Special Edition with Patrick Mouratoglou, the #1 Tennis Coach on his new NFT project – “The Coach”   Key Highlights Quick check in since we last spoke on the previous Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast,  new project in Malaysia, etc “The Coach” - Patricks’ new NFT project – creating an exclusive Club of 2,000 Tennis fans and Web3.0 enthusiasts The Concept - different levels of rarity (Warm up, The Match, The Celebration) – total only 2,000 NFTs Wide range of benefits, special coaching sessions, one-on-one interaction with Patrick, future pro players, bringing fans, players and Web3.0 enthusiast together and access to future opportunities of projects Patrick is creating All 2000 NFT cards will be sold at the price of $550 (estimated gas fees included) Pre-sales start on March 17th and 500 spots are available Public sale 26th March (unveiling of NFTs on 27th March) Purchase on dedicated website www.thecoachnft.io, secondary market on other NFT platforms (on Ethereum blockchain) Support team available to on-board customers who are not familiar with NFTs, purchase via credit card available Where did the idea come from and how it started & long term view, learning by doing Hope you enjoyed this short episode and introduction of an exciting new NFT project.  Check it out and let us know what you think. We have no direct affiliation and/or stake in the project and this is not investment advice.  Please do your own research and homework before you invest in any NFTs.    About THE COACH will see the merging of the NFT and sports worlds into an exclusive, one-of-a-kind club. Using the power of Web3.0, Patrick and his collaborators are creating a new experience, forming a powerful community, and looking to find new ways to improve engagement and interaction with fans.  This meeting of minds is set to change the landscape of both the sporting world and the NFT/crypto landscape — pushing the boundaries of possibilities for fans and players alike. With only 2,000 NFTs in total up for purchase, across three levels of increasing rarity — Warm-up, Match, and Celebration — fans will have to act quickly to secure their spot in this elite circle. Each NFT will unlock exclusive benefits, unrivaled access, and unique experiences. For those who manage to secure a Celebration card, you could be opening a once-in-a-lifetime experience, from a 1-to-1 tennis session with The Coach himself to the chance to chat side-by-side for an exclusive podcast opportunity. This is just the start of the NFT adventure. For those who join THE COACH on this first venture, there will be exclusive pre-sale access for future projects yet to come. The mint will be randomly selected and will take place publicly across platforms on the 26th March.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

Ralf Reichert, is considered a founding father of the Gaming/Esports industry, having shaped the industry for the past 20 years as an Entrepreneur.  We are unpacking the early days of ESL Gaming and off course the current state of play and plans for the future.  Recording from my hometown in Koeln (Cologne), Germany.  Happy holidays everyone.    Key Highlights Growing up in Oberhausen, the “honest” Coal mining part of Germany with two competitive brothers Great learning from his apprenticeship at a BWM dealership while studying in Essen How SK Gaming started in 1997, by his brother.  1999 connecting with Jens Hilgers (now Bitkraft Ventures), Alex Mueller (SK Gaming) to start Turtle Entertainment, later called ESL Gaming (Electronic Sports League) SK Gaming stories, started with playing Quake World and his involved at the beginning of the team.  Later sold shares due to conflict of interest with ESL ESL Gaming, the “world’s largest independent esports company”,  where everyone can be somebody – creating an ecosystem where Gamers can be stars, from amateur to pro player (From Zero to Hero) First 10 years, hard to find sponsors and funding, had to be smart and cost efficient – fight for survival – ESL was a match making platform The first big break, Intel Extreme Masters (IEM), 2006, longest running global pro gaming Tour in the world Working with Twitch when it was still Justin.tv  – 2010 -2014 the golden era and big break through of Esports as an industry Bootstrapping the company the first 8-9 years, only small fund raise (US$ 1 mil), being frugal was the key.  From 2010-2016 growing from a US$ 10 mil company to US$ 100 mil company – the big growth period The different events and Leagues 2002 ESL Pro Series, local Pro League in Germany,  ESL Pro League 2013,  ESL Pro Tour 2018 (local, regional and global competitions) Focus on Counter Strike for Pro League, because of the maturity in the Game and longevity Individual Tournaments on top of the Leagues, ie. IEM and ESL ONE  - world championships type of events Prize money and event model – own and operated (ESL branded events), hybrid events in partnership with Publishers, Esports Services (agency model, power Esports for Publishers) Global footprint of ESL from Cologne to New York, regional HQs in LA, Singapore, Riyad, etc and production hubs in Poland and Malaysia and local offices in partnership with local partners 2000-2010 start up phase, 2010-2015 scale up phase, 2015-2021 globalization phase Modern Times Group (MTG) transaction in 2015 (which wasn’t a sale according to Ralf), Swedish group, synergies, neutral and independent Constant changes in industry, staying focused on ESL Brand premise (North Star) and making adjustments as industry growth New partnership with Immutable X, first dip into NFT space – always trying and investing in new things ESL during Covid – going back to roots, being online focused – Esports continued to grow during Pandemic Being global is difficult and hard but the best thing the company did and ESL thrived in Covid, setting new processes Close to 700 people now, after merger with DreamHack in 2020 Other activities, advisory roles, etc mostly connected and synergies to main role as CEO of ESL – some angel investment      About Ralf Reichert Ralf is Managing Director / CEO of Turtle Entertainment the world’s largest eSports company leading the industry in raising eSport production and audience levels to those of mainstream sports. Alongside the creation of Turtle Entertainment, Ralf has been an integral part of the development of ESL Gaming which is now the largest global Esports league, as well as the elite pro gaming tour Intel Extreme Masters which has given out over $3.5million of prize money spanning across 8 seasons.  