Leaders Worth Knowing Podcast

World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin on reviewing the Rugby World Cup and running a game in the midst of change.As the tickertape settles on a record-breaking 2023 Rugby World Cup, World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin reviews the tournament – the format, the performance of the Tier 2 nations, the role of technology and the experience in France – and sets out the organisation’s big priorities over the next few years.In an extended conversation on Leaders in Focus, Gilpin spends time with Leaders’ James Emmett and David Cushnan, at IMG’s London studios, to discuss what a sustainable and smart future for women’s rugby union could look like; player welfare and safety; the influence private equity money might exert over the sport in the coming years; the dynamics at play in the CEO-Chairman relationship within international federations; the boring-but-critical role of committees; and the constant evolution of sports hospitality. He also reflects on the unique way rugby stirs emotion and how he channels his own emotions as a leader.Leaders in Focus is produced by Leaders in Sport, in partnership with IMG. The full video version is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbxdPzEtr5w&t=909s

Founder and CEO of Mercury/13 on the multi-club approach and making an impact in women’s football.Mercury/13 is one of the most talked-about companies in the global sports industry right now, and Victoire Cogevina Souki one of its most in-demand leaders.The former agent and tech entrepreneur has this summer launched a fund with US$100 million to spend on women's football clubs, in Europe and Latin America - with a mission to create a multi-club model that will supercharge the sport, and a team of experienced sports industry names, including Eni Aluko, Luis Vicente and Ebru Köksal, around her.On this first episode of Leaders in Focus, Cogevina Souki sits down with Leaders' Laura McQueen and David Cushnan at IMG's London studios, for a candid conversation in which she shares how her passion for football began; the mission underpinning Mercury/13; her thesis on women's football and its potential; the multi-club investment plan and why it's a model built for women; and her own approach to decision-making and assessing risk.Leaders in Focus is produced by Leaders in Sport, in partnership with IMG. The full video version is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_dl4dNlci4&list=PL8ADew6iO39WkFD89KndCuqXdypdfPgtt

Recapitulating the learnings from our unforgettable flagship event, onsite at Twickenham Stadium.Leaders on the Ground takes you behind-the-scenes at our in-person events, where our team will review the action and key takeaways from the on-stage sessions. In this episode, Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan and Managing Director Laura McQueen are joined by Stuart Rowson, Founder and Consultant at Lucky Socks Media, to recap the goings-on from a momentous return to Leaders Week London.The group discuss a range of themes and talking points spanning the week and our Business Summit on-stage sessions, which featured a stellar lineup of speakers across three stages. Alongside the dialogue, the episode will contain short snippets of sessions featuring Mark Bullingham, CEO of the FA, Jennifer Hills, Co-Managing Director of Globe Universal Music Group, H.E Bader Alkadi, Vice Minister of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport and more.

A run through of the week coming up on 16 - 19 October, how it’s shaping up and tips and tricks for when you go.Leaders Week London is happening on Monday 16th to Thursday 19th of October. With 3,000 in person attendees from over 70 countries and 50 sports, it’s an unparalleled opportunity to connect with those at the heart of the global sports industry. In this episode, Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan, Managing Director Laura McQueen and Events Director Hannah Redfern tell you what to expect, what to look out for and everything you need to know about everything happening during the week.Monday 16th: The Diversity Forum – a platform for executives within sport to champion equity, diversity and inclusion.Tuesday 17th: The Leaders Sports Awards - a prestigious, black-tie celebration of excellence across the industry with 500 distinguished guests, at the iconic Natural History Museum.Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th: The Summit, at Twickenham. 3 fully programmed stages, a host of private forums and gatherings, a thriving partner village, all your favourite sports industry connections and the best lunches in town.If you’d like to join sign up for an unforgettable week of relationship building and knowledge sharing, you can find out more via: https://bit.ly/3tcFQtP. And if you’re already registered, you can download the official Leaders Events app from your chosen app store to see the latest version of the agenda, plan your week, book meetings and connect with people from across the industry.

