Seth Berger has seen it all, took the risks as an Entrepreneur, build an iconic brand in the process (AND1), sold the business, with success and failures along the way. He shares his amazing stories here with us with a smile and laughter. The Sixers Innovation Lab gives him now the playground to follow his passion, being a Coach at heart. Listen and learn. Tons of incredible Entrepreneurial lessons in here.     Key Highlights How it all started - coming out of Wharton Grad School - AND1 Database Marketing business early days... Great Entrepreneurial start up stories not to be missed The real AND1 started in a Pizza place As an Entrepreneur you are winning and losing every day. Ego is the brother of insecurity. And Seth has no time for either Focus on 16 year old Basketball consumers - AND1 T-Shirts were born Some luck - MJ retired for the first time and his brand stopped selling and retailers were looking for something new  From T-Shirts to Shorts to Basketball Shoes - almost bankrupted the company in the process Incredible Stephon Marbury story - Marbury 1 - break an ankle with SM Business took off from there hitting USD 280 mil in revenue and become 2nd biggest Basketball shoe brand in the USA Creativity a key to the success - great slogans "call me Mayor because I spend all my time downtown" 😂 Commitment and focus and no space for ego Birth of Mixedtape Tour and ESPN's Streetball Selling the company - the stories and emotions behind it The story behind "Tai Chi" - Vince Carter, 2000 NBA Slam dunk contest Hoops TV - ahead of its time and despite all efforts it failed Sixers Innovation Lab (SIL) - reconnecting with Scott O'Neil & HBSE SIL's USP - access to HBSE network and affiliated services and cash Invested in 14 companies, sold one so far From sports gambling, Esports to health drinks - broad range with a focus on B2C - examples What are the three most important factors to chose investments: Market, Team, Idea 💡 Ask the right questions. Technology today allows you to find the right answers Focus currently on US companies but open to others Gaming & Esports - it's real and might become bigger than real sports SIL's three investment in this space (U.gg,..) Betting on young talent Basketball "Coach" at heart   About Managing Director, Sixers Innovation Lab Seth Berger earned his MBA in 1993 from the Wharton School and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of Pennsylvania in 1989. Seth has been the CEO of four businesses in the consumer space, and his fifth “venture” has been to build an elite high school basketball program as Head Coach. In these ventures, Seth has started with a hyper focus on the understanding of the target consumer, with the philosophy that every consumer business must meet and communicate a specific consumer need to survive. After that, he has worked to create branding and marketing strategies to drive messaging that sticks in a world of constant consumer messaging.   AND 1 — 1993-2000, 2002-2005 As Founder and CEO of AND 1, he ran an upstart basketball sneaker, apparel and entertainment company. After starting out selling screen printed tee shirts in 1993, the Company moved into the broader apparel and footwear market. AND 1 reached its height it 2001, when it attained the No. 2 spot in the US basketball footwear market. At its peak, AND 1 had revenues of $285 million, including its licensees. In addition, AND 1’s entertainment division created the Mix Tape tour and Streetball, an ESPN series that was the No. 1 rated show among male teens, eclipsing SportsCenter. AND 1 also donated more than 5 percent of its annual profits to youth-based charities. In 1999, the partners sold a stake in the business to TA Associates, a venture firm out of Boston. In 2005, the company was sold to American Sporting Goods, a private shoe company based in Irvine, Calif.   HoopsTV.com — 1999-2001 Seth served as CEO of HoopsTV.com from 1999-2001. He helped raise $15 million in financing for the business, hired its staff, and launched a site dedicated to basketball fans all around the world. Despite negotiating a partnership deal with ESPN.com, the business was unable to generate enough revenues to continue, largely because broadband capabilities were not strong enough to sustain its business model. Seth shut the business down in 2001.   Lightning Gaming — 2005-2006 In the fall of 2005, Seth took on a part-time CEO role for another start up, Lightning Poker. This business was the brainchild of Brian Haveson, former CEO of Nutrisystem. Brian was traveling the country as a professional poker player, and he approached Seth with his idea and patent. Seth helped raise $1 million in financing, hired a staff, created an automated poker table, and negotiated an international distribution deal with Shufflemaster, a public company. After 12 months, he turned the Company back over to Brian, as part of their original agreement for his term of service. Lightning Gaming now holds many slot machine licenses, in addition to its original product, and is a non-traded public company. More information can be found at www.lightningpoker.net.   Gravy Train — 2011-2012 Seth self-funded a small venture in the mobile gaming space. GravyTrain created a Facebook game, “imthnkgof” (I am thinking of), and launched it in December of 2011. Although the idea was executed well, the market for these games started to crash, led by Zynga, and Seth shut down the business before wasting too much money.   The Westtown School, Westtown, PA, 2007-Present Seth is currently the Head Boys Basketball Coach at The Westtown School, in Westtown, PA. He has had this role for 12 years, and was an assistant for two years before that. His teams have a 72 percent winning percentage, and they won their league title seven of the last eight seasons. The team won the state championships in 2016 and 2017, and have four runner-up finishes. The Westtown program is a high level athletic and academic program that has helped many kids move on to play Division 1, 2 and 3 basketball in recent years. When Seth took over the program, the team had a 3-15 record in his last year as an assistant, and it had only won one basketball league title in 1986. He and his wife, Christelle — also a Wharton School graduate — have three boys. They also have guardianship of five brothers from overseas who attended the Westtown School and now live with the family. Prior to Wharton, Seth was Legislative Director for US Representative Harold Ford, Sr. from 1989-1991. He was, at 21-years old, the youngest Legislative Director on Capitol Hill. As an undergraduate at Penn, Seth was a four-year letter winner, captain and MVP of the Sprint Football team. He played one year of junior varsity basketball. Seth also received the Bowl senior award for service to the community. He is still waiting for his first 10-day contract in the NBA.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/podcast   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