Reichert’s passion for gaming and technology is for all to see, and with over 20 years of experience in the industry, it is no surprise that Turtle Entertainment has been such a resounding success.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

Ben Smith, a chartered financial planner for the past 10 years, is on a mission to educate young athletes about wealth management, proper financial planning and goal setting.  Very important messages for anyone dealing with young athletes and of course for athletes themselves.  Listen and learn. (The Podcast was NOT sponsored by FLM) Disclaimer: No financial advise or recommendations are given. The Podcast is purely highlighting options available.   Key Highlights How Ben got into the industry and how childhood lessons shaped his career path and mindset about investing Chartered Financial Planner, help clients make great decision with their money, from planning, tax, legal structures, etc FLM (Financial Lifestyle Management Ltd) a partnership affiliated to St James’s Place Plc – a Footsie 100 company (150 billion under management), different investment solutions (highly regulated environment in the UK) The stats behind the reason for the Podcast and why it’s so important for young athletes to be aware of it Early 90s, salaries in Football were only around avg GBP 20k pa, now nearly GBP 2 million per year – high earning in early part of the career (young age), opposite to traditional career path   Process to engage young athletes – step by step process to educate them in an interactive way and setting goals Passive Income and Compound Interest – key to understand it – Jill and Jack example FLM focus on Football, Rugby and Golf The process, value added services by FLM, fee structure and steps to take by athletes and families Athletes as investors beyond their Money – bringing their Name into investments – Athletes are Brands - Whoop example – risk and returns FLM’s background and history over the past 20 years  (www.Flmltd.com)   About Ben Smith I help busy, successful people make great decisions with their money. I believe that wealth is dictated by behaviours, not earnings, Everything I do is focused on creating world class money habits that help my clients achieve financial freedom. This is the ability to live life to the full without financial constraints. I believe that in any area of your life, a lack of clarity can be fatal. It can lead to anxiety and hold you back from achieving what is really important to you and your family. When I first joined the industry in 2011, I had studied business, finance and economics throughout my education, yet I knew very little about personal financial planning. From working with many families over the last 10 years, I have found that money is very poorly understood in the UK which really can hold people back in a quest for a better life. With this in mind, I am passionate about financial education and the importance of having a plan. How many of us studied money or personal finance at school? It is also rarely discussed, even between close family members. I really believe in helping my clients learn as we work together, which brings both enjoyment and greater peace of mind. Having a well thought through plan allows you to get on and enjoy life whilst striving towards the things that are important to you. Everyone has a different 'why' which ultimately gets us out of bed in the morning. Maybe you want to send your kids to private school, maybe you want to retire at 45 or maybe you want to own a second home in France. The harsh reality is that, without a clear plan, you are unlikely to achieve these goals. Over the last 10 years I have worked with busy, successful individuals in London to help them establish their ‘why’ and put in place prudent, robust financial plans to meet their goals. Life is as busy as it has ever been, and very few people find the time to put in place adequate financial plans and for those who do, even fewer continue to monitor them over time. I believe everyone has experienced some kind of financial inertia during their life – for some this will be for longer than others. It is arguably the single greatest threat to ones financial plans.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ  