Agency founder Jo Tongue on building a business around her clients.Welcome to Founders Keepers, the podcast series about entrepreneurship and business building from the Leaders Sport Business podcast.The guest for this final episode of the season is Jo Tongue, founder of Tongue Tied Media.Tongue has 20 years of experience in the industry across sport, media and commercial, beginning with an eight-year stint as a Producer at the BBC. She then moved to independent agency Somethin Else, before beginning her role as as Director at Women in Football in 2010 – a role she holds to this day. She is also a Trustee of the Jason Roberts Foundation and the Michael Carrick Foundation. She was recently recognised in the Woman's Hour 2023 Power List for Women in Sport, and was awarded an MBE for services to Football and to Gender Equality in the 2023 New Year Honours List.In 2015, Tongue founded Tongue Tied Media. Tongue Tied Media consists of two branches. The first is Tongue Tied Management, which represents the likes of Jill Scott, Leah Williamson, Dion Dublin, Andy Cole, Emma Hayes and Michael Carrick.The second branch is Tongue Tied Productions. The company’s production portfolio includes 'Euro '96 - When Football Came Home' and 'Raising the Bar with Rob Rinder' on BBC Radio 5 Live - which featured the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Alan Shearer, Kelly Cates, Glenn Hoddle and Chris Sutton. Their series ‘Re:United’ brought together rivals such as Vinnie Jones and Paul Gascoigne, Steve Cram and Lord Coe, and Andy Cole and David Seaman.Leaders Week London, our flagship in person event experience, is returning on the 16th-19th October. To find out more about how you can connect with those at the heart of the global sports industry, visit https://bit.ly/3tcFQtP.

ONE Championship’s Founder and CEO on creating Asia's largest billion-dollar global sports media empire.Welcome to Founders Keepers, the podcast series about entrepreneurship and business building from the Leaders Sport Business podcast.The featured guest on this episode is ONE Championship Founder Chatri Sityodtong, a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist.Sityodtong was raised in Thailand, cut his teeth in the US, and now runs his MMA and media empire from his base in Singapore. His is an extraordinary story.Inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, he has over 35 years of martial arts experience as a student, a fighter, a teacher, and a coach. He is a certified senior Muay Thai instructor under the legendary Kru Yodtong Senanan, and holds a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie. Sityodtong is also the star of the first-ever global edition of The Apprentice, and was recently named Asia’s King of Martial Arts by the Financial Times, and Asia’s 2nd Most Powerful Person in Sports by FOX Sports. Business Insider also ranked him as one of Asia’s Top 100 Business Leaders.In 2011, Sityodtong ONE Championship and, in the decade that followed, built it into Asia's largest global sports media property in history. According to Nielsen, ONE is now amongst the world's top 10 biggest sports media properties in terms of viewership and engagement.ONE is a celebration of Martial Arts, and its deep-rooted values of integrity, humility, honour, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. As the world's largest martial arts organization, ONE is on a mission to unleash real-life superheroes, tell stories, celebrate values, ignite dreams, inspire nations, and change the world.Leaders Week London, our flagship in person event experience, is returning on the 16th-19th October. To find out more about how you can connect with those at the heart of the global sports industry, please visit www.leadersinsport.com/leadersweek