Drew Sheinman’s career is a 40 year smorgasbord in the world of sports, sports marketing, entertainment and now Private Equity from MLB, MSG, Coca-Cola, Breeders Cup, Endeavor to now Brand Velocity Partners.  Incredible journey from the humble days of a management trainee in the MLB in 1979 to now running his own Private Equity partnership. As always, enjoy listening and learning.   Key Highlights Starting his career as one of the first Management trainees in the MLB Baltimore Orioles stories, working with new ownership, winning the World Series in 1983 Next stop New York Mets, as a Yankees fan, creating new marketing and revenue streams.  “Let’s go Mets” rally song for 1986 World Series Champion – according to Rolling Stone Magazine, the greatest anthem in baseball. https://youtu.be/2N4VIXM1RJk Two World Series Rings from Orioles and Mets days. Started his first own company, integrating sports and entertainment. Investor pulled the plug.   Madison Square Garden – marketing and business development for the teams across many different genres, sports, entertainment, etc Created the first MLB Fan Fest around the All-Star weekend.  MSG owned the concept.  Still running 20 years later. Coca-Cola Director Sports Marketing – they wanted someone from the outside looking in Coca- Cola Olympic City – at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, Theme Park concept, etc almost a 1,000 presentations to get it approved – great success story From FMCG to Real Estate -  Running Malls for Simon Brand Ventures (250 Malls across the US). Turning them into entertainment complexes. 2 Billion visitors annually. Simon live media network. Tiki Barber (NFL NY Giants player) partnership -  Tiki Ventures (replicating Magic Johnson success story, bringing athletes into business opportunities) Breeders Cup – Chief Marketing/Revenue officer – 30-day crash course around the industry – Endeavor (WME-IMG) – Brand Ventures – first agency for retired American Football players (22,000), talent management from athletes, Hollywood stars to supermodels (Agent 2.0) – working with Kobe Bryant Brand Velocity Partners – Private Equity – started 2 years ago – independent sponsors model (closed several acquisitions already) – focus on middle-market companies Barbeque Guys – brought in Manning Football family and other players as investors and brand ambassadors Core Values:  integrity, kindness, carrying -  creating balance – do well and do good Not a fund (independent sponsor model) – looking for deals which fits the model, Ebida threshold.  Then raise the funds to close the deal. Looking across health, wellness, Tech, food & nutrition, etc -  other deals Original Footwear (Military Footwear), Reflection on 2020 – was a great year despite the challenges – all funds raised virtual Vision Works-  Rebels Spirit – agave spirit from Mexico – new category called “Avila”   About If you want to launch, scale or monetize your business, you want Drew in the room. He's a self-described "white space" guy. The guy that not only looks forward but looks around to come up with fresh ideas to grow your business. Drew has a results-charged track record of guiding premier companies and iconic celebrities to differentiate their brand and optimize revenues through the development and execution of ground-breaking concepts, strategic partnerships and new business ventures. His ideas have created a billion dollars of top-line value. What makes Drew extremely valuable is his proven ability to shape his ideas for profit and take them to market to his vast and well-connected professional network. Drew particularly enjoys building new categories, the most challenging and exciting work of all. He is best known for envisioning and making markets in sports and entertainment for: Endeavor(WME-IMG), MLB, International Olympic Committee, Coca Cola, Madison Square Garden, Simon Property Group, Breeders Cup, NY Mets, and Baltimore Orioles. Drew is a Partner of Brand Velocity Partners, a disruptive lower-middle market private equity firm that focuses on consumer and data companies with $5-30 million of EBITDA. BVP is differentiated because of its focus on marketing, something its competitor’s lack. Drew takes great pride in BVP’s core values -- integrity, thoughtfulness and kindness. Drew is also a Director and Partner at Revel Spirits, a high quality importer of all agave spirits produced exclusively in the Morelos region of Mexico. All Revel spirits meet the high-quality standards of a trademarked new disruptive category now called “Avila.” Drew “lives every second of every day” and loves spending time with his family, dog and doing his part, such as mentoring kids in sports to make the world a better place to live.    Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/podcast   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 Smith, a true Gaming/Esports expert turned Entrepreneur based in Australia. We are going BIG into Esports & Gaming, learning from Chris’s background and then a deep analysis into the difference between Esports and traditional sports, including detailed discussions on numbers and revenues for Gamers and Influencers.   