Unofficial Partner Podcast

Rory Smith recently wrote a think piece in the New York Times titled What is Ronaldo at 40? The article posed some good questions about the nature of sporting celebrity in 2025 and beyond. So we asked Rory on to the podcast to discuss, with two expert guests from the sports industry, Louise Johnson and Andy Meikle.  Rory Smith joined The Athletic from the New York Times, where he spent eight years as Chief Soccer Correspondent and then Global Sports Correspondent. He has previously worked for The Times of London, The Independent, the Daily Telegraph and ESPN. He is a regular contributor to BBC 5 Live. He is the author of two books on soccer: Mister and Expected Goals.Louise Johnson is Global CEO of Fuse, Omnicom’s sport and entertainment agency whose clients include many of the biggest organisations in sport including PepsiCo, Google and Vodafone. Louise was chair of judges for the sport category at the Cannes Lions Festival and was named as one of the FT’s women of the year. Andy Meikle is the founder and CEO of Recast, a fintech company that enables media owners to monetise digital content from £0.01, with payments via RecastPay, a wallet that distributes earnings in real time to multiple parties including affiliates, such as athletes. He was formerly one of the founders of Sportlobster, digital platform which had Cristiano Ronaldo as the company’s brand ambassadorUnofficial 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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

This is episode two of a four part series called What’s Sport Selling, created in partnership with Redtorch, the research and creative agency that’s been at the heart of Olympic Sport for over 20 years. This conversation builds on the first episode, with guests Celine Del Genes of Decathlon and Emma Mason Zwiebler of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, in which we discussed the bridge between the elite professional performance side of the industry and the participation pyramid, the absence of a coherent sports lobby in to government and the implications of the global inactivity crisis.Referenced in this conversation was the work of ASICS. So we invited today’s guest, Gary Raucher, Global Head of Marketing and Executive Board Member at ASICS, to add to the debate.ASICS is the fourth largest athletic footwear brand in the world, with a share of the running market that sits above Nike and Adidas. They were praised by Jonny Murch, CEO of Redtorch, for their brand positioning and creative execution, which has played a major role in their recent financial success. The company has announced record sales and growth in every market. Listen here to Episode 1 of What's Sport Selling?Visit https://redtorch.sport/  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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

This is a special live recording of the podcast created in collaboration with the Strategic Sports Advisory Team at Teneo, at the company's London headquarters. Together we convened a roundtable forum on the topic of India and its relationship with the sports marketplace. Around the table was group of specially invited guests all of whom have a connection to the country and its sports business. We were thrilled to be joined by His Excellency the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Vikram Doraiswami. The other guests you’ll hear are as follows:Will Brass | Premier LeagueArchie Kalyana | BBC CricketArpit Chaturverdi | Teneo - Geopolitical Risk AnalystAndrew Umbers | Oakwell SportsIshveen Jolly | Open SponsorshipSanjay Bhandari | Kick it OutSimon Hughes | Cricket AuthorNavjeet Sira | Change Foundation UKMike Herbert | Northridge LawKent Christian | Authentic Brands GroupRepresenting Teneo were Senior Managing Director Neil Daugherty and Nick Greenslade, Co-Lead of the Strategic Sports Advisory team at Teneo Sport.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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

Will Netflix buy F1 rights in the US? Will TNT buy Six Nations in the UK? Will DAZN back out of their Ligue1 deal in France?Streamers' January accounts: is anyone not losing money?Is TGL any good? Do you go to the Super Bowl just for the meetings? Join Richard Gillis on The Bundle with Yannick Ramcke, General Manager of OTT at OneFootball and Murray Barnett, 26West Sport, formerly World Rugby, F1 and ESPN. 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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

The Buy Side is our regular series talking with brand side marketers about sport and sponsorship. Our guest is Richard Deane, who's career includes running sponsorship programmes at Standard Life Investments, Abrdn and Investec across Ryder Cup, British and Irish Lions and many other major sports properties. The Buy Side is sponsored by the Two Circles intelligence platform KORE.  More than 900 brands, venues, and sports organisations trust the Kore platform to manage partnerships and assets and measure their impact with real-time insights. Through Fan Intelligence and Partnerships Intelligence, Two Circle’s Kore platform unites sponsors and properties with solutions that help enhance the fan experience, drive smarter decisions, and enable marketing and operations teams to spend time where it matters.Learn more at twocircles.com.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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

Joining the conversation is Daniel Geey, Partner at Sheridan Sports Group and author of 'Done Deals.' He dives into the rise of Bruin Capital's As1, an international soccer agency representing over 300 players. The discussion reveals insights into private equity's interest in European football talent and the shifting dynamics in athlete representation. Daniel also highlights the challenges facing smaller agencies, the balance between traditional and modern approaches in sports management, and the growing importance of financial strategies for athletes.

