Leaders Worth Knowing Podcast

Former AFC Bournemouth owner Jeff Mostyn and his daughter Janine, MD of search firm Huckleberry Sport, are the guests on this week's Leaders Worth Knowing. The Mostyns are two of the best networked people in the UK sports industry, and ahead of the release of Jeff's new book, The Chairman: The Man who Saved AFC Bournemouth, they visited the Leaders studio to reflect on a (very expensive!) fairytale journey. Having made a success of a financial advisory practice focused on the Armed Forces, Jeff began his association with AFC Bournemouth in 2006. At the time, the club was in the third tier of English football, saddled with debt and poorly run. Over the course of the next 16 years, Jeff took the club through administration, to the brink of extinction, via a trip to the very bottom of the English professional pyramid, before establishing the club as a force in the Premier League. Bill Foley's consortium, Black Knight Football Club, bought the club in 2022. Janine has led sport and entertainment talent firm Huckleberry Sport since 2017, and works with the likes of Premier League football clubs, Formula 1 racing teams, media and broadcast production companies, business consulting services and agencies and world-renowned gaming and entertainment providers.

Audi joins the F1 grid in 2026 and the team’s Chief Commercial Officer Stefano Battiston joins the show to give an update on preparations.Completing its phased, multi-year buyout of the Sauber team, the German manufacturer will join the grid as F1’s latest round of technical regulations come into play with the potential to shake up the competitive order.Commercially, Battison was at the heart of a new title sponsorship agreement with finance app Revolut - he explains what happened behind the scenes to get the deal done.He also reflects on the changing culture as the Swiss-based team grows, how Audi intends to make its mark as one of 11 teams in F1 next season and how he identifies new sponsorship categories and brands with marketing budgets.

In the aftermath of Leaders Week London 2025, James Emmett and David Cushnan breakdown some of the top stories and tidbits from the biggest sports industry event of the year at Allianz Stadium, before introducing a series of conversations recorded on-stage. On the agenda:(10:42) Jeff Moorad, Co-Founder of MSP Sports Capital, talks about the art of the exit in sports investment, following MSP's recent decision to part ways with McLaren Racing after playing a key role in the team's revival. (17:23) James Foster runs marketing at HUGO Boss and has a number of top tier partnerships in sport, including with Aston Martin. He talks through the rationale behind the organisation's sponsorship activity and more broadly, how the brand thinks about cultural traction.(22:00) Foday Dumbuya, Founder and Creative Director at Labrum, on the partnership between Labrum, Arsenal and Adidas; an away kit collaboration that celebrates Arsenal’s connection to its supporters from across the African diaspora.(31:00) Britt Hadris, Director of Global Women's Sport at PepsiCo, on how the brand looks at and measures sponsorships across men's and women's sport.(36:35) Mohammed AlSayyad, Head of Corporate Brand and Strategic Advisory, PIF, on the four principles that help shape how PIF think about sports investment and sponsorship. 

Premier League CEO Richard Masters, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the FA's Director of Women's and Para Football Sue Day, and CBS Creative Producer Pete Radovich are the featured guests as Leaders duo David Cushnan and James Emmett are joined by Karthi Gnanasegaram to review the final day of the Summit at the 2025 edition of Leaders Week. 

James Emmett, David Cushnan and Eoin Connolly reflect on a terrific opening day at The Summit from Allianz Stadium, which saw over 2,000 movers and shakers from across the global sports industry gather at the home of England Rugby.The trio discuss a range of themes and talking points from on-stage sessions, which featured a stellar lineup of speakers across three stages. Alongside the dialogue, this episode contains short snippets of sessions and from around the venue, featuring Victor Montagliani, Sarah Massey, Mark Wilf and Susan Goodenow.

WWE President Nick Khan, Garcia Companies Founder Dany Garcia, and IMG President Adam Kelly sit down for a series of punchy conversations on Leaders Worth Knowing this week. On the eve of Leaders Week, James Emmett and David Cushnan give an inside view on what to look out for at the biggest sports industry event of the year at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham next week, before introducing a series of conversations recorded at the IMG x RedBird Summit last week. Fresh from TKO's debut boxing event in Las Vegas, WWE President Nick Khan talks ground-breaking media deals with Netlfix and ESPN, ponders the future of PPV, and explains why he won't use emojis; Dany Garcia - the woman who runs Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Promotions production company, as well as the UFL, Danimás, and a portfolio of other businesses - explains what makes a great sports film, talks bodybuilding, and finally reveals what it was that the Rock was cooking. And Adam Kelly looks back at a year of breathtaking deal-making and partnership building at IMG, and gives us a view from his front row seat overlooking the rapidly changing picture that is the macro media market.

In the second episode of the series between Leaders and TikTok, we explore the social giant’s approach to sport through the prism of some of its key executives and content creators.To help us do that, we called upon Rich Paul, Founder & CEO of Klutch Sports Group – one of the most influential sports agencies in the world with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Juju Watkins and Draymond Green on its books. Paul has recently become a TikTok user and has already been widely admired for dropping brilliant insights on athlete branding, draft picks, and what it takes to build a lasting sports empire.Vanessa Craft, TikTok’s Global Head of Content Partnerships and Business Development, joins Paul on the show to talk through community-building, how the worlds of sports, music and fashion are showing up on TikTok, and the consumption habits between men and women on the platform.SBJ’s Managing Director Dan Kaufman hosted the conversation a few days after TikTok’s North American Sports Summit.

As the finals take place this week, Billie Jean King Cup CEO Kerstin Lutz joins the show from Shenzhen, China, which is hosting the women's national team tennis competition for the first time.Lutz explains how China's third-largest city is embracing the finals, and shares her tips for working in and running events in the country, as it re-emerges onto the global stage.She also reflects on her first 18 months as CEO of the BJK Cup, the operational takeover of the tournament in 2023 by Billie Jean King and TWG's Mark Walter, working in tennis alongside the sport's many stakeholders, and the elements of agency life - Lutz is a veteran of Team Marketing - that have helped as she settles into life running a sports property.

Nascar EVP and Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst joins the show to discuss how the stock car series thinks about broadcasting and engaging fans. Speaking to Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett, he explains the rationale behind the latest cycle of US broadcast rights, including a new partnership with Amazon, which began this season and netted Nascar a reported $7.7 billion over the next seven years. Herbst also discusses why and how Nascar shows up in Roblox and Fortnite, plus its recent debut on Substack, and where international rights and coverage fits into his thinking as he plots the future media direction of the top-level Cup Series, the secondary Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. 

Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) completed a series C funding round earlier this summer, raising a reported $40 million. The round was led by Saudi Arabia's SURJ Sports Investments, and supported by Cordillera, Verance Capital, and initial investor Sir Michael Moritz. Sam Renouf is the founder and CEO of PTO and the man who leads the organization's T100 series of triathlon events. He led the efforts to raise the money. He joins the Leaders Worth Knowing podcast this week to give us a step-by-step guide to the year-long process that led to the capital injection.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Professional Triathletes Organisation and many other rights holders from across global sport will be out in full force at Leaders Week London from 29 September - 2 October. To find out more and to secure your pass, visit leadersinsport.com/leadersweek