SportsPro Podcast

The owners of F1, Liberty Media, will now control the two biggest global motorsport properties after agreeing to pay €3.5bn for 86% of MotoGP's commercial rightsholder, Dorna Sports. The BlackBook Motorsport team of Cian Brittle, Alice Evans and Tom Brown discuss the deal as the SportsPro Podcast taps into the knowledge of Mics Out (1:18). Then, regularly scheduled programming resumes with Tom Bassam, Sam Carp and Arif Islam hitting a few of the biggest stories in the sports industry, right now. Talking points: - Liberty Media's MotoGP takeover (1:18) - The German FA splits up with Adidas (16:19) - Ipswich Town valued at £260m as it gets investment injection (23:15) - A-Rod's deal to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves collapses (30:56) Find all episodes of Mics Out here.

The opening day of the 2024 IPL season brought in 590m video views for JioCinema, showing nothing moves the needle in sports like Indian's Twenty20 franchise cricket behemoth. How far will the tournament's influence grow? Here trying to answer that question are SportsPro's Ed Dixon, Josh Sim and Tom Bassam.

Amid a very publicly announced antitrust lawsuit, FuboTV CEO David Gandler has described the new streaming service from ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros Discovery as a 'streaming cartel'. With Gandler one of the speakers at SportsPro New York, we took the opportunity to take the temperature of the industry from on the ground at the Marriot Marquis.

The NWSL is back for the 2024 season with an expanded 14 franchises, a new raft of TV deals and growing interest from fans, as well as investors. Here, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman speaks exclusively to Tom Bassam in a broad-ranging interview about the direction of women's football and how the top league in the US is working to grow the game.

The podcast discusses the rise of young darts star Luke Littler and the 2023/24 World Darts Championship. PDC CEO Matt Porter talks about professionalizing darts and reaching new audiences. The conversation covers the business side of darts and the surge in interest in the sport.

In this special NEW ERA podcast, SportsPro's Katie Preston, Yin Khoo and Jatila Blake discuss the true meaning of allyship and the importance of active support to achieve gender equity. Then, in part two (33:20), Elena Kouyoufa is joined by Santo Raggiri, the founder of Fair Play Project, where he shares practical advice and insight to the work that needs to be done to achieve gender equality in sports.

Formula One returns this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix and, to mark the start of the new season, BlackBook Motorsport writer Cian Brittle joins the pod to discuss all the major narratives from the paddock. Talking points: - Andretti's rejected bid to join the grid (2:56) - Keeping fans engaged when the competition is lacking (12:50) - New team sponsors and partnership challenges (22:36) - The expansion of F1 Academy (30:21) - Season predictions (37:31)

The second-ever Green Football Weekend was held earlier in February to encourage fans to adopt a more sustainable approach to following their teams. Pledgeball CEO, Katie Cross, and Helen Taylor, the former CEO of Forest Green Rovers, join the podcast to discuss the initiative and how best to tackle football's sustainability challenges. Talking points: What is the Green Football Weekend? (7:27) Why the focus on reducing meat consumption? (12:26) Are fan campaigns the most effective way of changing behaviours (16:36) Should the English football regulator be thinking about green issues? (25:30) Are broadcasters leading the way? (29:22)

Series five of Drive to Survive was watched for 90.2m hours in the first half of last year - one of Netflix's biggest hits. Box to Box, the creator of the show, is now applying the popular format across a number of different sports. Warren Smith, the production company's head of sport and factual, joins the podcast to give us the inside track on Box To Box's approach to making a hit sports documentary. Talking points: Smith's background and working at Box to Box (2:10) Why did Box to Box's style cut through so well? (9:05) Are the stars more open to the cameras now? (15:44) How the producers work on storylines and put the shows together (19:49) Waiting for the call to commission the next season and keeping the series fresh (29:47) Upcoming projects (33:51)

SportsPro has published its fifth annual class of sports technology startups worth investing your attention in. To mark the occasion, technology editor Steve McCaskill joins the pod to talk through the list before we hear from Gareth Lippiatt, co-founder and chief executive of one of the companies in this year's class, FanHub. Talking points: How the list comes together (1:08) The trends in this year's list (4:08) Steve picks his favourite startups on the list (9:58) Gareth Lippiatt interview (18:40)