Unofficial Partner Podcast

Ed Smith returns to the Unofficial Partner podcast.Ed is the former National Selector for England cricket. He is an author (including What Sport Tells Us About Life and Making Decisions), academic and journalist (New Statesman, BBC and Sunday Times). As a professional cricketer, he played for Kent, England and was club captain of Middlesex when they won their first major title for 15 years. Ed is Co-Founder of the Institute of Sports Humanities (ISH) which has a mission to nurture and inspire sport’s current and future leaders around the world.ISH and Loughborough University London recently launched the new Leadership in Sport Master’s course, running from Autumn 2023.Ed Smith: 'Education carries with it an awful lot of legacy and therefore conservatism.The world is changing and you're going to need to constantly attend to the requirement to have new skills that fit the world as it is changing.And that world is changing very fast. I don't think education can just say, here we are and this is how we've always been, come to us. I think real world experience combined with and academic learning is a very powerful combination. It'd be very easy just to tell war stories, and it's very easy to get lost in theory at the other end of the spectrum, but can you bring to the two together in a really useful way?'The NEW intake STARTS IN October 2023 and applications are currently open.Find out more at www.sportshumanities.org The course has been designed for executives working in the sports industry as well as athletes seeking specialised education to support their professional development. The masters course fits alongside busy jobs and busy lives. It’s ideal for people seeking to develop their impact and effectiveness in leading and managing. individuals, teams, and organisations.Students on the MA Leadership in Sport programme will join an amazing ecosystem of sports experts – Loughborough University has been ranked the #1 university for sports-related subjects for the past 7 years. 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.

Today's guest is Michael Bond, author of a new book exploring the nature of fandom, a fascinating and entertaining investigation in to worlds of obsession, belonging and human connection. We talk about what connects Spurs fans with Potterheads, Trekkies, Swifties and MAGAs. We ask whether fandom fills the gap left by the decline of organised religion, what happens to the club-fan relationship when it is too obviously commercialised, the rise of the celebrity activist and what happens when your idol falls from grace.The book is Fans: A Journey into the Psychology of Belonging. Today’s episode is sponsored by our friends at Turnstile.Do you know what your sponsorship is really worth, or are you guessing? Turnstile uses real market rates to quantify the value every single sponsorship right within a deal, looking beyond the traditional media metrics to calculate the value of the Exposure, Intellectual Property and Direct Benefits. This enables Turnstile to deliver a recommended transaction price that’s comprehensive, accurate and defensible. So don’t pay too much. Don’t leave money on the table. Know the fair market price, and buy and sell with confidence. If you value your sponsorships, value them properly. Get in touch with Turnstile at turnstilegroup.comUnofficial 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 sits at the epicentre of the football business. Charlie Marshall is the CEO of The European Club Association (ECA), the hugely influential organisation, which is the only group officially recognised by both UEFA and FIFA as the sole, independent body for football clubs at European level.We talk about the big issues facing the game in the post-Super League era, as ECA seeks to balance the sometimes conflicting objectives of its constituency of members, from the biggest clubs in the world to some of Europe's minnows and everyone in between. Topics covered include:The changing format and access to Uefa club competitionsThe likely impact of new financial regulationsThe rules on multi club ownershipThe future of the women's gamePlayer release for national team competitionsThe commercial management of competitions and revenue distribution among clubs.Last year, Uefa and the ECA signed a further letter of intent ahead of the creation of a new joint venture to oversee the commercial management of Uefa club competitions.Uefa Club Competitions SA (UCCSA) oversaw a global agency tender process that led to the Team Marketing agency retaining the mandate to sell broadcast, sponsorship and licensing rights to Uefa club competitions from 2024-25 to 2026-27. The mandate excluded US broadcast rights, which are being sold by the Relevent Sports Group agency over the same period in a deal worth a minimum guarantee of $250m (€260m) per year.UCCSA is now considering whether to take the commercial rights sales in house from 2027-28 onwards, a process overseen by ECA chair Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSi) sovereign wealth fund , chair of BeIN Sports, the Qatar based broadcaster, and President of French club PSG.This is an episode of Re:Thinking Sport, our series created in collaboration with Portas, the global strategy consultancy dedicated to sport and physical activity.  Jon Culligan, a partner at Portas, is my co-host for this episode.  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.

