Business of Sport

Hello and welcome to our brand new show, The Breakdown. I’m Charlie Stebbings, and joining me on this ride is legendary sports executive Charlie Methven. With his boundless energy and unfiltered opinions, and my carefully constructed guiding influence, we’ll bring you the rundown on the week’s biggest sporting business stories. For the first show, we’re extending the timeframe slightly to cover what has happened over the holiday period, including the departures of Amorim and Maresca, Brooks Koepka’s abandonment of the once promising LIV Golf project, and of course, the conclusion of the most disappointing Ashes Tour in memory… well for me at least.This is Business of Sport: The Breakdown----------------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:45 The Managerial Merry-Go-Round30:26 Saudi Investment In Elite Sport43:37 Saudi’s Attention On Golf44:44 The European Tour01:03:09 Predictions On Test Match Cricket01:05:27 Harry Brooks01:09:09 The Physical Responsibility In Cricket

What does it cost for the biggest brands to sponsor the biggest sports? Why do they do it? How do they choose what to put their name to?The money behind sport is a primary feature of the show, but it’s normally from the perspective of the sports property. How big a sponsorship can Liverpool attract and what does it do to the bottom line. So to kick off the new year, we thought we’d change that. Antoine Le Nel is the Chief Marketing Officer of Revolut, the global challenger bank now investing millions into multiple sports properties, most notably as Audi’s new title sponsor for their debut F1 season. The reasoning behind this move, a look at how brands recognise value, how they justify spend; this was all part of a fascinating insight into the inflows of sport business. And it’s not just F1: women’s football, rugby, NFL, they’re all part of the growing portfolio Revolut are leveraging to develop the business in multiple markets. Antoine’s key explanation here is telling us why sport is such a powerful way for them and other top brands to do this.On today’s show we discuss: Why Revolut Went Big in Sport:How the Audi Revolut F1 partnership came together and why F1 is a “go big or go home” sponsorship environment.How Revolut’s growth strategy shifted five years ago from pure performance marketing to building a global brand.Why sport became a critical upper-funnel lever to build credibility, open new segments, and compete with traditional banks.The NBA partnership as the proof point that sport could deliver real ROI, not just awareness.Global vs Local Sponsorship Strategy:Why Revolut splits its sports portfolio into two layers: global IPs to differentiate at scale, and local teams to drive cultural relevance.How operating in 39 markets gives Revolut a structural advantage when sponsoring truly global sports like Formula One.Why most competitors simply cannot afford global sponsorships and how Revolut “divides the cost by 20” internally.The Future of Sports Sponsorship:Why teams must evaluate partners beyond cash, focusing on long-term IP growth and innovation.How tech brands like Revolut and Spotify are reshaping how clubs think about sponsorship.Why modern sponsorship is about partnership, product and shared growth, not logos and cheques.A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: Gemini SportsWe empower the most confident sports organisations on Earth https://geminisports.ai/

Over the past year, we’ve gone inside football’s boardrooms, dressing rooms and balance sheets. This episode brings the most revealing moments together in one place.Welcome to The Business of Sport: Football Review.Across this compilation, we bring together the best moments from our recent football conversations to explore how money really shapes the game. From transfer fees and player contracts to ownership structures and decision-making power, this episode looks at the forces operating behind the pitch.Featuring club executives and leaders from across the football pyramid, we dig into why wages inflate faster than revenues, how promotion and relegation transform balance sheets overnight, and why running a football club is as much about survival as success.----------------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:34 Peter Kenyon - Fmr CEO of Man Utd & Chelsea08:09 Liam Dooley - Shrewsbury Town CEO14:22 Rick Parry - EFL Chair24:25 Pablo Longoria - Marseille President30:09 Ryan Sparks - Bradford City CEO35:18 Ryan Bertrand - Fmr Premier League Player39:30 Spencer Owen - Hashtag Utd Owner