Key Highlights Early days, pathway into the industry, turning his passion into a career, started as a player in a top four team in Australia (playing Battlefield, CSGO)   Commentating on games, promoting LAN Parties – connecting into the industry through various roles, learning the different parts of the industry Thermaltake Australia – Marketing & Esports Community Manager CCC (Chris Creative Collective) – first taste of entrepreneurship – online marketing, events, websites and other services EGAA (Esports Games Association Australia) – board member & PR/Communication BIG Esports – esports, gaming and influencer business – including his own Podcast – operate like a “VC growth company” Difference between Gaming and Esports (US$ 150 billion vs US$ 1 billion) - all about reaching GenZ   Australian Gaming/Esports landscape – about 10% of the US market, similar games and dynamics as the US (LOL, CSGO, FIFA, etc) Comparing Esports and Sports ecosystem No clear career path for Esports players compared to traditional sports yet League structures (Closed vs Open Leagues) – Overwatch World League - Franchise League (US$ 30 mil entry ticket) Esports teams vs Pro Sports teams – 70% revenue from sponsorship, prize pool going mostly to players,  LCS/LOL player starting salary US$ 300k                                                              Many Teams operate more like an “agency”, from content creation, events, licensing, etc Owners and creators of content are the big winners – FaZe Clan great example   Changing Meta (Most Effective Tactics Available), changing the rules of engagement in a game – pros and cons Influencers & Gamers – Gaming is the interface – top Esports athletes are often influencers but also plenty of influencers who are not Pro-gamers Monetization – gifting, donation, subscription, advertising, sponsorship dollars All about accessibility – building a strong community big or small  & creating entertainment Lots of examples of what influencers can generate Revenue splits -  Apple/Google – 30% cut of every dollar – Epic/Fortnite is battling it Platforms:  Twitch, Steam, Discord, YouTube Gaming, etc – places to find GenZ       Examples of cross-fertilization and new forms of partnerships between Movies, Music, Sports IP and Gaming companies   About With twelve years’ experience in gaming, esports & technology, Chris Smith is the founder & director of BIG Esports (www.bigesports.gg) – Servicing the industry through bringing new ideas and revenue lines through the door by partnering with traditional companies, sports and influencers. Chris’ experience is wide-ranging, coming from his history in semi-professional play, community & national event coordination, game commentary, community management, business development, consultancy and PR & marketing across esports, gaming, influencers and enthusiast technology. A major focus of present is sports celebrities becoming gamers, LinkedIn content and new revenue-generating business ideas for gaming. Past & present clients include: Fox Sports, Gemba, HOYTS Cinemas, JBHIFI, NVIDIA, ASUS, Intel, AMD.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/podcast   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

Claude Ruibal is another true Legend in our industry, with nearly 40 years across multiple major companies and roles over his career.  It’s a bit longer than the usual podcast as it was impossible to put four decades of incredible experiences in the usual 60 min.  Hang in there, it’s worth every minute, learn from his stories, from his early days at the LA 84 Olympics to his roles at ISL, Coca-Cola, Universal Sports Network, YouTube, Infront to now consulting with start-ups.   Key Highlights Early days,  out of law school, getting involved in the LA 84 Olympics with two years to go to the Games – negotiating deals as part the Olympic Families team Learning to work as a team and overcoming the Russian pullout, was the big learning Next stop, Democratic Presidential Campaign – Michael Dukakis United States Football League – new American Football League – managing player relations, contracts – one of the owners was Donald Trump (and listen to what happened) From the US to Europe/UK – Saatchi & Saatchi – big UK agency – working with major clients who were sponsors of major events, ie. the 1992 Albertville, Winter and 1992 Barcelona, Summer Olympics Off to Switzerland, ISL Marketing – SVP, selling media and sponsorship for the IAAF properties (International Association of Athletic Federation) now World Athletics Back to the US, leading Coca-Cola’s global Football program (over US$ 300 million investment) – Leading new campaigns, ideas and activations Dotcom boom time, getting into Ask.com (Ask Jeeves) – selling search solution to the IOC, helping raise capital for country-specific launches, having to manage things during the dotcom crash Universal Sports Network – after 20 years in corporate/agency roles, co-founding (with Tom Hipkins) a multi-platform cable channel for Olympics sports (outside of the Olympics) for the US market – original name WCSN (World Championship Sports Network) Taking an idea from start to a full fledge business, bringing in PE group InterMedia Partners – heavy capital intense business, which then attracted NBC Sports From the start-up world – next stop -  Google and YouTube – Global Head of Sports Content – cleaning up the illegal use of content on YouTube,  building trust with IP owners in the platform Rightsholders clearly not happy with YouTube but also using them to scare traditional broadcasters that Google/YouTube might get involved in rights bidding New business model, some upfront guarantees against advertising dollars for the bigger sports, but mostly a rev-share model of ad dollars 2012 – 2014 Olympics, first time streaming bigger live content on YouTube & live stream of Red Bull Stratos jump (2012) – biggest live concurrent stream at the time (9 mil) Pushing YouTube to go after more sports rights at the time, looking at subscription model besides the advertising model His views for the future in the rights space – subscription (B2C) and ad model is the key for many rightsholders YouTubes, rev share model – quick insights Wanda Sports Group (Infront & HBS) – continuing his learning, taking charge of Digital, Production and Sports Solutions New technologies from digital on-field branding, ie. different branding for different regions to driving innovations in Infront X Lab HBS, Chairman of the Board, more oversight role, strong leadership team with Francis Tellier leading the production Latest role, Ubiquity Sports - working with start-ups in interactive digital fitness, athlete tracking, contextual advertising solutions and AI-driven