPartner.com or via PortasConsulting.com, or any of the major podcast providers, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via your favourite podcast app. You’ll also need to get the weekly Unofficial Partner newsletter, which goes to the email inbox of thousands of sports business executives out every Thursday, subscribe via unofficialpartner.com

Unofficial Partner Podcast

E202: Re-Thinking Sport #8

For people under 30, FIFA is a computer game not a governing body. That’s become almost a cliche of sports marketing, and like all cliches, there might be some truth in it. Which is why the noises recently coming from EA Sports, the company which makes the game, are so interesting. There’s talk of a split between the governing body which licenses its name for around $150million a year and the company that is said to have turned that license in to $20billion over the past two decades. Our guest today is David Jackson, the Everton supporting former Barclays marketer who is in charge of the FIFA brand for EA Sports. We obviously talk about the current licensing story and much more besides, including the marketing potential of women players as cover stars of the FIFA game.  Listen to to the rest of the Unofficial Partner achieve by subscribing via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via your favourite podcast app. You’ll also need to get the weekly Unofficial Partner newsletter, which goes to the email inbox of thousands of sports business executives out every Thursday, subscribe via unofficialpartner.com

E201: EA Sports, FIFA and women

This is the episode 2 of our series Esports Economics in collaboration with Nielsen Sport, the world’s leading source of sports measurement and analytics.The conversation is focused on sponsorship and the key question of return on investment and builds on some of the threads we covered in episode 1.Our guests are Carlos Alimurung and Nicholas Bruce. Carlos is CEO of ONE Esports, the esports joint venture between ONE Championship and Dentsu. Nick Bruce, Vice President of Consulting and Research for Asia at Nielsen, based in Tokyo. So we challenge many of the preconceptions about esports among the brand marketing community, the arguments for sponsorship versus programmatic advertising and the big differences between rights packages developed in esports compared to those in traditional stick and ball sports marketing.  To keep in touch with the rest of the Esport Economics series, make sure you subscribe to Unofficial Partner via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via your favourite podcast app. You’ll also need to get the weekly Unofficial Partner newsletter, which is distributed to the email inbox of thousands of sports business executives out every Thursday, subscribe via unofficialpartner.com

E200: Esports Economics #2

We were at Leaders London this week and did a live session in front of a carefully selected audience of sports biz execs. The premise was simple enough, how can two amoral chancers like me and Sean build a new billion dollar sports property by cobbling together all the best bits from elsewhere and selling it to private equity, venture capital, media, sponsors or anyone else with deep pockets and a ‘Passion for Sport’?  To make it work we sought advice from no fewer than 11 very expensive experts from the Unofficial Partner WhatsApp Group, who came along to Twickenham with us. So you’ll hear the following people over the course of the next hour: Matt Rogan, Richard Ayers, Michael Broughton, Sophie Hind, Jane Purdon, Nic Coward, Patrick Massey, Gary Linke, Giles Morgan, Murray Barnett and Alex Inglot. If you want to see how the Billion Dollar Brainstorm came about, you’ll need to catch up with the Unofficial Partner newsletter, which comes out every Thursday, subscribe via unofficialpartner.com

E199: Leaders Live: The UP Billion Dollar Brainstorm

The Hundred was one of the sports business stories of the summer in the UK. A new short form cricket event concept that was created and owned by the ECB, the governing body for the game in England and Wales. Our guests today were central to the planning and execution of the tournament. Beth Barrett Wild is Head of The Hundred Women&apos;s Competition & Female Engagement for the ECB and Rob Calder is Commercial Director of The Hundred, having formally carried out that role for the ECB as a whole.We talk about what went right and what they’ll change, the expectations around the pay, the marketing of the women’s game, building team brands and the commercial arguments for new formats. If you like the podcast, you’ll really like the Unofficial Partner newsletter, which comes out every Thursday, subscribe via unofficialpartner.com

E198: Inside The Hundred

Today’s guest is American golf blogger, journalist, podcaster and broadcaster Geoff Shackelford, who’s just back from Whistling Straits after covering the Ryder Cup. Geoff’s one of the best and most astute observers of the game, his website and newsletter are essential reading not just for the golf industry but for the wider sports business too. We talk about golf’s perennial pursuit of youthful audiences, the implications of the betting era and the threat of disruption to the tours from the Premier Golf League and other iterations, backed by private equity and Saudi money. If you like the podcast, you’ll really like the Unofficial Partner newsletter, which comes out every Thursday, subscribe via unofficialpartner.com