This is a continuation of a series of podcasts focused on the sporting product, formats and the link to financial success and fan engagement.  Guests:Barney Schauble, co-owner of Venezia FC and Oakland Roots SCOmar Chaudhuri, chief intelligence officer, Twenty First GroupAJ Swoboda, managing director Americas, Twenty First GroupUS financier Barney Schauble is part of the ownership group at Serie A club Venezia FC, and is a co-owner of Oakland Roots SC in the USL, America's third tier league.  Twenty First Group is a sports intelligence company providing predictive intelligence that drives sporting success and unlocks value for key stakeholders in the industry including team owners and investors, leagues and competitions, brands and broadcasters and betting and gaming companies. 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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

Gamechangers and Rainmakers: How Sport Became Big Business is a new book by British sports industry veteran David Stubley.The growing relationship between sport, television and the advertising industry has been key to this development, as have the boundless ambitions of influencers such as Bernie Ecclestone, Billie Jean King, Pete Rozelle, Mark McCormack, Rupert Murdoch and Horst Dassler. David Stubley spent the first decade of his career working in television at ITV and Channel 4. The last 25 years have been spent advising some of the world’s top brands and leading sports properties on how to unlock commercial value from sports marketing. He has helped negotiate more than $1bn of commercial deals with the likes of FIFA, UEFA, F1 and the Olympics. He serves on the board of multiple sport and media companies.You can vote for your favourite Gamechanger or Rainmaker here. 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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

Media rights auctions are the moment when the question of 'What’s sport worth?' is asked and answered; the point at which the talk becomes real; where fortunes are been spent, won and lost, psychology meets money. The auction gives us a glimpse of a different future, that may or may not be the direction of travel for everyone else in the marketplace.  What makes this imperfect process more intriguing is that the basic return on investment equation is shifting in real time. The players in the game are not just a handful of traditional sports media companies. They are also the new breed of entertainment streamers, online retailers, mobile phone manufacturers or private equity firms. How does their presence around the table shift the fundamental question - what is sport worth? We’ve got three strategy experts from Altman Solon, a global consultancy specializing in Technology, Media and Telecom, to provide an inside look at the media auction process, exploring its flaws and opportunities. Joining us today are:David Dellea, Partner at the Zurich office and leader of Altman Solon’s Sports Practice. David previously headed PwC’s sports practicePascal Stefan, Principal at the Munich office, formerly Head of Strategy at DAZN.Davide Tesoro Tess, Senior Advisor for Altman Solon based in Milan, and formerly Executive Vice President for Strategy at Sky Italia. Altman Solon’s recently published the 2024 Sports Survey—a series of five in-depth publications exploring the state of the sports media business and revealing what consumers and industry executives envision for the future. The publication can be downloaded hereUnofficial 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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.

Today's guest is Infinite Athlete founder Charlie Ebersol. Infinite Athlete has been a sports business story since the brand suddenly appeared on Chelsea’s shirt at the start of last season.It's a story with a lot of baggage: Charlie Ebersol is the son of actress Susan St James and Dick Ebersol, the legendary NBC Sport chairman. IA is backed by Andreesen Horowitz, Silver Lake, Endeavour and Todd Boehly, the Chelsea co-owner. Insert the boring but important phrase ‘Associated Party Transactions’. All parties were asked by the Premier League about potential conflicts of interest and whether the sponsorship value of the shirt exceeded fair market value, which is a slippery concept in and of itself. The final sentence of this paragraph is: ‘The Premier League approved the deal after thorough scrutiny’.That story, or a version of it, is how many people talk about Infinite Athlete. Charlie Ebersol’s responses to this narrative are really interesting, and I’ll leave you to have a listen and judge for yourself.We then get to the other question, which is: WTF is Infinite Athlete?Using Chelsea as a use case, Ebersol is good on the big problem of sports tech, which AI is about to make worse.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 @UnofficialPartnerWe 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.