solutions   About Claude Ruibal is a senior, results-driven leader who has extensive experience in both the sport and digital industries. His impressive career has included many strategic and entrepreneurial roles across the US and Europe, including most recently as Chairman of HBS and SVP Infront - Digital, Production & Sports Solutions. Prior to that Claude was the Global Head of Sports Content Partnerships at GoPro, and before that as Global Head of Sports Content at Google/YouTube. Previously, he acted as Chairman & CEO of Universal Sports Television Network and Director of Global Football Management at the Coca-Cola Company. He contributes proven abilities such as starting and managing new ventures, developing and executing integrated consumer-marketing and sales programs as well as building front and back end consumer Internet streaming and content solutions. Claude Ruibal has a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University School of Law and a BA in Political Science from the University of California Santa Barbara.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/podcast   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

Michael Broda originally from Cologne, Germany (my hometown) is now building an Esports Group from Prague, Czech Republic.  Insiders know that Eastern Europe is a hot bed for start-ups with smart tech entrepreneurs in the region.  Michael plays both across his native German-speaking markets and Eastern Europe and is now looking to conquer the world with ESPL, a new gaming platform for the casual gamer.  Lots of great insights into the Esports ecosystem and tech side of the business.  Enjoy.        Key Highlights Michael’s early days being a Banker in Commerzbank Cologne, at that time it was cool to be a banker Moving from Cologne to Prague (Czech Republic), back to his parents’ roots in a CFO role for a strong midsize company (EURO 400 mil turnover) in his mid-late 20s Start of Delta Capital,  15-20 investments, using his own money. Started with turn-around of distressed companies and then start-ups. Combining old and new economy. Starting his first investments in Esports and Gaming -  esports.com – portal about Esports news and info Sold esports.com to Pro7/SAT 1 Media group Founded Esports Investment Group (EIG) -  several early stage investments Focus on digital infrastructure, data, monetization and traffic – focus on growth of Esports industry beyond the US$ 1 billion Vibadou – German social media platform – all about creating authentic content, started with Pro-Football teams, future Esports teams Esportido – white label club and athletes app for unique fan and sponsor engagement Fantasy.ai – data scientist looking at new solutions for Esports community, from matchmaking to AI solutions Gaming to Esports, closed data to open data, knowing who is in front of the screen and then provide the best products for them Eastern European IT startup ecosystem vs Silicon Valley, price advantage and high quality, networking is key ESPL.gg – Esports Players League – from bedroom warrior to Pro-player TwoG Nation (another one of his investments) helped ESPL to start its tech engine. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL) connection via his partners in ESPL Structure of Esports Ecosystem from top-level tournaments by Publishers to amateur events on 3rd party platforms – building a career path from amateur to pro-player Mobile Esports focus – initial focus on South East Asia (SEA) because of strong mobile first and some markets even mobile only markets Expanding globally, 12 markets now, Mexico, India, etc, currently about 100k registered users – target 1 million next year Free for now, future Freemium model – special content, coaching, etc Franchise Model.  ESPL provides the backend system, local team runs the local marketing and brings the customers Last thoughts on Esports and the growth in future     About Michael Broda is a German serial entrepreneur and former investment banker. He studied both, banking and finance, MBA and strategic management, MSc. He started his career in 1998 in Commerzbank Cologne and moved into the investment banking focusing on financial markets and financial derivatives. In 2002 he moved into his first top management position, becoming CFO of CE Wood, a medium sized cee wood processing company with USD 300 mil revenues and 5000 employees in the Czech Republic.  In 2006 he started his own venture and founded Delta Capital, an investment holding which invested into distressed assets, later also startups. Under the roof of Delta Capital he founded several companies, and acquired and sold more than 15 companies.  In 2016 he made his first investments in the sports industry starting with Fantasy sports and later esports.com. He was fascinated by the esports industry and took over esports.com as CEO, 2 years later the company was sold to Pro7/Sat1 Media Group, one of the biggest media houses in Europe. For the past 4 years he is very focused on the business of Esports, especially in the area of AI, infrastructure and new solutions in this space. Michael is currently leading ESPL as Founder and CEO.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university   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

Alex Dreyfus, originally from France, now living in Malta, one of the betting and Blockchain hubs of the world. Alex is a true serial “net-preneur”, having started several internet related businesses, exited some successfully and struggled with some others. We are diving deep into the world of Blockchain, Tokenization (Club Token) and his current platform Socios.com powered by ChiliZ.  Alex, is raw, open and shares it like it is (enjoy the colourful language).   