Two Circles co-founder Gareth Balch and his entrepreneurial journey.Welcome to Founders Keepers, the podcast series about entrepreneurship and business building from the Leaders Sport Business podcast. Two Circle co-founder Gareth Balch is the featured guest on this episode. Balch represented Great Britain as an 800 metre runner before moving into the world of sports business, first with Goodform, and then in the commercial strategy team at Manchester City. In 2011, at the age of 28, Balch founded Two Circles alongside Matt and Claire Rogan.Conceived as a digital agency focused on helping sports rights holders develop direct relationships with fans, Two Circles’ marketing mandate matched its business plan perfectly, and it very quickly established itself as the data driven agency in sport. It’s gone on to hoover up business across the UK and Europe – and latterly in the US and internationally too – and is a serial winner of the Agency of the Year gong at the Sport Industry Awards.Since inception, Two Circles has generated annual revenue and profit growth of 54% and 42% per year on average. It was also named as one of the fastest growing companies in The Sunday Times 100 for two years in a row, and its global footprint has expanded to 500 ‘Two Circlers’ across six cities.Two Circles was acquired first by WPP in 2015; and then by Bruin Sports Capital – which took a majority stake for $42m in December 2019 - and since then has made four significant acquisitions to strengthen its rights and sponsorship sales, and marketing offerings: sports rights-sales agency TRM Partners, ticket strategy and sales company Sports Ink, award-winning sports content agency LiveWire Sport, and the Australian digital transformation company Codeware, in a deal that was announced just days before this interview took place in January this year.Leaders Week London, our flagship in person event experience, is returning on the 16th-19th October.To find out more about how you can connect with those at the heart of the global sports industry, visit https://leadersinsport.com/leadersweek.

Examining how sport franchises have tailored their apparel to appeal to the masses. 4se Material explores some of the many stories at the intersection of sport, entertainment, lifestyle and culture. This episode was originally published on the 4se Material feed in April - to hear more like it, search '4se Material' on your chosen podcast platform.It seems sports fans and non-fans alike are sporting licensed sportswear. From jerseys to caps, a passerby on any city street can spy some of sports’ most famous logos worn on the bodies of many a trendsetter. But how did this happen? How did pieces of memorabilia, originally designed for die-hard fans, develop this mass appeal? Why would sports organisations seek to make their merchandise more wearable, and why would non-fans buy into it? And how much power really is there in recognisable company iconography?   To help us stitch this sportswear story together, we spoke to Matthew Primack, SVP of International Business Affairs and Development at Fanatics, and to Samantha Gibb, Head of PR and Digital Communications EMEA at New Era - two world-class organisations retailing and manufacturing licensed sports merchandise; we also consulted Dr Lauren Burch, Senior Lecturer in Sports Business at Loughborough University London, to help us understand how organisations benefit from investing in merchandise; and last but certainly not least, we spoke to Mirko Borsche & Kolja Buscher from global design studio Bureau Borsche, whose portfolio includes heading the design of the rebranding for Venezia F.C, whom the media have labelled “the world’s most fashionable football club”.

In conversation with the Chief Strategy Officer at the commercial media arm of the ATP Tour.This is the Blueprint, the podcast brought to you by Leaders and Deltatre about straightforward strategic thinking in sport.This series teases out insights from leading industry executives about how they strategise. They’ll provide a fresh perspective on sport’s most recognisable organisations, with real life examples of where strategy worked (or didn’t).This episode features Nick Bourne, whose role as Chief Strategy Officer at ATP Media is to lead the organisation’s build out of new services and capabilities built on centralised data, content and platforms – and support the wider business' development as the sports media rights market continues to transform. Bourne joins Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan and Deltatre’s Commercial Strategy Lead Max Barnett for an insightful discussion around execution vs planning, driving the Netflix deal and when and how strategy can sometimes fall down. 

Insights on strategic thinking with the VP of Strategy and Business Intelligence at one of the NFL’s cornerstone franchises.This is the Blueprint, the podcast brought to you by Leaders and Deltatre about straightforward strategic thinking in sport.This series teases out insights from leading industry executives about how they strategise. They’ll provide a fresh perspective on sports' most recognisable organisations, with real life examples of where strategy worked (or didn’t).In this episode, Russell Scibetti, who created and manages the Business Intelligence department at the New York Football Giants, joins Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan and Deltatre’s Commercial Strategy Lead Max Barnett to discuss strategy as alignment, how to correctly maximise use of data and how the leagues work with clubs for a fan-first approach. Note: This interview was conducted over video call, so there may be some slight distortion in the panel segment but this should not take away from your listening experience.