Chris Lencheski, also better known as “SKI” in the industry is a true serial sports Entrepreneur from his early days around the Atlanta Olympics to his very successful years across global motorsports.  SKI & Company left its mark on the industry on many levels and Chris till today continues to shape the industry.  Great insights and learning from his own businesses to the various groups he worked with over the decades (Comcast Spectacor, TPG Speciality Lending, MyyTake India), including an interesting opinion on what happened to MP & Silva.  Listen and learn.       Key Highlights Starting at The Easton Events Company (spun out from United Media) – involved in the Atlanta Olympic Games and developing the protection of the marks, oversight of licensing rights, building activation plans, a great way to learn the ropes Delos Associates – first Entrepreneurial venture exclusive event marketing and management company for 1996 US Olympic Team Trials for Cycling; developed Official Corporate Marketing Partners Program first look at motorsports Next stop,  CMDC (Chesapeake Motorsports Development Corporation), oversaw advertising, marketing, sponsorship, licensing, real estate, development, co-partnership, sanction, and television deals  involved in big Pepsi deal for new Venue (NASCAR track) MFP Agency (Marketing for Fun & Profits) – first time CEO working for someone else (Legendary Rod Campbell)  Rod Campbell, founder of Campbell & Company (exclusive agent of Ford Motor Company’s racing efforts globally) MFP, was separate entity involved in other motorsports ventures Indycar, F1 (lots of new learning experiences from Rod Campbell) Next up, TSI Agency for a few years Strategized commercial aspects as COO for organization that fielded teams in NASCAR Busch Series and Winston Cup competitions for Christian Fittipaldi and Kenny Wallace Created the "The Cadillac Grand Prix" with George Debidart and the late Don Panoz (founder of ALMS), the first racing event in Washington, DC – comparing with the KL City Grand Prix in Malaysia where TSA was involved  SKI & Company – back being an Entrepreneur General Motors (GM) had a problem and Chris had the answer – great story on how the company got started by helping to fix a problem for the largest automobile company in the world GM’s mishap in Golf – bidding against itself for a major sponsorship How a white paper turned into the assignment as “Global Agency of record for GM Racing”, developing strategies country by country, brand by brand (from Vauxhall, Opel, Holden, to Chevy - fingers in any and all with blessing from GM) GM’s large interests in motorsports around the world, including NASCAR, F1, Le Mans, etc Growth comes at a cost – selling the business to principals of former CSS Stellar Phoenicia Sports & Entertainment (live after SKI&Company) – transferring the learning and philosophy Involved across Motorsports and Football/Soccer (Bologna) Next stop, President of Front Row Marketing & Analytics (a Comcast Spectacor company) Operated the stadia, sports media commercial rights and entertainment agency inside the greater Comcast ecosystem Being part of a huge group and the pros and cons of it - picked up big clients Americas Cup, EPL Teams, French Football Championship Trophee Game (NYC), etc. IRG Sports & Entertainment – A TPG Specialty Lending Group company ,  involved in change management From Drag Racing to race tracks around the world & bringing ESPN back and growing Australia business rapidly. MP & Silva – Senior Advisor to the Board – Chris’ observation as an Advisor to what happened?   Everbright Securities & Beijing Baofong investment (at the time of China’s big push into Football/Sports globally) Lots of senior leadership was let go and/or advice was being ignored by the Chinese leadership which had different ideas Story not finished yet Current role at Winning Streak Sports (a Granite Bridge Partners company – linked to Wafra - Sovereign Fund of Kuwait) Number One premium licensing company in the world. From Board Member to CEO at request of Board From Live streaming, social commerce, media support to premium licensing for major sports franchises globally Last thoughts, success is not easy, never linear and not a ladder (more like a spray paint can) & when juggling businesses, especially going through Change Management, the rubber balls are the businesses, clients, etc.,(these balls will bounce) but don’t drop the glass balls (which are the people you work with and the most important part of any pivot - especially in commercial rights)   About Chris Lencheski Chairman, Phoenicia Sport and Entertainment January 2009-present  Chief Executive Officer, Winning Streak Sports March 2019-present  Board of Directors, MyyTake (India) March 2021-present  Board of Directors, Electronic Gaming Federation January 2019-present  Chris Lencheski has worked in the global sports and entertainment sector for more than two decades.  As founder and chairman of Phoenicia Sport and Entertainment, a sports and media consultancy firm he launched in 2009, he advised purchasers of Italian top-tier (Serie A) football teams, developed and executed commercial rights programming for Newman/Haas Racing, the IndyCar racing team of Paul Newman and Carl Haas, developed sports television programming for the Sportsman Channel, and has represented a host of traditional sponsorship/media clients, including managing the U.S. sports marketing debut of Chinese solar company, Trina Solar (SHA:688599). From 2009-2010, through Phoenicia, Mr. Lencheski was owner of International Hockey League franchise the Quad City Mallards, an affiliate of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. The team was IHL Franchise of the Year during Mr. Lencheski’s tenure.  In March 2019, while a director of Winning Streak Sports, a portfolio company of Granite Bridge Partners, Mr. Lencheski was asked to assume the role of chief executive officer, where he currently oversees all business affairs of both Winning Streak Sports and affiliate Prinstant Replays, which, together deliver the number #1 premium licensed goods and collectibles product line in professional sports by both sales and quality.  