Key Highlights Started off as a computer geek in his hometown in France, first computer at the age of six and build his own Online Forum at the age of 14 Left school at the age of 18 without any degree & without parents approval, in 1995, created his first company Mediatis which he sold later to Publicis Group Next act, Webcity.com – initial great success and then company went bankrupt (lesson, not as important to be first….) Took a short term job to survive and then started working on his next move, WINAMAX , online poker and sports betting website targeting France (license from the UK) Sold his shares due to conflict with partners and moved to Malta (2006) and started Chiligaming – Chilipoker – online betting Sold business six years later to listed US company (Bally Technologies now called Scientific Games, listed company) Next founded Global Poker Index, global poker ranking (ATP of Poker) – started to create a “sports like product” - Global Poker League (only lasted one year, currently on hold) Learned the importance of monetization of fanbase and that’s how ChiliZ got started Love hate relationship with Crypto initially – anti-Bitcoin before he started to understand the tech behind it while working on Esports and Fan engagement ideas ChiliZ – raised US$ 66 million through private placement in first half of 2018 (at the height of ICO’s, before crypto crash).  Got timing right (compared to Sportsfix, Marcus’ ICO in later 2018) ChiliZ is the currency of the ecosystem, the Token for activities.  Also includes an Exchange to trade the token. Originally focused on Esports but gave up due to various reasons and focused on traditional Sports teams   Socios.com – fintech fan engagement & monetization platforms for sports teams Vision – 99% of fans are not in the Stadium, how can you get the 99% deeper engaged using a Fan Token (creating Superfans) Having a share of voice – digital asset vs crypto currency  - Fan token are not a crypto currency – Socios.com launched a year ago,  300k downloads, people buy and trade token How to buy Token on the platforms…..transaction flow Tiering of Clubs decides level of Token being put out into the market Pricing of token, initially set – fluctuation based on demand once listed What is a fan – many ways to define, Fan token purchased by Crypto enthusiasts (50%) (early adopters) and superfans (non-crypto audience) (50%) Currently token only traded on ChiliZ platform, soon tradeable outside on other exchanges US$ 5-6 million worth of token sold (not money raised as you will hear 😊) Business Model – for Socios and Clubs  and discussion about other innovative Tokenization and blockchain ideas to wrap it up   About Alex is a serial web entrepreneur with more than 22 years of experience in the digital space, building and developing tech businesses. In the late 1990s, he pioneered Webcity, the web-based interactive tourism guide, before completing a buyout with retail giant Carrefour, and later merging with a competitor service and selling to Yelp. After co-founding Winamax (the largest French online poker room) and Chilipoker in 2006, the underpinning technology platform was sold to Bally Technologies (now Scientific Games). In 2013, he acquired the Global Poker Index (live Poker’s leading ranking authority) as well as The Hendon Mob (the largest live poker database in the world). Dreyfus recently raised $66 million through a private token sale for Chiliz – a digital currency for sports and entertainment platforms. The first platform that will use Chiliz Tokens is Socios.com, a turnkey solution for football and sports clubs looking to adopt blockchain technology to monetise their fan bases. To boost blockchain innovation in Malta, Dreyfus has also established the Chiliz Blockchain Campus –an accelerator and industry hub connecting some of the industry’s largest stakeholders across Asia and Europe, together with other emerging blockchain entrepreneurs. The Campus houses world-leading exchanges, crypto-friendly European banks and is a collaborative space for small to large blockchain companies. Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university 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

Patrick Murphy's fascinating career path, took him from selling door to door Junk Mail in Dublin to working in Newscorp in Hong Kong, TEAM Marketing in Switzerland and back to Hong Kong to now managing one of the largest Sports IP in Asia, the Asian Football Confederation’s commercial rights through his new partnership (FMA).  Great stories and lots of insights into the future of Asian Football.   Key Highlights Getting started by selling Junk Mail in Dublin after school (1984-85) – door to door sales His decade in the TV world, from ITV in the UK to Star TV in Hong Kong (Newscorp) in the 90s Murdoch’s focus on Sports – creating Sports Corp inside a broadcaster (ESPN-Star Sports) – creating IP Journey back to Europe, joining TEAM Marketing in Switzerland (exclusive agent of UEFA Champions League) UEFA Champions League – billion dollar property – sponsorship & media deals UEFA taking a stake in TEAM eventually International Champions Cup (ICC) – created in the US by a US real estate billionaire (Stephen Ross) Top European Clubs playing against each other in the US and globally instead of the old format of playing local teams during the summer window FMA (Football Marketing Asia, previously DDMC Fortis) – the start of a new huge venture, taking over AFC (Asian Football Confederation commercial rights) Leveraging his TEAM (UEFA) experiences and confidence that they can pull this off Offer to work with AFC on an exclusive basis as one key differentiator & offering top Dollars (knowing that this will win or lose it) and playing the China card right DDMC (Listed company in China) background and their reason for entering the partnership (through Super Sports) Let’s talk numbers, deal size in the range of US$ 2.4 billion for the next 8 years  (accept a premium was paid) And how FMA is planning to make it back and reason FMA was willing to pay the premium How to deal with the changes in the broadcast landscape and current climate Key will be “go local” , develop local heroes and drive up value of local Football rights vs international rights Media, Digital, structure of media rights, packaging and marketing it Sponsorship, important part, closer to 50% of revenue – leveraging virtual technology FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022,  Asia Cup in China in 2023, FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/NZ in 2023  – big opportunities to showcase Asian Football to the world   Hand over from Lagardere Sports and building a team to get started Jan 1, 2021   About Over 30 years' experience working in sports media and marketing. Currently a Board Member and Chief Executive Officer