Sb Weekly - The Sport Business Podcast

Jackie Fast, Founder and Managing Director of strategic sales agency Slingshot Sponsorship, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. Slingshot cuts across all entertainment industries and creates - in its own words - “a strategic commercial framework that helps the world’s leading brands take their investment beyond eyeballs and awareness”. Since its foundation in 2010 Slingshot has worked with high-profile clients including Red Bull, Nationwide and the Mayor of London and Jackie herself has won a number of accolades recognising her entrepreneurial and industry work. In this week's episode, hear Jackie discuss: Why she set up Slingshot in 2010, following the global recession What it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated sports industry How sports rights-holders need to be more open to creating partnerships - rather than dressing up sponsorships as partnerships The secret to being a good salesperson Why she struggled to find a vocation in life before working in sponsorship The opportunities prese

Murray Barnett, Head of Broadcast, Commercial and Marketing at World Rugby, the global governing body for rugby union, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. Murray’s background is in TV. He first cut his teeth in the sports industry at the NBA, where he was International TV Coordinator, before going on to spend over a decade at sports broadcast giant ESPN, eventually heading Sports Channels and Syndication across EMEA.Murray joined World Rugby in 2013, and in his current position is responsible for driving forward and delivering the organisation’s broadcast, marketing and digital media strategies. You can hear Murray discuss: The global growth strategy for rugby union Why World Rugby is an unashamed money-making organisation Managing the balance between cash and exposure in broadcast deals Why the pace of change in sports broadcasting isn't as fast as many make out The conscious decision not to take money from betting companies Why All Black dominance has a downside when looking to grow the spor

Charlie McEwen, Chief Operating Officer of one of world sport’s most celebrated international teams, the British & Irish Lions, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. Charlie has a long and distinguished career in rugby, previously working on both the brand and rights-holder side in senior positions at agencies Octagon and Essentially. He joined the Lions in 2010 as Director of Sales and Marketing and was promoted to COO a year ago, a position in which he is currently planning for the Lions tour to New Zealand in 2017. You can hear Charlie talk about... ...the Lions brand"It stands for the best of best. That means from the playing side to administration we either do it well, or we don't do it at all."...signing Lions partners"The challenge isn't generating interest, it's making sure we hit the right level from a financial perspective." ...new kit supplier Canterbury"The success we've seen to date is exceptional because they really understand the opportunity. They're really going to bask in the

Barry Hearn, founder of Matchroom Sport, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. As a sports promoter Barry’s been a prominent figure on the UK sporting scene for a number of decades, first with snooker in the 1970s, then with boxing in the 1980s followed by darts in the 1990s. He was also chairman of Leyton Orient football club from 1995 to 2014. Though his son Eddie now manages Matchroom’s interests in boxing, Barry’s still very much involved in snooker - as the owner of World Snooker, the world governing body’s commercial arm - and darts, as chairman of the PDC, the Professional Darts Corporation. You can hear Barry talk about such things as... ...the secrets of his success"I'm tough to beat on work ethic. I like to win and I know most of my opposition won't make the same amount of effort." ...his public perception"Behind the barrow boy is a chartered accountant - I'm a freak with figures and live for balance sheets." ...running Matchroom"At the moment my word still counts for something. But I'm

Joel Seymour-Hyde, Senior Vice-President at Octagon, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. Octagon is the global sports, entertainment, lifestyle marketing and talent agency of the Interpublic Group, and works with hundreds of blue-chip corporate clients, more than 800 athletes and personalities and manages more than 13,000 events per year. Joel works predominantly with sponsor brands and lead’s Octagon’s strategy and insight division for Europe, the Middle East and India. He has nearly 15 years experience in sports marketing, having previously worked at WPP-owned media agency MediaCom. In this week's episode, hear Joel discuss: What makes a good sports sponsorship How despite the hype around digital and social media, why old media is still vital to a successful brand activation The challenge for rights-holders to carve out inventory for media-hungry sponsors without encroaching on broadcaster territory Octagon's planning and creative set-up - and why he thinks it gives Octagon the edge ove

Tom Gorringe, Head of Marketing at Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. Following stints at Portsmouth and Cardiff City, Tom has been at Brighton for over two years now, a position in which he heads the Championship club's sales strategy across ticketing, commercial, retail and non-matchday events.However, a rising star in the sports industry, he's still only 27, and over the last 12 months has been part of Sport Industry NextGen, in partnership with Barclays, the initiative created to identify and nurture the leading sports executives of the future. In this week's episode, hear Tom discuss: The secrets of success to building a career in football from an early age Benefits of taking part in the inaugural Sport Industry NextGen The major marketing strategies Brighton has rolled out recently - and why How investing in the matchday experience is at the very core of Brighton and its relationship with fans Some exciting plans to introduce virtual reality to th