E197: Geoff Shackelford

Today’s guest is American soccer journalist, podcaster and broadcaster Grant Wahl, who’s first book The Beckham Experiment was a bestselling insight in to sport, celebrity and the market for the game in America. He followed that up with an attempt to get elected as FIFA President against Sepp Blatter. This failed, but in very entertaining and revealing ways. We talk MLS valuations, Ted Lasso and whether there’s a difference between Sepp Blatter and Gianni Infantino.This podcast is sponsored by Leaders Week London, which is back in real life at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October. To get 15% off, use the code UnofficialPartner15 via the Leaders website.The full agenda is now live on the site with details of speakers and sessions, including the Unofficial Partner Billion Dollar Business Brainstorm on the Podcast Stage at 12 noon on the first day. There’s a limit of fifty people allowed in the room, so you’ll need to get there early. There are more details on the plan in this week’s Unofficial Partner newsletter, which as everyone knows, comes out every Thursday via unofficialpartner.com

E196: Grant Wahl

Andy Holt is the hugely successful entrepreneur who in 2015 stepped into save his local football club Accrington Stanley FC from financial ruin. The club was one of the English Football League’s original founding members in 1888 and remains one of its smallest. But the club has been transformed under Holt’s ownership, winning promotion to EFL League One in 2018. “Let&apos;s be clear," he said when he bought the Accrington Stanley. "Whatever individual, company or other entity owns the club is largely irrelevant, because this isn&apos;t a business venture. Has anyone ever made a profit out of Accrington Stanley? In 50 years I will be dust blowing in the wind - hopefully our input will mean the club is not!”That’s a sentence that’s sure to resonate with any fans of Derby County, Bury or Macclesfield Town, EFL clubs which have recently gone bankrupt and which are sure to be joined by others as they struggle against an array of problems, from bad owners, the Covid shutdown and the economics of lower league football. Andy Holt listened to our recent conversation with EFL chairman Rick Parry and responded in depth via Twitter. As you’ll hear, Holt’s view of the role and economics of football is starkly at odds with those in the boardrooms of clubs higher up football’s pyramid and is a vital part of the bigger conversation about the future of the game from top to bottom. This podcast is sponsored by Leaders Week London, which is back in real life at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October. With less than two weeks there’s a few remaining passes but they’re selling fast. In the last week alone some big names have signed up, such as Toyota, Red Bull, San Antonio Spurs, UEFA, adidas, Sky, NFL, AEG, DAZN, Liverpool FC, Emirates, Real Madrid and many more. Each of them have heard about the live Unofficial Partner podcast being recorded at 12 noon on the Wednesday, which is obviously worth the ticket alone. But to get 15% off, use the code UnofficialPartner15 via the Leaders website.As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, get it every Thursday via unofficialpartner.com

E195: Andy Holt

Today is part of our Talking To Women About The Sports Business series, with my regular co-host Laura Weston. Our guest is the English golfer Meghan MacLaren.MacLaren is one of the most interesting people in golf at the moment and as you’ll hear we’ve been wanting to get her on the pod for some time, but because she’s currently playing mainly in the US at the moment, her schedule is very full. Beyond her ability as a player, MacLaren has built a reputation for being an insightful analyst of the game and the cultural and business that surrounds it. I really recommend her Twitter account and her personal blog that we reference in the conversation, which took place the evening before the Sport Industry Awards, which explains some of the chat at the start. This podcast is sponsored by Leaders in Sport, which is back in real life at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October. There’s always a lot going on at Leaders, but I’ve got my eye on a peer to peer session between the BBC’s Director-General Tim Davie and Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton, which feels like something that doesn’t happen very often. To get 15% off the full ticket price, go via the Leaders Week London website and use the code UnofficialPartner15As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com

E194: Meg MacLaren

This is episode 7 of our series Re Thinking Sport in collaboration with Portas, the global strategy consultancy dedicated to sport and physical activity. The subject is multi club ownership in European football, and our guest is Paul Conway, head of Pacific Media Group, one of the pioneers of the genre. Pacific Media recently completed the takeover of Dutch club FC Den Bosch, which becomes the seventh club in the group, which also includes English club Barnsley, AS Nancy in France, KV Oostende from Belgium, Denmarks’s Esbjerg. So we ask, how does it work in practice, what’s the strategic advantage to each club and what’s the impact of on areas such as player transfers, performance data and the role of managers. Paul Conway gives us an hour of his time for what feels like a genuine inside look at how professional football works today, if you work in sport, it’s one you need to hear. The other voice you’ll hear is that of my co-host in this episode, Patrick Massey, partner at Portas Consulting who really helped to ask the right questions.  As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com 