Today, we’re doing something a little different. Welcome to the Business of Sport: F1 Review.Over the past year, we’ve sat down with some of the most influential figures in Formula One. Team principals, world champions, and senior leaders shaping the sport behind the scenes. For this episode, we’ve handpicked the best moments from those conversations and brought them together into one definitive F1 compilation to enjoy over the festive period.Across the episode, we dive into what actually separates winning teams from the rest of the grid. From culture and leadership, to marginal gains, long-term strategy, and the human pressures that define life at the very top of motorsport.You’ll hear from voices including Nico Rosberg, Guenther Steiner, Claire Williams, James Vowles, and Zak Brown.----------------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:42 James Vowles15:07 Guenther Steiner23:08 Zak Brown27:03 Claire Williams34:27 Nico Rosberg

Today, we’re going headfirst back into the world of the tier one football executive. Peter Moore is the former CEO of Liverpool, the man who oversaw the clubs return to the top of English and European football. Working alongside Jurgen Klopp from 2017-2020, this was one of the most effective ‘performance x business’ relationships in modern football. How do you win on the pitch and build value off it?Peter does not wrap his achievements in the on-field success experienced during his tenure; as you’ve just heard, it is the rediscovered affection and identity that fans found with the club that demonstrates a job well done. That’s quite an extraordinary stance for a CEO to have. Commercial maximisation and fan sentiment are hard to balance, and while there is always conflict over ticket prices or pre-season tours, we get something here which seems to recognise the importance of the club/fan relationship and asset value maximisation.An interesting time to be having this chat considering Liverpool’s recent struggles on the pitch and the Mo Salah situation, there is also plenty to go into around his role with Wrexham and the rise to prominence of football in the US. We’re delighted to welcome Peter to the Business of Sport.Timestamps:00:00 Intro06:10 Getting the Call to be Liverpool CEO09:15 "I Probably Wasn't A Good Fit For The Role"11:47 Not Involved in Football Transfers18:17 Google x Liverpool20:04 Liverpool is Immune to Winning & Losing22:23 Magic of Jurgen Klopp34:19 Funny Story: Did Liverpool Tap Up VVD?37:19 The Power of Star Players39:45 Mo Should’nt Have Said That46:53 Socialist Roots in a Capitalist Football Club52:44 Did Peter Get On With The Owners?54:13 Wrexham: Peter's InvolvementOn today’s show we discuss: How a Modern Football Club Really Works:How a Scouse kid who grew up in a pub ended up running a $7B gaming company and then Liverpool FC.Breaking down the structure: Jurgen Klopp in football, Michael Edwards on the balance-sheet, Billy Hogan on commercial, and Peter on operations.Running matchdays, hosting rival owners, managing 800 staff, and being the global face of a club with hundreds of millions of fans.Why his leadership philosophy ultimately distilled into four C’s: Community, Civic, Commercial and CultureBuilding the Liverpool Business Machine: How Liverpool rebuilt its commercial spine: CRM, global fan acquisition, digital content, funnel strategy, and personalisation.How global content like Inside Anfield reshaped the club’s relationship with 99% of fans who will never visit the stadium.Why the F&B and stadium expansion debate is about operational flow, not squeezing fans and how multi-generational matchday culture shapes decision-making.Jurgen Klopp, Culture & the Power of a Manager:The first moment he met Klopp and why he instantly thought: “This man is a modern Shankly.”Why the culture around Klopp, not individual players, is what the fans ultimately defend… including during moments like the current Mo Salah dispute.The unique Scouse belief that “the badge is bigger than any player”, and how that gives Liverpool a cultural advantage.Celebrity Ownership, Wrexham & the Power of Content:The story of how Rob McElhenney showed up at his house to recruit him for Wrexham.Why he advised them early on and helped legitimise the project, including getting Wrexham into FIFA.Breaking down what Reynolds and McElhenney get right and why content is the real multiplier modern clubs underestimate.A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: StrydeBringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

Bryan Habana, a legendary Springbok rugby player and World Cup champion, shares his journey from elite athlete to business advocate. He discusses the crucial discipline and resilience needed to excel both on the field and in the business world. Bryan opens up about personal challenges, including the painful betrayal by his father, and how he rebuilt his life through faith and community. He also emphasizes the need for rugby to modernize, enhance player storytelling, and engage youth through simpler gameplay. A unique glimpse into the life behind the sport's glory!

