Leaders Podcast

Welcome to Convergence - a mini-series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast about the launch of new verticals within an existing sports business. It's a show about strategy, growth, and fitting new products to meet audience demand. In this series we'll be looking at sports media, betting, gamification, collectibles, merchandising and more - and it's being co-hosted by me, James Emmett from Leaders, and Sam Sadi, the CEO of LiveScore, the football scores app-come-betting company that has supercharged its own growth off the back of a converged offering.  

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan hit the studio again for a wander through the sports industry stories of the week.On the eve of the Uefa Champions League draw, they’re joined by Uefa Marketing Director Guy-Laurent Epstein to help explain the revamped competition format and the reasons behind the changes.Epstein also discusses partner reaction to the new-look tournament; 30 years of Champions League brand finessing; the rise of the Women’s Champions League; North America’s growing interest in football and what that means for organisations like Uefa; what he’s looking for in an agency partner, as a new sales cycle looms; and the approach to innovation in a football market that prizes tradition.

Marina Storti has spent over 20 years in the sports industry delivering strategies to accelerate commercial growth, engage diverse fans and impact positive change.And she’s been bringing all of that experience and expertise to her new role as CEO of WTA Ventures – the commercial arm of the WTA – having previously earned her sporting stripes at Sky and NOW TV.One year into the role, she joined David Cushnan and James Emmett to reflect on an incredibly exciting time for women’s professional tennis; the partnerships that she’s overseen during her tenure so far - most notably with Saudi Arabia - and how she’s planning to guide WTA Ventures in an innovative new era of the WTA.This episode is part of the Leaders in Focus series, produced in partnership with IMG.

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan gather their thoughts and reflect on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.They discuss the broadcast coverage and tone, for the BBC, Discovery and NBC in particular; sponsor creep in the wake of LVMH and Samsung’s activity in Paris; the visual spectacle and the power of the still image; the challenges ahead for organisers of LA28; and Thomas Bach firing the gun on an IOC Presidential election next year.

Claire Nelson is in the midst of overseeing the relaunch of Netball Super League. As Managing Director, she’s plotting a 10-year path to professionalisation for the newly-restructured eight-team league and intent on growing the sport around the UK.On this edition of Leaders in Focus, she shares those plans; her approach to breaking the bad news to the existing teams that won’t be getting a place in the new league format; why working with Premier League club Nottingham Forest – which acquired one of the franchises - could open up a world of opportunity; and the commercial models that underpin the Super League’s growth strategy.She also discusses life as a CEO; the progress being made in EDI across sport; and how to make room for brands looking to be creative – and even edgy - when activating in and around women’s sport.

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are reunited for a chinwag about the global business of sport.They reflect on the summer of sport and hospitality so far - from Wimbledon to the British Grand Prix - and consider the latest state of play at the NBA, as its new media deal nears completion, and the health of tennis and golf.Then, on the eve of the Olympic Games, they ponder the major storylines and pointers of Paris 2024, including the baffling logistical and security operation for the opening ceremony along the River Seine; the role and integration of LVMH into various aspects of the Games experience; the political clouds hanging over the event; and the ambitious hospitality programme being delivered for the IOC by On Location.

Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan rattles through the big stories of the sports industry week - media rights updates from the NBA and Ligue 1, and the IOC-Saudi deal for the Olympic Esports Games - before two more conversations recorded at last month’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. He was joined by two athletes transitioning into executive roles, operating in growing, challenger sports in the US.Brazil’s Helio Castroneves is a four-time Indy 500 winner, who is gradually winding down his racing career and moved into team ownership in Indycar.Paul Rabil, one of the great lacrosse players, co-founded PLL in 2019 and has put it on a growth path, helped by a major ESPN media deal and a switch this year to a city-based model for its eight competing teams.- - -For the fifth year in a row, Leaders in Sport is partnering with The Women’s Sport Collective and Women in Football to offer funded places at October’s Leaders Week London for women and nonbinary people working in sport. For more inf

