At home with Leaders: Sam Li & Ian Dixon

The financial imperatives for finishing league seasons | The slow return to activity in China | How to plan for a comeback.

Episode 81 of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast is brought to you in partnership with Onside Law, specialist lawyers providing solutions to the sports industry from offices in London, Geneva, and Sydney. Onside Law are conscious of the pressures many in our industry are facing and, as a gesture of help, they are offering a number of free sports law clinics for those grappling with issues arising from Covid-19. Request a free session here.

Joining David Cushnan, James Emmett, and Onside Law's Jamie Singer for this episode are football finance expert Ian Dixon (conversation begins at 22:26) and senior sports media executive Sam Li (conversation begins at 35:05).

Dixon is the former Managing Director and Analytical Head of EMEA and APAC Infrastructure & Project Finance Group at Fitch Ratings. He was worked on financing projects across top tier sport, and notably structured the stadium bond financing for Arsenal in the mid-2000s while at Ambac Assurance.

Li is Head of International Business Strategy at Sina Sports, and has been instrumental in the evolution of the Weibo-affiliated entity into one of China's most active and engaged sports events and media platforms.

On the conversational agenda:

- How and when paused sports leagues could come back;

- The legal and financial challenges associated with discontinuing;

- The slow return to activity in China's sports and events economy;

- How to plan for a comeback without knowing when that will be.