Hello and welcome to Business of Sport: The Breakdown, a brand new show where we will be reviewing the week’s biggest stories from sport business. Hosted by Charlie Stebbings & Charlie Methven, the former CEO of Sunderland and Charlton among multiple other roles in sport with organisations such as McLaren and The Jockey Club,The Breakdown will analyse the biggest commercial, financial, and strategic stories shaping global sports.To prepare for the full launch in January, this week we are releasing the pilot, aimed at getting this show ready to deliver for you! We want your feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas to make this the place you can get your weekly fill of the business of sport. So why are we doing this? Well as we continue to rattle on about on the interview show, the business of sport has never been of more importance or more relevance to fans, to executives, to investors, to athletes. And the current news needs a bit of digesting. We will be talking through various stories from the week, looking at takeovers, investments, governance decisions, athlete deals…you name it, we’ll talk about it.First up: - Does England’s collapse in Perth create a financial problem for cricket? - Should Ronaldo be banned for the World Cup? - Is Toto Wolff’s part sale of Mercedes a worry for F1? - What are the ramifications of Anthony Joshua’s fight with Jake Paul?This is Business of Sport: The Breakdown----------------------------------------------------In Today's Show We Discuss:00:00 Intro04:05 The Cost Of England’s Ashes Collapse 17:04 AJ + Jake Paul: Business Before Belts29:27 When Ronaldo’s Marketing Beats The Rulebook / The Ronaldo Effect 35:02 Wolff’s 15% Shake-Up: Win Or Warning

Sir Andrew Strauss is the last England Captain to win the Ashes in Australia. So what better time to get him in the hotseat. Aside from the timing being perfect, this is a show I have wanted to do from day one. That is not just because he is one of England’s greatest captains and batsmen, but he has also played an integral role in shaping the success of English cricket across formats in recent years. He transformed white ball cricket as Director of Professional Cricket at the ECB, culminating in that most incredible World Cup win in 2019. In doing so, you could say he laid the foundations for the style of test cricket the team is now playing today. We recorded this before the disaster (if you’re an England fan) that occurred in Perth, but that makes some of the frighteningly accurate observations made in this conversation more impressive. It is of course a reveal of how to win in Australia, but it is much more than that. From dealing with maverick talent to how to sort out domestic cricket, we’re delighted to welcome Andrew Strauss to the Business of Sport.Timestamps:00:00 Intro03:40 Ashes Predictions07:29 Parallels Between the 2010/11 Win and Today’s Team14:46 The Most Nervous Game17:29 Is Modern Sports Stardom Any Different Today?24:13 Breaking Down Central Contracts & Player Income27:08 Players Get More Exposure Than Ever31:12 Balancing Individual Brilliance with Team Structure34:18 How Bat Sponsorship Deals Actually Work41:33 Resetting English Cricket45:56 How Franchise Cricket Is Reshaping Test Player Pathways49:32 Is County Cricket Financially Sustainable?53:18 Why Distribution Isn’t Enough58:20 If You Had to Choose One Sports Asset to Buy01:00:41 How Athletes Transition Into Business Roles01:03:28 How Captains Balance Leadership and Individual Output01:08:00 The Ruth Strauss Foundation01:10:16 Quick-Fire RoundOn today’s show we discuss: Ashes Predictions and How To Win Down Under:The brutal realities of touring Australia. Bounce, conditions, the Kookaburra ball, and the psychological toll of playing in a “goldfish bowl.”Why England have won just one Test in Australia in 14 attempts, and why preparation is everything.The inside story of the 2010/11 Ashes triumph and what that team got right.The psychological battle of opening the batting, staying calm when the ball is flying past your ears, and facing the greatest to ever do it. Including Strauss’s unforgettable encounters with Shane Warne.Running Elite Cricket & Winning a World Cup:What Strauss changed after England’s 2015 World Cup disaster and how it led directly to the 2019 World Cup win.Why he pushed for white-ball specialists, a fearless scoring philosophy, and a total cultural reset.Inside the tensions between formats, franchise cricket, and player availability and the challenges of managing England cricket like a true performance organisation.The Hundred, County Cricket & the Future of the Game:The truth about county cricket’s finances. £40k average salaries, 450 professionals, and no sustainability.Why Strauss believes English cricket needs fewer teams, fewer matches, and an elite first division to compete globally.The insane valuations in The Hundred, why investors bought anyway, and how private capital will reshape cricket whether counties like it or not.What Test cricket will look like in 20 years.A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: StrydeBringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