Prior to Winning Streak, from 2015 to 2019, Mr. Lencheski was the Senior Advisor to the chairman and board of managers of, MP & Silva, the Italy-based global sports media company. From 2015 to 2017, Mr. Lencheski also served as co-chairman, chief executive officer and a director of IRG Sports + Entertainment, a TPG portfolio company and leading promoter of sports and live entertainment experiences. IRGSE is the parent company of the International Hot Rod Association and the International Drag Bike League and owns and operates Palm Beach International Raceway, Palm Beach Driving Club, Memphis International Raceway, Cordova International Raceway, and Maryland International Raceway. IRGSE promoted more than 1,150 global motorsports, live entertainment, and corporate events annually at its venues and within its series.  From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Lencheski was president of Comcast-Spectacor's (now Spectra) wholly owned subsidiary Front Row Marketing and Analytics (“FRMS”), which managed commercial rights, sponsorship, and analytics for the entirety of the Comcast ecosystem of stadiums, arenas, teams, and Comcast properties. FRMS was acquired by Learfield Sports in 2015. While at FRMS, his work included collaborations with the Americas’ Cup, English Premier League Football, the Olympics, Formula One Racing, and FIFA World Cup projects, as well as a host of international and national properties, including every major sports league in the United States and international sport governing bodies.  In 2002, Mr. Lencheski founded SKI & Company. With offices in New York, London, Dubai, Charlotte, NC, and Bethelem, PA, SKI was the first global agency for General Motors Racing and the recipient of BrandWeek Magazine’s Gold Award in the National Sales Promotion Campaign category for Mr. Lencheski’s work on behalf of client Turner Broadcasting and developing their program with Target Corporation. At SKI, Mr. Lencheski authored industry-setting standards and practice guidelines followed by major entities from network and cable television providers to Fortune 500 companies. From 2005-2008, SKI was majority owner and operational manager of its NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series racing Teams. In 2009, Mr. Lencheski sold SKI to a UK-based company, the terms of which cannot be disclosed.  Mr. Lencheski has extensive experience and connectivity in motorsports. He held operational and ownership positions in teams competing in NASCAR. Through SKI & Company, from 2005-2008, Mr. Lencheski was the majority owner and chief executive officer of his NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity team. Through his role as minority owner and chief operating officer of The Source International, a sports and entertainment agency, and their racing team, Innovative Motorsports, for the 2001 and 2002 seasons, Mr. Lencheski was responsible for fielding a NASCAR Busch/Winston/Xfinity Series teams. During his time in NASCAR, Mr. Lencheski developed many sponsorship relationships with global brands including General Motors, Goulds Pumps/ITT, Stacker 2, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, NOS Energy Drink, Pure Fishing, and Smith & Wesson. Operating on limited budgets, Mr. Lencheski’s teams competed both full and part time, amassing one race win, five pole positions, 23 top-five finishes, and 58 top ten finishes with two top-ten year-end point standing finishes in 2001 and 2002.  From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Lencheski was chief executive officer of the MFP Agency, an automotive-focused sports marketing agency founded by automotive marketing legend Rod Campbell of Campbell & Company. From 1997-1999, he was the executive vice-president and coo of Chesapeake Motorsports Development Corporation. From 1995 to 1997, he made his first run at launching his own sports marketing firm, Delos Associates Corporation, selling the portfolio to Joe Mattioli (whose family are the longtime owners of NASCAR Cup Series Pocono Raceway). Mr. Lencheski began his career as a vice president of event marketing, Olympics marketing, and director of sponsorship at The Easton Events Company, the official event management company of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.  Mr. Lencheski has been an adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies’ Sports Management Master’s Degree program since 2015. He is a member of the board of directors of Winning Streak Sports, MyyTake India, Electronic Gaming Federation and a Founding Member of the Board of Advisors for Syracuse University’s Falk College. Mr. Lencheski is a graduate of Syracuse University and an alumnus of Harvard Business School, having completed the Advanced Management Program. He is married with four daughters.    Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

Michel Masquelier had an incredible career with IMG over 35 years starting as an Intern and finishing as the Chairman of IMG Media and SNTV.  Over that time he had the privilege to work with and learn from the charismatic owners from Mark McCormack,  Ted Forstmann to Ari Emanuel at the end.  Pioneering a variety of new innovations and setting up new business units over his tenure. Fascinating stories of an amazing career.  