at Football Marketing Asia. Patrick previously founded Catalyst Media Group (International Champions Cup) and Synergy Sports (CBF, CONMEBOL) and was formerly Managing Director, TEAM Marketing in Europe responsible for selling media and sponsorship rights for the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. About Football Marketing Asia Limited (formerly DDMC Fortis Limited) Football Marketing Asia (FMA / 亚洲足球商业开发有限公司), is the exclusive commercial partner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the rights cycles 2021-2024 and 2025-2028. Headquartered in Hong Kong, and with offices in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China, FMA combines unparalleled global football experience with in-depth Asian know-how and expertise. Formerly known as DDMC Fortis, FMA has quickly become known as Asia’s leading football marketing agency delivering unprecedented value for fans, media partners and sponsors. The focus of the company is on one thing and one thing only: Asian football. It embraces the many obvious and subtle differences and needs in the markets in Asia and delivers tailored solutions for commercial partners and fans of AFC National Team and Club football. ----------------------------------------------- If you are enjoying the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast (SEP) series, check out our Virtual Sports Entrepreneurs University (SEU) too. The Sports Entrepreneurs University is a natural extension of the Podcast series. It's a deep dive into the world of Sports & Esports. Marcus will be sharing his 25 years of experience and learning as a Sports Entrepreneur and connecting the dots. It's a 6 weeks course with an opportunity to join an Affiliate Partnership program after. For more information HERE ----------------------------------------------- Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university ----------------------------------------------- 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

Dato Razlan Razali is living his childhood dream from running Sepang International Circuit (SIC) for over a decade, hosting F1 and MotoGP races and turning the loss-making facility into a sustainable business to turning his passion for motorcycling into being the Team Principal of the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Race Team which is taking MotoGP by storm the last two seasons and is on the verge of winning the Championship.  Listen, learn and be inspired by his stories on how to build a successful Racetrack and how those learnings helped him to create a very successful MotoGP racing team.      Key Highlights His career start, selling his first company, starting a concert company with his brother and his first job interview for the CEO role of Sepang International Circuit (SIC) which didn’t go so well. Persistency paid off and he became the CEO of SIC in 2008, few weeks before the MotoGP race. Early days at SIC, he inherited a mess and had a culture shock,  rolled up his sleeve and started to make changes. Starting to charge for everything in and around the track to generate new revenues.  More professionalism and commercialization was the key. Turn SIC into a multi facet venue -  “a ballroom under the sky”. Hosting Formula 1 at SIC stories, his first meeting with Bernie Ecclestone, again didn’t go so well…… 2009 the first F1 race under his leadership, made changes, focus on what’s best for SIC and Malaysia and disregarding F1 and the arrogance of F1 teams. Till the end, it was never a happy marriage with F1, race became jaded, nothing new and was eventually dropped. MotoGP was the opposite, Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta was open to all his ideas and wanted to do more, the growth and success of the race since then is proof. Very vocal when F1 race was dropped,  “even given for free, Malaysia would not host F1 race”,  Reuters headline worldwide. Revealing the fee SIC paid to F1 and the reasons why the Prime Minister of Malaysia asked him to get out. MotoGP success stories, how it all started, creating local heroes by starting a young rider search, academy and having wild card riders in Moto3 (125cc category). Created the first SIC Moto3 team in 2015,  challenge taking riders from “Kapcai” racing on the streets of Malaysia to a full fledge racing machine in Europe (money, motivation and mindset). Lots of talented local riders in terms of skill but most lacking mental strength. First Season in MotoGP in 2019 – lady luck played a role – stories of how it all started – his childhood dream came true. Petronas played a key role in taking over a financially struggling MotoGP team. How he found “Fabio” (Quartararo) – stroke of luck and how he came out blazing from the start and winning “Rookie of the Year” award, first podium till leading standing now. His thoughts on winning the MotoGP Championship this year – original target was to just win the “first” race  (which they did with the first & second race of the season). Superhumans – stories of his riders dealing with crashes. Valentino Rossi – the Doctor is joining the team in 2021 – the story behind it (and Fabio leaving to Yamaha Factory team). MotoGP “bubble”, how it’s working, SOPs, rules, regulations and restrictions – importance of team talks. His prediction for the Championship with four races to go. His final thoughts on the future of Motorsports after Covid – difference between F1 and MotoGP.   