UP416 Other People's Money: Minority Stakes, Gary Neville and American v Arab Investor Cliches

Other People's Money is our regular series on sports investment, with regular co-host Matt Rogan, co-founder of Two Circles. 
Our guests today are Jonathan Lenson and Sam Johnson, CEO and head of sport respectively at Milltown Partners, the communications and public policy consultancy co-founded by Paddy Harverson, the former PR to Manchester United and King Charles, among others.

The conversation is prompted by some focus group work carried out by Milltown in to the reputational challenges that surround football's relationship with private investors, particulary from the US. It was Gary Neville of Sky Sports fame who called investors from North America 'a clear and present danger to the pyramid and fabric of the game'.

Was he right? How many football fans share that view? How does the reputation of American money compare to other sources of investment from for example, Arab countries, such as Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, or even Hollywood stars like Ryan Reynolds?

This gets us to other, deeper questions as to the cliches and tropes that attach themselves to sport's relationship with private investment of all types.

This episode of Unofficial Partner is sponsored by We Are Sweet, helping you tell compelling stories in-the-moment, as they happen, from the heart of the action. We Are Sweet captures live biometric data from athletes to uncover great stories, from the big occasions to subtle micro-moments you might not even know are taking place. These are crafted into captivating stories and transformed into stunning visuals ready for your broadcast, live event displays, and second-screen fan experiences, all in real-time. From head-to-head heart rates to anticipated overtakes, We Are Sweet provides AI-driven insights to fuel conversations, inform bookmakers and predict future outcomes, all in the name of deepening fan engagement. Enhance your audience’s understanding of the action like never before by using live data from We Are Sweet.

Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry.
To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartner

We publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday.

These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport.

Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here.

Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app.

If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.