In April, 2019 Tottenham Hotspur football club opened a new £1 billion state-of-the-art stadium, built on top of the old White Hart Lane ground in North London. One of the sports business stories since then has been the club's aspiration to deliver a naming rights sponsorship deal that surpasses those traditionally seen in Europe. Reports in media outlets claim the club is looking to strike a deal in the region of £25 million a year. Since then the club is augmented the stadium's content offering by securing long-term partnerships with the NFL and Formula One, aswell as music and boxing promoters. In doing so the club has created a venue that offers premium year round content.Four years on though, the club has not secured a naming rights partner. But they remain resolute in securing a deal that's aligned to their original target. So what is the Tottenham stadium worth? What do you buy when you buy a naming rights deal and how does it differ from other forms of sponsorship?  Helping us fund an answer to these questions is Dan Gaunt, General Manager of Turnstile, the global market leader in the provision of fair market price sponsorship valuations.With Dan is Adam Mitchell, Chief Executive of the sponsorship decision-making organisation Sponsor Pulse  This podcast coincides with the launch of a new report into stadium naming rights from Turnstile that's available via turnstilegroup.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.

Why do we care about some events and not others? Why do some tournaments capture our imagination and interest, while others seem contrived? Will an expanded 48 team FIFA World Cup work in 2026, or will it lead to a boring tournament?Where do you stand on closed leagues?Does the 'Super League' idea of Best v Best work in the real world? Why do we cheer for underdogs, but only in the early rounds? In the tennis Grand Slams, what are the commercial implications of three sets for women and five sets for men?Why does Twenty20 cricket work but Rugby Sevens doesn't?What do the various constituencies around sport - fans, teams, rights holders, media, investors - want from the sporting product? How can data analytics add relevance, jeopardy or commercial value to a league or competition? These just some of the questions we asked in this first episode of The Product, a new series launched in collaboration with Twenty First Group the tech-led sports intelligence company which works across multiple sports, using data to help organisations drive sporting success and unlock commercial value.In the last week, TFG has launched the TFG World Sports Rankings, a first of it's kind collection of multi-sport rankings which rank sports products  - athletes, teams, competitions, leagues and tournaments - by the three core drivers of long-term value in sport: Quality, Jeopardy and Connection.You can interrogate the data by going to TFG's website 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.