Also check out Michel’s new book “This is not a Dress Rehearsal” for more. Link to the book: http://getbook.at/NotADressRehearsal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m_masquelier/   Key Highlights Taking a plunge and heading over the channel from Belgium to the UK to seeking new challenges in London Reading Mark McCormack’s book and being inspired to seek employment with the company (1985), working for free at the beginning First role in sponsorship activation, with Yves St Laurent and later focusing on sales in Benelux countries Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France – advising the Organizing Committee Mark McCormack, first interaction – “you the guy who plays golf before coming to the office in the morning” story A man of amazing innovation, vision and anticipation Setting up the Office in Brussel, at the start of the European Union After 10 years, took a six months break and toured the world – NY Office story Next stop, Media Division, selling Media rights, involvement in pioneering projects (China Football story) Intrapreneur within the company, building teams, leadership style (Love & Respect) Head of Sales Europe, Head of Sales Worldwide to President IMG Media European Tour Production deal and Mark’s vision and foresight examples The shock and worry when Mark suddenly passes away across the organization Ted Forstmann era starts – US$ 750 mil purchase – leader in Private Equity New focus on “ownership” in sports,  becoming a small shareholder in the business Ted initially wanting to replace him due to clashes in strategy before new found respect Frustrating moments with Ted when it came to Minimum Guarantees for Media Rights Next Super-agent Ari Emanuel backed by PE money takes over (US$ 2.4 billion deal) and his drive and vision for the company (WME -IMG leading to Endeavor) Moving from President of IMG Media to Chairman of Events/Media, slowly winding down Huge growth from UFC deal to recent IPO at US$ 10 billion valuation under Ari’s leadership and future of industry thoughts (data the new gold) “This is not a dress rehearsal”, his book about his experiences and journey – coming out in December 2021  Reminiscing about the parallels of our careers and philosophy in life   About Michel Masquelier Michel Masquelier is an Entrepreneur that has spent over 3 decades at the heart of the sports industry. Making his way up the ladder from intern to Chairman, he has become a respected leader in his field, and recognized as peoples manager. He now takes on the role of advisor to governing bodies, media organizations and private equity firms. He is also an active investor, board member and consultant for small enterprise, with a focus on the media industry. Michel is still a compulsive networker, but his passion has shift to stimulating education, especially amongst future generations. In the same spirit of innovation and disruption, he is involved in philanthropic projects, motivational speaking and development of educational programs for young executives. More recently he has been working on a book - This is not a Dress Rehearsal. In this part-memoir, part-manifesto and career guide, all inspiration-from-the-heart book, he shares stories from his early life in Belgium to his unique experiences rubbing shoulders with sports stars, business moguls and media pioneers. With open and honest examples of his triumphs, failures, and everything in between, there is something for everyone – the sports fans, the misfits, the motivated and the intrepid.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

From his two decades with DENTSU Sports to now 17 years with FIFA, Hide Arai has been at the heart of the Japanese presence in sports marketing globally for decades.  Great stories and insights into the Japanese Advertising Giant’s influence in global sports for the last 40 years, driven by the emergence of Japanese super brands.  And a short discussion about FIFA’s state of play, with several sensitive topics appropriately edited.      Key Highlights How it all started in the mid 80s, producing Japanese TV commercials at Dentsu Advertising Dentsu’s first foray into sports marketing started in 1982 at the FIFA World Cup in Spain and 1984 LA Olympics – two Japanese Dentsu executives (Hartori & Takahashi) started to build a close bond with Horst Dassler, the powerful German businessman who controlled adidas and had launched ISL Marketing. Coinciding with the growth of Japanese brands globally.  Dentsu taking on calculated risk to acquire the rights to certain packages and then selling it to one of it’s 3,000 clients. Dentsu’s investment in ISL Marketing (49%) in 1984  and playing a significant role for decades ISL Marketing taking the FIFA rights away from Coca-Cola which were managed by West Nally at that time.  Host Dassler cutting a deal with FIFA’s President Joao Havelange First role at Dentsu Sports Division in 1990,  sponsorship sales and rights activations World Championship of Track and Field in 1993, Stuttgart, Germany – we were both there.  Mike Powell story and Panasonic package size 1992, Barcelona Olympics – strong Japanese sponsor presence Fuji & Kodak rivalry (FIFA vs IOC sponsorships) , Sony (Playstation, FIFA ) and Panasonic (Olympic TOP program) stories His ISL Marketing years as “Dentsu Rep” (or Spy as his colleagues jokingly called it)” and some Papa Diack stories His perspective on how the ISL powerhouse crumbled – loss of key management, wrong investments and missed IPO (Heinz Schurtenberger) Loss of CEO may put on brakes at ISL (sportsbusinessjournal.com) Back into Dentsu for the World Cup 1998 in France and then back to Japan to set up a new Media Rights trading division Buying FIFA World Cup, Italian League (Canal+), Bundesliga (UFA Sports) buying rights for Japan territory Growth of MLB rights in Japan due to Japanese players playing in the League since the 90s (NHK largest MLB broadcaster in the world) Dentsu’s stake in World Sports Group (AFC Marketing agency for two decades) (Seamus O’Brien & Jack Sakazaki, JSM) FIFA role from 2004 till now – Deputy Director, Business Development, sales & distribution of Media rights (partnering again with Jerome Valcke) Difference between Agency life and life at a Federation. Different type of stakeholders and their needs ISL and Kirch Media Bankruptcies endangering FIFA – on the back FIFA Marketing AG was created, FIFA taking commercial rights in-house, massive growth of fees (driven by Jerome) Mastercard vs VISA drama Growth of FIFA from 30-40 staff in the 90s to now 1,000 staff globally, all brought in-house, from ticketing, security to other areas   About Hide Arai An avid baseball fan has turned into a sports business marketeer, Hide Arai’s association with the sports business has started in the early 80s when he joined Dentsu, the advertising giant in Japan and was subsequently assigned to ISL Worldwide in Switzerland during early 90s.  