About Dato Razlan Razali is a dynamic and highly successful Senior Executive with extensive high-level successes across a wide variety of industries, including world-class event management. First-class leadership skills with excellent marketing and sponsorship development experience in both national and international arenas. Consistently aims for the highest standards on a personal and corporate level. Proven ability to generate innovative growth strategies for successful and profitable companies. Major Achievements Sepang International Circuit receives Training Support Excellence Award 2016 at the BSI Client Appreciation Night by BSI Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Sepang International Circuit was awarded Project Owner of the Year Award 2016 at Shell Bitumen Technical Conference & Customer Appreciation Dinner by Shell Malaysia. Sepang International Circuit was awarded the Global Branding Award 2016 in theGlobal Brands Icon in Motorsport by Global Brands Council. Sepang International Circuit receives Utusan Business Award 2015 in the category of Sports Entertainment Sector. Sepang International Circuit was awarded the Best Event Management Company for Excellence at the rAWr Awards 2015 by the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCeb) and the Malaysia Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS). Sepang International Circuit received the Bronze Award in the Corporate Branding category at the Malaysia PR Awards 2014/2015. Sepang International Circuit was awarded for its excellence in the Industry Class in Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (“MICE”) in the State of Selangor, Malaysia in 2014. Sepang International Circuit received OHSAS 18001:2007 certification in 2013. Sepang International Circuit received the Best Grand Prix Award in 2012 for Malaysia MotoGP by the International Road Racing Team Association (“IRTA”) Sepang International Circuit awarded Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor 2012. Sepang International Circuit received ISO 9001:2008 certification in 2011. Sepang International Circuit was awarded the coveted Facilities Improvement Plan Fund in 2010 by the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (“FIA”). Masterminded the creation and development of Pineapple Concerts (a successful Malaysian events management company); led the organisation, promotion, marketingand sponsorship of large-scale sell out events, including huge concerts by major international artistes the Black Eyed Peas, Lionel Richie, Earth, Wind & Fire and Kanye West. Championed and led the first mobile e-tickets programme in Asia. Successfully raised USD6 million in capital investment for WAP Portal Sdn Bhd from a listed Malaysian company and a listed company from Singapore, convincing both companies to invest based purely on a concept presentation with no physical product, which clearly demonstrates high level influencing/negotiation skills. Consistently worked at Board Level as Director, Non-Executive Director and on the Audit and Remuneration Committees for a major mechanical and electrical service public listed company, Bintai Kinden Corporation Berhad. ----------------------------------------------- If you are enjoying the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast (SEP) series, check out our Virtual Sports Entrepreneurs University (SEU) too. The Sports Entrepreneurs University is a natural extension of the Podcast series. It's a deep dive into the world of Sports & Esports. Marcus will be sharing his 25 years of experience and learning as a Sports Entrepreneur and connecting the dots. It's a 6 weeks course with an opportunity to join an Affiliate Partnership program after. For more information HERE ----------------------------------------------- Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university ----------------------------------------------- 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

Robert Müller von Vultejus has been on the forefront of Sports Marketing for decades, as would appear in many different companies, but in reality, these groups were often an “iteration” of previous legacy businesses.  Operating for 25 years from Hamburg, Germany, Robert gives us a great inside look into all the companies and is now one of the key executives to take Sportfive 2.0 back to its glory days globally.  Listen to his fascinating career and stories across UFA Sports 1.0, Sportfive 1.0,  Lagardere, UFA Sports 2.0 to now Sportfive 2.0 again.   Key Higlights Robert's start into the industry, studied Sports Management in Bayreuth, while studying and DJ-ing started his first agency UFA Sports 1.0,  in Hamburg,  his boss Bernd Hoffman, ownership by Bertelsmann Group/RTL - the old Media Rights arbitrage game, buy/sell rights Merger of UFA Sports with Sport + (Sports marketing arm of Canal+) and  Jean Claude Darmon (French sports marketing group) – new group called Sportfive, managing the German and French culture -  lasted a few years and was sold again to Advent (US PE Group). Opportunity for management to participate in deal. New focus on “Comprehensive Marketing” of 25 Football Clubs in Europe Different models of upfront guarantees and other facilities to clubs and rights holders – mostly internally funded based on EBIT of Euro 90-100 mil Next sale to Lagardere Group (French again) for EURO 860 million (US$ 1 b)  - good move from a shareholder point of view, but company culture suffered (entire senior management left) UFA Sports 2.0, starting again with the team that left Lagardere Sports and found RTL as investors again New way of working with rights holders, open book, more transparent way – helped to grow the new business , starting in 2008 during the global financial crisis Sold UFA Sports 2.0 to Lagardere Sports (RTL was looking to exit, change in strategy)  - initially Lagardere was black listed until discussion with Philipp Hasenbein changed the view Lagardere, where did it all go wrong. Multiple reasons ……. And Recently sold for a fraction of the original value to HIG Capital Sportfive 2.0 (after the purchase by HIG Capital), reason to go back to the old name, 1,000 strong team with offices in Germany and across Europe, US, Asia Focus on Selling, still strong portfolio across the regions from rights representation to talent business and consulting Strong believe that the Agency business is still very important in the ecosystem but a new approach is needed   Sportfive in Esports – RIOT Games tournaments in Europe, T1 from Korea Career highlights and worst moments His view on sports going forward after Covid and during the pandemic   About Robert Müller von Vultejus, born in 1969, graduated in sports economics at the University of Bayreuth in 1994. He started his professional career at UFA Sports GmbH as a manager in media rights marketing in the same year. From 1997 to 2002, Müller von Vultejus was responsible for the European football business as a member of the management board. In 2001, UFA Sports was renamed Sportfive and Müller von Vultejus was appointed Managing Director with responsibility for the German business. In December 