Emily Frazer is the CEO of Matchroom Multi Sport. She's led the charge in transforming sports like 9-ball pool into fast-growing, commercially compelling global properties, building new formats, elevating athlete storytelling, and bringing fresh audiences into what we could call a challenger landscape. The Multi-Sport story was told to perfection in the recent Matchroom Netflix series, shining a light on the lesser known side of the organisation at the centre of the boxing world and driving the boom we’ve seen in the darts. The question for Emily is simple: can the success in these other sports be replicated in the multi-sport model?Ahead of the Mosconi Cup next week at Ally Pally (pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup), Emily delivers a compelling reveal on life behind the Matchroom curtain and what it’s going to take to deliver an emerging sport on a global stage. Timestamps:00:00 Intro05:01 What is Multi Sport?16:31 How Early Opportunities Accelerate Learning20:53 How Did Matchroom Become the “Owner” of the Sport?26:35 What’s the Master Plan to Make Nine-Ball a Global Sport?31:46 Is Narrative More Important Than Quality Now?34:14 The Upcoming Mosconi Cup36:33 Do Athlete Brands Matter More Than Teams Now?40:47 Is It Truly a Viable Job for Players?44:11 Where Matchroom’s Core Revenue in Pool Comes From49:42 Should Matchroom Create a Unified Fan Loyalty Program?54:41 Pressure to Match Darts’ Success59:59 Why Pool Is More Accessible Than Snooker01:03:09 Quick-Fire RoundOn today’s show we discuss: From ‘Special Events’ to a Global Multisport Division:How a once-overlooked corner of Matchroom evolved from “the joke department” into one of the company’s fastest-growing verticals.The commercial blueprint Matchroom is applying, from multi-table events to digital-first broadcasting, social virality and new formats.The weight of carrying a whole sport on your shoulders, and why Emily believes that “80% crazy” is an essential part of the job.The belief that with the right innovation, risk, and relentlessness, Pool will become a global powerhouse.Athletes, Pressure & Player Pathways:The human realities of managing athletes in a developing sport. Expectation, frustration, and the emotional weight of leading a tour they rely on to feed their families.Why Pool is one of the rare sports where amateurs can face legends, and how that creates powerful fan moments that drive new fandom.How the rise of local ranking events has unlocked hidden talent in Vietnam, the Philippines, the U.S. and beyond.Commercial Strategy, Media & Monetisation:The economics of Pool today: ticketing, sponsorship, WNT TV, and the importance of viewership for long-term sustainability.Why Pool cannot rely on tradition or federation structures, and must innovate faster and more aggressively than snooker or darts ever did.The long-term vision: a profitable global tour, star-driven marketing, and a world where Pool sits alongside darts and snooker in Matchroom’s “big three.”A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: DavidGo and check out the amazing products revolutionising the protein bar at https://davidprotein.comStrydeBringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!Mosconi Cup Ticketshttps://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/mosconi-cup/

Chris Millard, Head of the Barmy Army, shares insights into this vibrant community of cricket fans and their impact on the Ashes. He reveals the intricate planning behind the 3,500-strong tour to Australia and discusses the balance between commercial success and maintaining the Barmy Army's core values. Learn about the revenue growth driven by Bazball's resurgence in Test cricket, the challenges of solo traveler support, and the unique atmosphere they create. Millard's passion shines through as he predicts a thrilling Ashes series ahead!