E193: Re:Thinking Sport - Multi Club Ownership

This is another episode in our regular series on the sports media, broadcast and streaming market. My regular co-host Yannick Ramcke are joined by Charlie Boss, Chief Commercial Officer at The Jockey Club and former Disney ESPN executive. This podcast is sponsored by Leaders in Sport, which is back live at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October. The guest list is looking good, a lot of big name sports organisations are there adidas, Bayern Munich, NBA, Chevrolet, NFL, City Football Group, Spotify, UEFA, WWE, loads more.To get 15% off the full ticket price, go via the Leaders Week London website and use the code UnofficialPartner15We’re doing a live podcast, so make sure come and say hello when you get there. As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com 

E192: The Bundle #13

This summer football transfer window has been about massive names moving between so-called super clubs. Messi to PSG, Ronaldo to Man Utd. Mbappe apparently not moving to Real Madrid. A theme of the business conversation is the commercial value of the individual player to the club. This complex issue is often dumbed down to a narrower conversation about shirt sales. But, as you’ll hear over the next fifty minutes or so, its much more interesting than that.To help us unpick the story, we have Daniel Kirschner, co-founder of Greenfly, the social media platform, Professor Simon Chadwick of Emylon Business School and Tim Crow, the sports sponsorship expert and former CEO of Synergy Sponsorship.  This podcast is sponsored by Leaders in Sport, which is back live at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October. There’s a long list of star speakers on the Leaders Week website including Sally Bolton CEO of Wimbledon and the All England Tennis Club, Kelly Simmons MBE, The FA’s Director of the Women’s Game, and there’s a live recording of the ever popular Game Changers podcast with our mate Sue Anstiss and Ugo Monye, the former England rugby star who’s about to enter the new season of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC. Listeners can get a 15% discount by clicking here  and quote the code UnofficialPartner15. Come and say hello when you get there. As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com 

E191: Ronaldo, Messi and the business of big transfers

Today’s guest is Ed Warner OBE, who was Chair of UK Athletics from 2007 to 2017, and has been Chair of World Para Athletics for the International Paralympic Committee since 2011. He led the successful bid to stage the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London’s Olympic Stadium, and was subsequently Chair of the London 2017 organising committee. And as you’ll hear he brings a view from what he calls his day job as a city financier and chair of a private equity group.This podcast is sponsored by Leaders in Sport, and we’ll be at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October to do a live Unofficial Partner podcast. Listeners can get a 15% discount by clicking here  and quote the code UnofficialPartner15. Come and say hello when you get there. As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com 

E190: Ed Warner

This is the first in a new series looking at the business of esports, in collaboration with Nielsen Sports, the world’s leading source of sports measurement and analytics.Today’s guests are Matthew Archambault, head of partnerships for North America at Riot Games, publishers of the phenomenally successful League of Legends franchise. Matt manages strategic partnerships, national sponsorships, media rights, and merchandising for the League Championship Series (LCS). Joining Matthew is Matt Boyd, Vice President of Nielsen Esports and Games. Based in North America, Matt leads client relationships with teams, publishers/leagues, and brands, providing the data analysis to help them maximize the value of commercial partnerships. So this is a conversation unpicking how the business of esports works through the lens of the industry&apos;s multiple stakeholders, from the game publishers to the media platforms and commercial partners through to the teams, leagues, players and fans. To keep in touch with the rest of the series, make sure you subscribe to Unofficial Partner via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via your favourite podcast app. If you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com 

E189: Esport Economics #1

Today’s guest is Mike Keegan, sports news correspondent of the Daily Mail, who inherited that paper’s Sports Agenda column from the legendary Charlie Sale, a two time guest on the podcast. So we talk about some of the regular themes that crop up as part of the sports news agenda, what he describes as the ‘cult-like’ obsession with youth audiences at BBC Sport, what it was like attending the Euro 2020 final and then we talk about Mike’s new book, called This Is How It Feels: An English Football Miracle, which celebrates the glory days of Oldham Athletic in the early 1990s. This podcast is sponsored by our friends at the Professional Triathlete Organisation, who have a big new event coming up at the end of August. The Collins Cup has a $1.5million prize purse and is a reformatting of the sport along the lines of golf’s Ryder Cup. If you’d like to find out more, link here.If you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of senior executives across the global sports business every Thursday. To join them, sign up via unofficialpartner.com 

hubhopper

Unofficial Partner Podcast

hubhopper