2007, Robert Müller von Vultejus left the Sportfive Group and in 2008, together with former high-ranking Sportfive managers, he founded a startup company named UFA Sports, later renamed U!Sports GmbH. The start-up was bought by the Lagardère Sports Group in 2015 and became part of the global network of Lagardère Sports and Entertainment. In addition to his role as Managing Director of Lagardère Sports Germany, Robert Müller von Vultejus continued to be Managing Director of U!Sports and moreover was responsible for the European Business Development Unit of Lagardère Sports and Entertainment. In April 2020, Lagardère Sports and Entertainment was sold to H.I.G. Capital. In 2020, Müller von Vultejus has been appointed Chief Growth Officer (CGO) and is one of four members of the Executive Committee of the international sports business agency SPORTFIVE. Müller von Vultejus is a family man, plays tennis and has a preference for fitness, nutrition and cooking. He is married, father of four children and lives with his family in Hamburg. ----------------------------------------------- If you are enjoying the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast (SEP) series, check out our Virtual Sports Entrepreneurs University (SEU) too. The Sports Entrepreneurs University is a natural extension of the Podcast series. It's a deep dive into the world of Sports & Esports. Marcus will be sharing his 25 years of experience and learning as a Sports Entrepreneur and connecting the dots. It's a 6 weeks course with an opportunity to join an Affiliate Partnership program after. For more information HERE ----------------------------------------------- Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university ----------------------------------------------- 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 is sharing stories of his illustrious career from being a founding executive member of Major League Soccer, to working at FIFA World Cups and Olympics at the client-side with Yahoo and VISA which has led him to his current role as the Chief Commercial Officer of the LA 2028 Olympics and the US Olympic & Paralympic Properties. With eight years out, it’s a long and interesting road ahead.   Key Highlights Accidental entry into sports, not the typical lawyer career path.  Doug Logan, a client and first Commissioner of Major League Soccer got him involved in the new League Working at the MLS – with industry Tycoons from Lamar Hunt, Phil Anschutz and Bob Kraft and Alan Rothenberg.  From Team names to Venues, tickets, etc starting from scratch Credit to founders for keeping the League alive to the big success it is now Yahoo Days,  dot com era.  Yahoo became Partner of FIFA on 9/11 (announcement on the fatal day) and Chris’s role, FIFA World Cup in Japan/Korea Premier Partnerships, joining Randy Bernstein who left Yahoo and started the agency A decade at VISA, transition from Agency to Client-side. Lots of “internal selling” vs external. Olympic and Rugby sponsor at the time. Not yet with FIFA First VISA involvement at FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010.  Massive issues in the transition between Mastercard and VISA prior to it. Why is VISA in Sports – growth of VISA brand is directly lined to Olympics.  Pass through rights for Banks is key.   FIFA deal, target to reach a different consumer base than Olympics.  More Debit card focused than Credit Card.  First World Cup, huge success. Marcus & Chris 1984 LA Olympics stories LA 28 – The story behind the LOGO and MARKS Eight Years out – first focus is TEAM USA and develop a long term story for brands Elevator pitch – key is to empower brands, drive engagement, drive brands business – co-creation Talking Numbers,  US$ 2.5 billion target in sponsorship.  US$ 7 billion overall budget   Balancing act between IOC Global partners and local partners Tokyo learning and how to work with partners – extension without any additional fees Learning/Lessons from his career – don’t take yourself to seriously and don’t let the job get into your head (teamwork matters)   About Chris Pepe is a seasoned sports business executive leading commercial negotiations, property and team management, market activation and business development. As the Chief Commercial Officer for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties (USOPP), the joint venture between LA28 and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Pepe is responsible for marketing and selling rights for LA28 and Team USA from 2021 through 2028. Prior to USOPP, Pepe was Head of Strategic Partnerships for Visa International’s North American Product Division. During nearly 10 years there, he held various leadership positions including Head of U.S. Sports & Entertainment Partnerships and Global Head of FIFA/Football Management in Visa’s Worldwide Sponsorships and Partnerships group. In these roles, Pepe managed many of Visa’s multi-million dollar sports investments and led many of the company’s global sports and lifestyle strategies. In addition to his career at Visa, Pepe has developed business strategies for a variety of sports and entertainment properties, including the first-ever global sales network at Yahoo! and Premier Partnerships when in its startup phase. He began his career in sports as a founding executive member at Major League Soccer (MLS). Pepe received his B.A. and J.D. from Villanova University and is a cited expert in trusted sport business outlets including Sports Business Daily, Sportcal and Inside the Games. ----------------------------------------------- If you are enjoying the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast (SEP) series, check out our Virtual Sports Entrepreneurs University (SEU) too. The Sports Entrepreneurs University is a natural extension of the Podcast series. It's a deep dive into the world of Sports & Esports. Marcus will be sharing his 25 years of experience and learning as a Sports Entrepreneur and connecting the dots. It's a 6 weeks course with an opportunity to join an Affiliate Partnership program after. For more details HERE ----------------------------------------------- Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university ----------------------------------------------- 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