As VP at ISL, his activities had entailed sponsorship sales to Japanese global brands including Canon, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Toyota, as well as sponsors activations surrounding FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, and IAAF (now World Athletics) World Athletic Championships.  Back at Dentsu’s Sports Division from the late 90s to early 2000s, Hide Arai had driven scores of major sports rights deals as GM of the Division, including FIFA World Cups 2002-2006, Major League Baseball, English Premier League, Serie A, The Open (Golf).   After 22 years of tenure at Dentsu, he switched his career and geographical base to a sport governing body, FIFA at Zurich, Switzerland in 2004.  Hide has been involved in sales and distribution of FIFA’s media rights, covering the entire Asian and African regions, as well as host broadcast production for the last 17 years.  Hide Arai holds a BA (1981) in Political Science from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan and an MBA (1987) from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, US. His current personal pursuits are scuba-diving in South Pacific and occasional golfing.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ    

Great stories and learning from Murray Barnett’s illustrious career across NBA, ISL, World Rugby and F1 to turning entrepreneur with his own boutique consulting agency during the pandemic. Lots of wisdom and great sharing from his journey over the past 2 decades.   Key Highlights Starting at Orbit, Satellite TV space in Rome, Italy and some Italian House Music  From Rome to Budapest to the NBA Europe in Paris – plan, plan and plan again – amazing level of detail, great lessons from David Stern  Lessons from being at ISL Marketing for the final years of the agency handling FINA & FIBA accounts. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true (ATP disaster)  Next stop ESPN, Russell Wolf offering a role as Employee #1 in ESPN’s Disney office in London His focus at ESPN International – selling rights portfolio to other broadcasters, supervising ESPN channels in Middle East & Africa , identifying new opportunities to build the brand     Big international expansion and ESPN UK (Premier League rights for one cycle) – what worked and didn’t work  Success stories, ESPN Middle East, growing to 3 channels on ART and growth of ESPN Latin America and learning from top Disney/ESPN executives  ESPN MVNO (ESPN The Phone) – culture of trying lots of new things and turning failure into learning to pivot into new areas World Rugby (IRB),  Chief Commercial Officer role, from TV to sponsorship to hospitality.  Rugby World Cup 2015 in England and other competitions (HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series deal) Rugby’s different philosophy as a sport and significance of rebranding the sport to World Rugby, Olympic inclusion for Rugby Sevens  Rugby World Cup scale and size – US$250 million per event & Maradona visiting Twickenham story  Private Equity in sports - bringing external “influencers” to push change in sports, the role of “outsiders” like CVC and similar groups investing and coming into sports with a different perspective  Formula One Management – Head of Global Sponsorship & Commercial Partnerships – track side and hospitality packages        Massive ten year deal with Aramco (largest company in the world, Saudi Oil giant) and how AWS (Amazon Web Services) came into the sport  Aramco deal unpacked and how the deal happened.  And the big difference between selling TV rights and sponsorship deals.  F1 Esports, fan festivals and other new innovations  Founding 26West Sport during the Pandemic , boutique sports consultancy specializing in TV rights, sponsorship and commercial development  “Learning” being an entrepreneur the past year    About Murray Barnett Murray Barnett is a Sports Marketing professional with over 20 years’ experience in Media, Marketing & Sponsorship worldwide. He has uniquely worked for sports leagues, governing bodies, TV/media companies and sports marketing agencies. Starting out in Italy and Hungary with Orbit and Nethold respectively, Murray worked on two international TV start-ups in marketing, sales and programming capacities. Upon leaving Hungary, he was employed by NBA Europe to manage marketing partnerships & programme development with NBA Broadcast partners. From there he was headhunted by ISL to manage TV accounts for FIBA basketball and Fina swimming. Amongst ISL TV’s sales portfolio were also IAAF, FIFA and ATP Tennis which Murray sold across a number of European territories. From there, he was asked to join ESPN to launch their European TV Sales operations which included 3 channel brands and over 10,000 hours of content sales. Murray was also part of the launch team for ESPN UK which broadcast English Premier League, Rugby and US Sports for four seasons. After 11 years at ESPN, Murray was recruited for the role of Chief Commercial Officer at World Rugby, the governing body for the sport. His many responsibilities include all TV sales, content development, sponsorship & commercial agreements, licensing and hospitality. Following the change of ownership at F1, Murray was asked to join the management team as Director of Global Sponsorship & Commercial Partnerships tasked with developing and growing commercial opportunities for partners within F1.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