Richard Berry, Head of Commercial at the Williams Martini Formula One Racing team, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly. Richard is one the most experienced commercial brains in F1, having had - in addition to Williams - stints in the commercial departments at Honda, Brawn and Mercedes. He’s also turned his hand in the business of football, as Head of Partnership Sales at Manchester City and Chief Commercial Officer of Rangers. He joined Williams in April 2015 after a short period at the Premier League assisting with the search for new commercial partnerships. In this week's episode, hear Richard discuss: Why brands sponsor F1 teams, and how the sport is successfully opening up more to B2C sponsors Work Williams is doing to better understand its following, and how it's going about building its fanbase both online and offline How Abu Dhabi connections saw him move to Manchester City as Head of Partnership Sales, where he helped build the commercial plan for global football domination The new idea

Adrian Bevington, a familiar name to anyone working in the UK football business, is the featured interview on this week's SB Weekly. Adrian was Director of Communications at the English Football Association and Managing Director of Club England, the position that oversees the operations of every England football team. In the latter, he oversaw the management and operational support services of all England teams, and helped develop the female game, bringing an England women's match to the new Wembley for the first time in November 2014.Adrian left the FA two years ago and now runs his own wide-ranging sports consultancy, spending this summer at the Euros working as a consultant to the Football Association of Wales. In this week's episode, hear Adrian discuss: His work with the Football Association of Wales, a fascinating month in France, and why he was impressed with Chris Coleman's leadership style Why Sam Allardyce is, in his opinion, a good fit for the England job and will bring a refreshing new mindset t

Jim Chaplin, Managing Director of SRi, the international recruitment firm that specialises in sports, media and entertainment, is the featured interview on this week's edition of SB Weekly. SRi was founded in 2001 and has been behind a number of high-profile hires in sport, including recent senior roles at Manchester United, Liverpool, beIN Sports, IMG and the ECB. Listen to this week's episode to hear Jim discuss what is encouraging sports organisations to be more sophisticated in their hiring of talent; SRi's move towards helping clients recruit performance staff, as well as industry executives; the fascinating - and sometimes incredibly backward - ways football club owners hire managers; the merging of the sports, media and entertainment industries when it comes to recruiting talent; big shifts away from sport, particularly in the UK, being "pale, male and stale"; and why understanding the digital landscape, and how to engage with customers, are two skills in huge demand by hiring sports organisations.

Drew Barrand, Marketing Director of the English Football League (EFL), is a featured interview on this week's SB Weekly. The EFL is the world’s oldest and original league football competition and currently comprises the 72 teams playing in the English Championship, League One and League Two. Drew became Marketing Director in 2014 following stints at Pitch PR and Benchmark Sport, and originally started his career as a journalist specialising in sports marketing. In the podcast Drew discusses why the Football League needed to be re-branded to the EFL, and what the re-branding exercise showed about your average rights-holder's inability to effectively market itself; how the rebrand can help boost revenues for the 72 clubs, and where huge opportunities lie outside the UK; what impact the EFL's new digital partners Realise and NeuLion will have; getting long-term buy-in in a traditionally short-term, sales-focused football industry; the challenges of getting cut-through in the saturated sports and entertainment ma

Graham Fry, Worldwide Managing Director for Production at sports agency giant IMG, is the featured interview on this week's edition of SB Weekly. IMG is the UK’s largest independent TV producer, and is perhaps best known in sporting circles for running the English Premier League Channel, which delivers an all-year-round, 24-hour-a-day content service to every Premier League rights-holder across the world. Graham has a long and illustrious career in the broadcast industry, having joined BBC Sport in the early 80s before moving on to IMG in 1991 as an executive producer for live golf. He has been at IMG ever since. Listen to this week's episode to hear Graham discuss the growth in size and depth of the Premier League's broadcast coverage, and why IMG plays an important role in the league's strong brand and marketability; why sports production companies' margins are being squeezed - and what IMG is doing to combat that; why virtual reality is a technological development broadcasters and rights-holders need to g

Jim Dowling, Managing Director of HSE Cake, is the featured interview on this week's edition of SB Weekly. HSE Cake is a brand engagement and entertainment agency based in London that works with a number of high-profile sports sponsors including Barclays, EE and Coca-Cola. It was created last year when Havas Sports & Entertainment and Cake - sister agencies within the Havas group - joined forces to work as one combined unit. Listen to this week's episode to hear Jim discuss bringing best practice from music and entertainment into sport; how analytics are helping sponsors make better investment decision; why labeling people as 'creative' can be dangerous; his most memorable brand campaigns, including Pokémon and EE; keeping on top of the rapidly-changing social and digital media landscape; and the continuing shift of sponsors and advertisers into content-creators.

