At home with Leaders: Paul Smith

Building and selling a hundred million dollar company | The emotional impact of years of striving towards an exit | The responsibility and solace of sports ownership | Cost cuts and rescue packages across sport.

Episode 77 of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast - brought to you in partnership with Onside Law - sees David Cushnan and James Emmett chat to Sydney Kings owner Paul Smith (conversation starts at 8:29). Paul founded and grew Repucom into one of the most trusted sports media measurement and consultancy businesses before selling it to Nielsen in a deal reportedly worth $195 million in 2016.

After returning to his homeland of Australia, he took a majority ownership stake in National Basketball League (NBL) side the Sydney Kings through his Total Sport & Entertainment (TSA) agency before taking full control in March 2019.

On the conversational agenda:

- Thrills and spills at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi in 2015;

- The journey of building Repucom into a saleable asset and the ultimate deal with Nielsen;

- The emotional cliff post-sale, and the path through it;

- Leading differently;

- What team ownership can mean for an owner;

- The Sydney Kings and the Sydney Flames and why basketball is under exploited in Australia;

- The dynamics of taking action in a vacuum of leadership;

- The end of the traditional rights model and the beginning of sport taking control of its own destiny.

Let us know what you'd like to talk about and who you'd like to hear from on At home with Leaders. @JamesEmmett and @DavidCushnan on Twitter.

Thanks again to Onside Law for their support for this podcast.

Stay safe, keep in touch.