Stephane Schindler, another French industry veteran who has left his mark across the sports world and in particular with CAA Eleven which changed the face of UEFA’s National Team competitions and commercial structures. Lot’s of great stories and details in our discussion.  Enjoy.     Key Highlights Starting as Intern at EUROSPORT, early days of cable TV in Europe Next stop Canal+, Head of Sports Acquisition of sports rights, Sport+ and Jerome Valcke connection Connecting with all the major rights holders during the role – early days of Sportel Monaco Joining IMG Media in France in 2000,  Michael Grach and Michel Masquelier roles    Great six years at IMG from selling rights to dealing with rights holders, lots of learning in the commercialization of sports rights (Golden Age of industry 1990-2010) Meeting Arnaud Lagardere and starting the agency in 2006, because Lagardere being a big listed company, organic growth wasn’t an option.  M&A growth model. Setting up Lagardere Sports from scratch as first employee and going on big acquisition spree from Sportfive, World Sport Group, IEC in Sports, etc. Building a portfolio of companies. Total acquisition cost, in the EURO 1 billion range for the above agencies to buy scale in the industry fast   Recently, the group was sold for around Euro 110 million (renamed Sportfive), 90% drop in value – failure in implementation and execution, at peak Euro 60-70 mil in profits Founding his own agency, Media Sport System, short 1 year as advisor CAA Eleven, how it all started in 2012 with UEFA looking to centralize the National Team rights  - idea driven by M. Platini, G. Infantino, G. Laurent Epstein, etc UEFA was looking for a similar structure to their successful TEAM Marketing partnership for their National Team rights Finding the right partner to create a brand new agency which would only focus on UEFA rights, partnering with CAA, big US talent agency Multiple rounds of bidding, starting with 15 bidders, final rounds against IMG and Lagardere.  Advantage of being a start up and brand new company, totally dedicated to the project. How CAA Eleven won the deal?  UEFA wanted to keep full control and have protection through an agency.  CAA Eleven’s first block of rights, 2014-18, since then renewed twice, currently till 2028 UEFA Nations League – turning friendly matches into something more meaningful for fans and players – every match counts – going from 700 official matches to 1,500 on offer Successful both on and off the field (commercially) UEFA EURO 2020 in 2021 – his experience from the inside. UEFA made an early decision to move up by one year. Renegotiate with everyone from host cities, sponsors, broadcasters, teams, etc Overall big success and positive feedback from partners – now focused on EURO 2024 in Germany (Football is coming home 😊) Insights into UEFA’s and CAA Eleven OTT and media strategy and approach His crystal ball on future growth of media rights for Premium sports properties – live is rare & rare is gold     About Stephane Schindler Stéphane Schindler started his career in 1996 at Eurosport as Operational Marketing Manager. In 1998, he joined Canal+ and became Head of Sports Acquisitions. In 2000, he became part of IMG as TWI International Vice-President and IMG Head of Business Affairs France. He was in charge of: - the sale of the rights of prestigious sports events (Rugby World Cup, America’s Cup) - the relationships with the French sports governing bodies (24 hours du Mans, French Tennis Open, “Tour de France”, “Ligue de Football Professionnel” (French Football League)) Stéphane joined Groupe Lagardère in September 2006 to launch the Sports Division for Arnaud Lagardère and became Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Lagardère Sports, where he managed and supervised: - the strategy, the development and the acquisitions of the whole Lagardère Sports division (SportFive, IEC in Sports, World Sport Group, Upsolut and PR Event) - all the operational activities in Media, Marketing and events In 2011, Stéphane Schindler decided to launch MEDIA SPORT SYSTEM, a consulting firm operating in the Media & Sport business, as well as a worldwide network of independent partners in the field Stéphane Schindler is graduated in TV and Telecommunications Management (DESS) from the University of Paris IX Dauphine, and in Management and Economics (Master’s degree) from the same University (Paris IX Dauphine) Specialties: Media & Sports business : - Sports media rights management - Sports media production - Media & sports investment strategy (M&A experiences) - Brandtainment in sports   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

Andrew Croker, Chairman of multiple enterprises and one of the most outspoken sports Entrepreneurs hailing from the UK.  Fun and colorful deep dive into Andrew’s 40+ years in the industry from his days following his dad around Football club board rooms to successfully launching Perform, the Global Cycling Network and getting Hawk-Eye into Football.   Key Highlights How it started, back in ancient history in 1973, his father becoming the General Secretary of the English FA Opening doors and hanging out with his dad in Football club board rooms and socializing with everyone in sports Joining BSB (later BSkyB) as employee #4-5, drawing up weekly sports schedule Finders, Binders, Minders and Grinders.  