Joanna Coates started her career as a fashion buyer at 16 and became CEO of two of UK sport's major governing bodies. From 2015 to 2019, Joanna Coates was EnglandNetball's CEO and worked with the governing body for almost ten years. She was part of the team during her time in charge which led the Vitality Roses to victory at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where they won their historic gold medal. The sport was also experiencing record growth during her tenure. Coates took on the CEO job of UK Athletics in February, 2020 a period dominated by COVID, financial and safeguarding challenges. In this revealing conversation Jo Coates reveals much about how sport works, the challenges faced by the National Governing Body model, her admiration for Sharron Davies and the issue of transgender athletes. 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 in which we talk to brand marketers about sport and sponsorship. This week's guest is Stuart Wareman, SVP of Sponsorship, Events and Experiences for Accor, the French multinational hotel group that owns, manages and franchises hotels in over 5300 locations in 110 countries and is the biggest hospitality company in Europe, the sixth biggest in the world. Its booking platform brand Accor Live Limitless (ALL) has become a familiar presence in sport. The brand's sport sponsorship portfolio includes the shirt of PSG and official partnerships with Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, The 2023 Rugby World Cup and many other major national relationships. Today’s episode is sponsored by our friends at Turnstile.Do you know what your sponsorship is really worth, or are you guessing? Turnstile uses real market rates to quantify the value every single sponsorship right within a deal, looking beyond the traditional media metrics to calculate the value of the Exposure, Intellectual Property and Direct Benefits.This enables Turnstile to deliver a recommended transaction price that’s comprehensive, accurate and defensible. So don’t pay too much. Don’t leave money on the table. Know the fair market price, and buy and sell with confidence. If you value your sponsorships, value them properly. Get in touch with Turnstile at turnstilegroup.comUnofficial 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 Big Idea is our series on creativity in sports marketing with regular sidekick Simon Moore, the award-winning consulting creative director.Today we focus on one of the most awarded campaigns in recent years: Burger King's Stevenage Challenge. If a brand wants to sponsor the best football players, they have to pay millions. But Burger King found a way to endorse them without paying them a single penny. It sponsored a team at the bottom of English football’s 4th division: Stevenage. BK knew that if its logo was on their shirt, it was going to appear in FIFA 20. The brand then launched the #StevenageChallenge, inviting gamers to play with Stevenage and sharing UGC of the likes of Messi and Neymar wearing the BK logo, for BK rewards in return. It turned a small team in real life into the biggest team online.Main Awards - Direct Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions 2021 CREDITS Brand: Burger King. Advertising agencies: DAVID Madrid and DAVID Miami. Global Chief Creative Officer: Pancho Cassis. Chief Operating Officer: Sylvia Panico. Executive Creative Director: Saulo Rocha, Andre Toledo. Group Creative Director: Fernando Pellizzaro, Jean Zamprogno. Creative Director: Fred Bosch. Copywriter: Luis Giraldo, Alex Allen, Jared Schermer. Art Director: Felipe Antonioli, Andy Tamayo. Head of Social: Alex Sanchez. Director of Strategy: Jon Carlaw. Planner: Stephanie Salvador. Junior Planner: Vanessa Amaral. Group Account Director: Stefane Rosa. Management Supervisor: Jenny Gobel. Head of Global Production: Veronica Beach. Producer: Marina Rodrigues. Senior Business Affairs Manager: Barbara Karalis. Production Company: Landia. Music & Sound Company: Twenty Below Music, Jamute. Audio Mixing: Heard City. PR: ABMC. Media Placement: Horizon Media & Scout. Social Media: MullenLowe. Digital Studio: Unicorns & Unicorns. Animation: Mr. Klauss.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.

What's going on at UK Athletics?The last few weeks have seen a series of stories about the financial plight of the governing body.In the accounts released in December, UKA returned a £1.8million deficit for 2021-22 with reserves falling from £2.2m to £430,000 in the space of a year.Subsequent stories have referenced job losses and most recently the decision to close its Alexandra Park head office in Birmingham.Today's guest is Ed Warner, who was chair of UK Athletics for ten years between 2007 and 2017. Warner recently wrote a blistering critique of the current state of UK Athletics, in his own newsletter, Sport Inc.This was in part a response to a piece by Matt Lawton in The Times, which we reference in the first part of our conversation. That article is here (paywall) Drive To Survive: UK Athletics offering Netflix-style documentary in bid to avoid going bust.Ed Warner's current roles reflect his previous careers in sport and financial services. He's chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and Crystal Palace's Palace for Life Foundation and holds similar roles at HarbourVest Global Private Equity among others.  We talked to Ed at The Kia Oval cricket ground in London during the recent SportsPro Live event, so thanks to Nick Meacham and his team at SportsPro for letting us do that. 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.

Sports Podge is a British sports industry institution. The invite-only networking lunch began life 18 years ago in the upstairs room at the famous Langan's Brasserie in Park Lane, London. Ahead of this week's event at the Kia Oval, we took Podge creator Phil Jones, his daughter and business partner, Clare Jones, along with Sports Podge co-founder Jimmy Worrall back to Langan's to discover the secret ingredients that encourage the sports industry's biggest names to come back year after year. And to help jog memories of Podge's past we invited some of their friends: Emma Atkins (CEO of Groundwork and sports consultant), Alexandra Willis (Director of Digital Media and Audience Development at the Premier League), Matthew Wotton (Executive Director - Sports, Media and Entertainment, Coutts)Kit Taylor (Managing Director, PSD Group).  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.