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan is back with the stories of the sports industry week, while Editorial Director James Emmett chips in with two more conversations from last month’s Cannes International Festival of Creativity.England and Arsenal footballer Alessia Russo was first to drop in to the Sport Beach, hosted by Stagwell, for a chat about working with brands, and learning from the creative and marketing worlds.Then climber Alex Honnold, perhaps best known for his Free Solo film, stopped by to discuss how to tell the best sports stories and balancing performance with commercial work. - - -For the fifth year in a row, Leaders in Sport is partnering with The Women’s Sport Collective and Women in Football to offer funded places at October’s Leaders Week London for women and nonbinary people working in sport. For more information and to apply visit leadersinsport.com

Recorded at The All England Lawn Tennis Club on the eve of the 2024 Championships, Sally Bolton discusses life as Wimbledon's CEO.In a wide-ranging conversation on Leaders in Focus, in partnership with IMG, she reflects on the varying leadership styles required to manage a two-week Grand Slam, a thriving year-round club and relations with a host of partners and global tennis stakeholders.She also assesses the overall health of sport in the UK, 12 years on from London 2012 and after her experiences running the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and the 2017 World Athletics Championships.Bolton pinpoints Wimbledon's role in discussions over the future direction of professional tennis, as the four Grand Slams are working more collaboratively; shares how she motivates and challenges her team; outlines the pursuit of perfection and the art of making that look effortless; and shares some of the leadership traits - resilience, transparency - that are essential in one of world sport's most prestigious jobs.

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan brings you the stories of the sports industry week, while Editorial Director James Emmett brings you a couple of heavyweight brand CMO conversations from last week's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. At the Sport Beach, hosted by Stagwell, he sat down with Don McGuire, CMO of Qualcomm, a B2B company that, through its Snapdragon brand, is about to become much more visible, as Manchester United's new front-of-shirt sponsor. Then he catches up with Mark Kirkham, CMO of International Beverages at PepsiCo, who reflects on how the best storytelling in sports marketing happens - and where it's happening in 2024.

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are out and about, sharing their sports industry week. James is in Cannes, taking in the beaches, making note of the activations and soaking up the vibes at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity - and asking what sport is doing there, who it wants to meet, why so many athletes have turned up and where sport actually fits in the minds of the big brands and agencies who have decamped this week to the South of France. Meanwhile, David’s had a slightly shorter trip, to Chiswick Park in West London, where he reflects on hosting part of IMG Networking Week, IMG’s latest internal engagement initiative - and picks up a few tips including how to remember names and the art of the elegant conversation exit.

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan take an amble through the sports industry week, joined by Seven League and Rematch Founder Richard Ayers.They discuss how politics and sport are mixing during the UK General Election campaign, and as French President Emmanuel Macron calls a snap election just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics.It’s a free-flower of a conversation, taking in evolving agency models; what Richard plans to digitally transform next; table tennis and badminton’s incessant rise; how government sports policy is formed, and the impact a future UK sports industry trade body could have; creating live, theatrical ‘immersive’ experiences inside and outside sports venues, and the evaporating barriers between the physical and digital worlds.

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan is joined by Javan Odegah, for the latest on the Leaders Meet: Diversity Series.  They reflect on the recent Diversity breakfast hosted at 4se New York, touch on reports Anthony Joshua may be about to buy a stake in his hometown football club, Watford FC, and consider how Arsenal's newly-adopted anthem, North London Forever, has taken hold. Then you'll hear a portion of an on-stage conversation from 4se New York, our sports-entertainment-business event, featuring Curry Brand GM Ryan Drew. Drew, talking to Business of Fashion's Dan-Yaw Miller, shares how involved Curry has been in honing the values of the company and his qualities as a pitchman, as well as how the brand is likely to evolve as Curry's playing career winds down. The final deadline for Leaders Sports Award entries is Monday 11th June - to find our more and to enter any of the nine refreshed categories, visit leadersinsport.com/LSA.

Andy Anson is preparing Team GB for a golden summer in Paris. The British Olympic Association CEO is the guest on this month's Leaders in Focus, where he looks ahead to the Olympics; considers the major challenges the Olympic world faces; and discusses whether athletes should be paid directly for winning medals at the Games.He reflects on a long and varied career in sports and media: developing his love of brand at Disney; takeovers and working under the Glazers at Manchester United; and working out what went wrong with England’s bid for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, a campaign he fronted. Anson also reveals the leadership traits he’s learnt – and the leaders he’s learnt from – along the way, as well as how he dovetails his BOA commitments with his role as Chair of Lancashire County Cricket Club and the advice he has for the next generation of sports CEOs.