He was always a “Finder” How sitting next to Sir Frank Lowe (Advertising Legend) on the Concorde lead to launching Orbit –  sports marketing agency    Next stop, Ian Todd asking him to start IMG Football Division together with Paul Smith    Sportal – massive rise and big crash  - missed the big sale by weeks – dotcom boom and bust story of the year 2000 Premier League international TV rights (IMG, Sport+, Fox/Newscorp partnership) –  working with new Sportfive as International Board Member and UK CEO How “Perform” idea was seeded and came together – group in Hamburg looking at Digital Production idea – Oliver Slipper – Premium TV  & Inform team Access Industries (Len Blavatnik) comes into the picture – meeting Robert Louis-Dreyfus – and eventually cutting a deal with Len to merge Premium TV and Inform to form Perform Going public and taking it back private, from de-coupling Perform’s profitable B2B business from DAZN’s B2C business and the differences in business models and valuations Next opportunity arrives with Play Sports Group – Claude Ruibal, Global Head of Sports of YouTube at the time providing the “seed money” for the Global Cycling Network on YouTube (Chairman role) – great story from how it started and eventually sold to Eurosport/Discovery Network in 2019 Fascinating Hawk-Eye Football story (South Africa World Cup story and how we ended up in the same stadium in Bloemfontein)  and our thoughts on VAR (Video Assistant Referee) in football Oakwell Sports Advisory – Chairman Advisory Board – intersection between sports world and Private Equity His views on PE in sports, not mincing his words as usual – and a bit of Consultant bashing to top it off Final thoughts on why we both love the industry and can’t wait to get back out   About Andrew Croker Andrew Croker is a very well-known figure in the sports management and media business, with over forty years’ experience. He has worked with many of the biggest rights holders, media owners, agencies and sports brands in the world. Andrew was the first Head of Sport at BSB, the forerunner to Sky Sports, and started and ran IMG’s global football division. In 2007, as Executive Chairman, he co-founded the digital sports rights agency, Perform Group, now DAZN, the live and on-demand sports streaming service. He remains an adviser to Stats Perform, the leading sports data and streaming service. He also consulted to Hawk-Eye for ten years until 2019, focussing on the introduction of technology into football, and was also Chairman of Play Sports Group, which included the Global Cycling Network - the world’s leading community of cycling fans - until its sale to Discovery Networks in 2019.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

John West, a serial entrepreneur across multiple businesses before getting into the exciting world of Sports content, influencers and social media platforms.  Started Team Whistle in 2009 after several years of figuring out his next move.  Recently partnered and merged with Eleven Sports.  Learn about his entrepreneurial journey and amazing stories of how he build a company that now has over 4 billion impressions per months across over 1,600 “Channels” of influencers and online personalities.     Key Highlights Early days as entrepreneur in environmental engineering business in his early 20s – company still around till today Getting a Harvard MBA while working and sold the business Next stop, New York City – Mitchell Madison, new Consulting group – fast growing business Silver Oak Solutions – 2nd entrepreneurial company in “spend management”, software to automate spending patterns of private equity firm’s assets – sold successfully as well How he got “back” into sports and learning from his kids habits on how they consumed content (media). A group of people who made the difference in getting Team Whistle started (Geraldine Laybourne, Don Tapscott’s book “Growing up Digital”  and Mark Lazor) Researched topic for four years, personal learning curve and getting the product right – GenZ focus – first few ideas didn’t work well Focus on UGC (User generated content) across social media platforms – now managing over 1,600 channels and platforms Big hit with “Dude Perfect” , help them with wider distribution, content creation and bring advertisers to them Now over 500 “partners” (influencers) and over 200 Whistle owned channels Not going Negative – Content focused on being “positive, fun and entertaining”, focus on 13-15 year old’s Raising Money for growth – total raise over US$ 110 mil by now Revenue share model with partners and influencers - don’t need to own all the content, key is owning the data behind it and finding ways to monetize it “Brother”  big show on Snap – one great example with a social media platform 4 billion monthly views, 600 million followers globally across all channels. Currently focused on US and Europe. Expanding globally Further growth by acquisition, getting high profile investors into the business (lots of miles travelled) and partnership with Eleven Sports (Andrea Radizzani). Logic behind the deal with Eleven and the synergies between the companies – merged stock deal – combined US$ 300 mil in revenue Esports & Gaming – 25 Pro-Gamers as partners, lifestyle, etc Harvard Business School connections and his involvement as the President of the Harvard Alumni network   About John West John West is the Executive Chairman of Team Whistle, which he founded in 2008.  Prior to that, he was the CEO and Chairman of Silver Oak Solutions, which he founded in 1999, and sold to CGI in 2005.  Prior to that he was a Partner at Michell Management Group, and also Founder and CEO of Enstrat from 1989 until he sold it in 1996. John has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  He has served on several Boards at Harvard, and is currently the volunteer President of the Harvard Alumni Association.  John lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