Antony Marcou is CEO of Sports Revolution, the sports media and rights agency that works with teams and leagues to boost revenues across their commercial portfolio. It also works with sponsors to maximise the impact of their partnerships in sport Antony has worked in the area of media strategy for about two decades, and has been CEO of Sports Revolution since 2010. Download the podcast to hear Antony discuss why major European football teams could shun shirt sponsors this season; bringing tried and tested marketing methods from outside sport, into sport; how senior commercial roles are merging at major rights-holders; and what the sports industry Ubers and Airbnbs could be in the future.

Richard Gillis, founder of Unofficial Partner, is a sports industry commentator who, as a journalist, has taken a sideways look at the business of sport for around 20 years. Richard’s writing portfolio includes the likes of the Wall Street Journal, The Observer and the Financial Times, and he is a former editor of SportBusiness International magazine. He is also about to release his first book, The Captain Myth: The Ryder Cup and Sport’s Great Leadership Delusion. Download the podcast to hear Richard talk about the leadership myth - and what it tells us about how fans view sport; what sports brands and rights-holders can do to tell better stories; turning his blog, Unofficial Partner, into a brand consultancy; and why sports marketing needs to be more nuanced.  

E-sports - the hottest topic of the last 12 months - represent huge growth potential for operators in various areas of the sports industry, but need to be approached in a different way. That was the message from David Lampitt, Managing Director for Group Operations at Sportradar, on the SB Weekly podcast this week. In addition to Sportradar's activities in the e-sports space, in this week's episode Lampitt discusses growth opportunities for Sportradar and reflects on his career in football - which has included stints at the English Football Association and as Chief Executive of Portsmouth FC.

Jamie Aitchison is commercial and development director at creative agency Aurora Media Worldwide and the former sports editor of Channel 4, where he played a key role in the UK commercial broadcaster’s BAFTA-winning coverage of the 2012 London Paralympic Games. In this episode, Jamie Download the podcast to hear Jamie discuss why risk-taking is so important when trying to make breakthrough TV, the new technology having the biggest impact on sports broadcasting, why he left Channel 4 in 2014 and which major sports industry trends he's following at the moment.

Matt Rogan is co-founder of sports marketing agency Two Circles and now an executive director of ESP Properties, the sports rights-holder-facing subsidiary of WPP. Two Circles has undergone huge growth since being founded in 2011 – winning agency of year at the 2014 Sport Industry Awards – and this time last year it was acquired by WPP and folded into ESP Properties. In part two of this week's double episode, Matt outlines the ambitions for ESP Properties, how he built his career in sport - including a period working for MTV - why he thinks the sports industry needs to encourage greater diversity and which major sports industry trends he's following at the moment.

Matt Rogan is co-founder of sports marketing agency Two Circles and now an executive director of ESP Properties, the sports rights-holder-facing subsidiary of WPP. Two Circles has undergone huge growth since being founded in 2011 – winning agency of year at the 2014 Sport Industry Awards – and this time last year it was acquired by WPP and folded into ESP Properties. In part one of this week's double episode, Matt explains why he created Two Circles - to create a “new kind of sports marketing agency” - how he breeds a culture of innovation and thinking outside the box in his company, how much rights-holders in the sports industry are using data to drive commercial decision-making and why he sold a majority stake in Two Circles to WPP this time last year.

Aidan Cooney is the CEO of InCrowd Sports - a company looking to transform the in-stadia experience for fans, clubs and sponsors - and a man perhaps best known for building Opta into the world's leading sports data provider. In this episode, Aidan explains the need for sports teams to invest in digital platforms that help them engage with their fans when attending live event, and what commercial opportunities can be opened through that. He also reflects on approaches to building start-up companies, why he sold Opta in 2013 and the reasons sports performance data finally became mainstream in the UK.

Sophie Goldschmidt is the new Group Managing Director at CSM Sport & Entertainment, the agency made up of a number of leading sports businesses including Essentially, Fast Track and JMI. She joined CSM at the start of the year, moving from the English RFU where she was Chief Commercial Officer for just under five years. In this episode, Sophie outlines the growth strategy for CSM, the business strengths of new boss Seb Coe, CSM Chairman, what industry trends she is keeping a close eye on and reflects on the highs and lows of a career working in senior positions at, in addition to CSM and the RFU, the NBA, WTA and adidas.