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan take stock of a big week of sports, entertainment and business at 4se New York.As the green room is dismantled around them in Chelsea, they reflect on some of the big themes of the event: storytelling in all its forms, the rise Cowboy culture, and the budding relationship between sports organisations and the music industry.US Ski & Snowboard CEO Sophie Goldschmidt also stops by to discuss one of the big stories elsewhere this week - the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s new deal with the Women’s Tennis Association - and share her thoughts on the impressive group of Gen Z athletes, snowboarders Red Gerrard and Hailey Langland and NASCAR driver Rajah Caruth, she shared the stage with at 4se.

Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan lean into the sports industry stories of the week.They're joined by Anna Edwards, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at executive search and advisory firm Elite Performance Partners (EPP), to discuss Manchester United' Co-Owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's new work-from-office edict and, as the WNBA continues to expand, how to structure a start-up sports organisation's front office.They also discuss the latest Leaders Special Report, Succession in Sport, produced in partnership with EPP and the challenges of smooth executive change, managing internal leadership candidates and the skillsets a modern sports CEO should possess.

Barbara Slater is one of the most respected figures in the sports broadcasting industry.A former international gymnast and Olympian, Barbara joined the BBC 40 years ago and is on the cusp of retiring from her current Director of Sport role. During her tenure, she's changed attitudes and enhanced perceptions of women's sport, overseen remarkable growth in BBC Sport’s digital services, and cemented the BBC as the most popular broadcaster in the UK - all whilst managing the challenges that come with working for a publicly-funded broadcaster.Slater was in the hot seat for May's edition of Leaders in Focus and had a wide-ranging conversation with Leaders duo James Emmett and David Cushnan on her life at the BBC and what she leaves behind for her successor. This episode of Leaders in Focus was produced in partnership with IMG.

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan shake down the global sports industry for the stories of the week.That includes Amazon’s potential broadcast deal with the NBA, Saudi giant Aramco’s new partnership with Fifa, difficult days for sports journalism, George Payne’s turf management, DAZN’s German football dispute, the rise of Cowboy culture, and reflections on the death of Ayrton Senna 30 years ago this week.And there’s time for a new feature, Inside The Deal, explaining how Hewlett-Packard’s new title sponsorship deal with Ferrari came about: the brand alignment, the value exchange, who was at the negotiating table, the Omnicom fingerprints on the agreement including the role of the Fuse and PHD agencies and why it’s a handy way to get a slice of Lewis Hamilton’s time.The agenda’s out for 4se New York, our sports, media, brands and popular culture show, examining the spaces where sport, lifestyle, culture and entertainment are intersecting.There’s still time to join us i

Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan run the rule over the stories moving the global sports industry needle this week. They're joined in the studio by Aquatics GB CEO Drew Barrand. Together they discuss the fallout from the Chinese doping story; and the CEO response to scandal: the motivating factors behind any move or statement and the stakeholder sensitivities that have to be accounted for. Fifa's big ambitions for the new look Mondial de Clubes and the carve-out that's tempting Apple to the rights negotiating table are also covered. Meanwhile, Cushnan had a front row seat for the premiere of the third part of Thomas Bach's Olympic Agenda trilogy: the IOC's AI Agenda, and he liked what he saw. Plus, why the NGB equation of performance + governance = not a lot of room for much else has to change; and what Aquatics GB are doing with the data behind the 550,000 streams of the recent British Championships. The agenda’s out for 4se New York, our sports, media, brands and pop

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan pick out and poke around the stories of the sports industry week, joined by DAZN VP, Right Strategy, Tom Waterhouse.They discuss World Athletics’ announcement it will pay athletes who win Olympic gold this year - and the wider debate over whether and how athletes should be paid that’s opened up - and the BBC and its sports strategy, as Alex Kay-Jelski prepares to step into Barbara Slater’s shoes as Director of Sport.Plus, DAZN’s rights acquisition process; how data and intuition can work together; DAZN’s joint venture with the Professional Fighters League and the competitive MMA space it’s now part of; and whether it’s really possible to serve hardcore fans of a sport and attract casual viewers at the same time.The agenda’s out for 4se New York, our sports, media, brands and popular culture show, examining the spaces where sport, lifestyle, culture and entertainment are intersecting. There’s still time to join us in New York on Tuesda