SportsPro Podcast

Eoin Connolly is joined by SportsPro senior staff writer Ed Dixon and Steve Martin, global CEO at M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, to preview a contentious Winter Olympics in Beijing. They discuss how Covid complications and allegations of human rights abuses against Uighur people in Xinjiang have dominated an uneasy build-up to the Games, and consider how the International Olympic Committee, its sponsors and broadcasters will move forward. Then, China Sports Insider founder Mark Dreyer returns to give a perspective from the ground in Beijing, and look at the future of winter sports and the rest of the industry there. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

In a session from SportsPro’s inaugural Ignition event, Eoin Connolly talks to George Pyne, founder and chief executive of sports and entertainment investment fund Bruin Capital. George explains where Bruin identifies opportunities, its partnerships with scale-up companies like Deltatre, Two Circles, Oddschecker and TGI Sport, and how that compares with its activities in the startup space. He also lays out some of the key growth trends in sports technology, shares his thoughts on the prospects of NFTs and metaverse technologies, and discusses how the industry has changed since he moved on from IMG to set up Bruin Capital in 2015. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

SportsPro media and technology editor Steve McCaskill talks to Eoin Connolly about the latest developments in the sports tech startup and investment space. They reflect on SportsPro’s 2022 list of the 20 sports tech ideas to invest in now, teasing out key trends from personalisation to digital betting and networks in grassroots sport and college endorsements. They also consider the perspectives shared on an investor round-table, asking where value is being sought and whether excitement about the metaverse and NFTs is premature. Steve then talks to the co-founder of one of the companies on the list, RespoVision’s Pawel Osterreicher. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

The latest episode of the Playbook Podcast sees host Matt Rogan seeking how to shape and influence the cultural side of an organisation. Matt is joined by Tony Simpson, partner at Oliver Wyman, to decipher high-performance cultures and to find out if any business really wants one. The pair also discuss how to create drive and energy in your business in a candid and wide-ranging conversation. Tony Simpson has held a variety of leadership roles in sport and media businesses in both Europe and the Middle East advising corporations and governments on business transformation, corporate structure and executive alignment strategy. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

Eoin Connolly gets a look inside soccer’s transfer market with Financial Times sports business correspondent Sam Agini; Kieran Maguire, author of The Price of Football and co-host of the podcast of the same name; and Daniel Geey, partner in the sports group at Sheridans law firm and author of Done Deal. They explain what must happen and who needs to be involved for a player transfer to take place, reflect on how deals are valued and the financial instruments that pay for them, and consider how the market affects clubs’ behaviour and what reforms could improve the state of play. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

Eoin Connolly talks to organisational psychologist John Amaechi, founder of APS Intelligence and author of bestselling book The Promises of Giants. They discuss how change happens at a personal and group level, how cultural expectations are set and how leaders can guide teams through uncertainty to progress. They also talk about the impact of societal change, the significance of role models and what a commitment to anti-racism really means. A former NBA player, John argues why the sports industry needs to be more honest about its influence and how it can do better with the potential at its disposal. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

Amid a build-up dominated by the Novak Djokovic vaccine saga, Press Association tennis correspondent Eleanor Crooks joins Eoin Connolly to preview the Australian Open. They discuss how the men’s world number one’s Covid stance will affect his standing in the game, how the episode has been received by other players and fans, and the implications for the tennis authorities and other sports bodies in creating vaccination policy. They also cover broader themes in the business of tennis, from competition in the calendar to how the WTA will cover the fallout from the alleged 2021 disappearance of Chinese star Peng Shuai. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

The latest episode of the Playbook Podcast sees host Matt Rogan seek to challenge the assumption that financial management in business is a formulaic skill. In a bid to prove that financial management is not just simply having the numbers in the right place on a spreadsheet, Rogan talks to two partners at EY in Anna Faelton and  Eva Garcia de la Fuente about their work at the global services firm, as well as some of the challenges outside of the sport-space and the applicable lesson in dealing with them  for those within it. As the conversation moves on Anna Faelton and Eva Garcia de la Fuente also lift the lid on how to approach translating a company's finances into a coherent strategy and then executing on that plan. And more good news! The SportsPro Podcast has been nominated for a Sports Podcast Award. If you like what you hear, please vote for us in the Best Sports Business Podcast category here. Please note that you will have to register first.

SportsPro digital editor Tom Bassam and senior staff writer Ed Dixon join Eoin Connolly as the podcast loosens up after the festive break with a preview of 2022. There are predictions around athlete activism, brand scrutiny and technological change ahead of big events like the Beijing 2022 Olympics and the Fifa World Cup in Qatar. Then come reflections on SportsPro’s ten influencers for 2022, whose challenges range from leading the conversation on human rights to managing cryptocurrency’s reputation, taking women’s soccer to the next level, bringing a media giant to life and finding new purpose for the Commonwealth Games movement.

In the final podcast of 2021, SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly has a reflective chat with editorial director Michael Long. Mike picks out some of the stories he thinks have defined the year gone by, from the Olympic movement’s challenges to private investment, the integration of technology and the rise and rise of women’s sport. He also lays out some of the ways in which the editorial project has adapted not just to the Covid crisis but a longer-term evolution in the sports industry and how media companies’ relationships with their audiences have changed as well.