Leaders Worth Knowing Podcast

In conversation with the man who brought Brighton back from the brink. One Careful Owner is a series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that features exclusive conversations with the people who invest billions into teams. Who have a unique handle on where the industry is going. On media rights. On globalisation. On asset creation. On trading players. On the risks, rewards and the pitfalls. On the pressures and demands. The unique challenges and often downright weird situations that only sports owners have experienced. And all while they’re doing their day job. Our guest today is Tony Bloom, the man from the south coast of England who made his money as a professional gambler – betting on sport and at poker tables around the world – before investing in his home town football club, Brighton & Hove Albion, and leading them to the top tier division after 34 years away from it and numerous failures along the way. Tony is a rare breed of modern sports owner. His family have always been fans of the club – and so has he. He’s put hundreds of millions of his own money into Brighton since he became chairman in 2009, and taken not a penny out. He’s been patient and he understands the fabric of the club. For him, a return is not about ROI, but creation of a legacy, and leaving the club in much better place than he found it. It was rare and candid interview which we recorded soon after Brighton had secured another season of Premier League football earlier in the summer. We talk about how ownership has changed and how it will in the future; investing in a football club; what he’s most proud of; his ambitions for the club – which have evolved and grown as the club has; how much time he spends on the club and who he trusts within it; and of course, what he thinks of the attempted breakaway to form a European Super League.

England Men's Football Head Coach Gareth Southgate joins Leaders Founder and Chair Jimmy Worrall for a special episode of Rules of the Game to go in depth on an intangible but imperative leadership characteristic: resilience. Released on the eve of European Championship Final at Wembley - England's first appearance in a major final for over 50 years - and recorded as Southgate was putting the final touches to his preparations for the tournament, this episode of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast unpacks what it means to have resilience - as a leader, and as a team. On the agenda: - The skill of resilience: what it is and what it does for you; - How to develop resilience in yourself and in diverse teams; - Channeling failure into growth experiences: the penalty miss and relegation with Middlesbrough; - Growth mindset: analysis, reflection and review; - Handling pressure, handling criticism, handling scrutiny. For more on Leaders podcasts and its regular series of global sports industry events, visit leadersinsport.com. And if you're looking to keep pace with an ever-changing high performance landscape, enquire now to become a member of the Leaders Performance Institute – the world's elite high performance community that challenges thinking and shares insights, spanning all sports and all aspects of performance.  

Billy Beane, Barry Hearn, Michele Roberts, and Jonathan Barnett join Leaders Founder and Chair Jimmy Worrall to discuss the art of negotiation. In the second episode of Rules of the Game, Leaders Founder and Chair Jimmy Worrall explores the art of negotiation and what it takes to do it effectively. He sets out his five golden rules to follow, and offers a practical set of tips to reinforce your own negotiating style. To unpack this fundamental skill, he's joined by four of the finest exponents of deal-making from across the world of sport: - Oakland A's EVP of Baseball Operations Billy Beane - Mr 'Moneyball' himself - who pioneered data analysis in baseball to gain an edge in player trade negotiations; - Serial sports promoter Barry Hearn, Chairman of Matchroom Sport and one of the most successful all-round commercial operators in any number of sports and across any number of revenue streams; - NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts, who has spearheaded several rounds of successful negotiations between the NBA and its players, and was a key factor in the league's ability to come back from the pandemic to complete its season in the Disney 'bubble'. - 'Super agent' Jonathan Barnett, Founder and Chairman of Stellar Group and the architect of some of world football's most eye-catching deals, including Gareth Bale's 100 million euro transfer from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013.

In conversation with the billionaire co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. One Careful Owner is a new series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that features exclusive conversations with the people who invest billions into teams. Who have a unique handle on where the industry is going. On media rights. On globalisation. On asset creation. On trading players. On the risks, rewards and the pitfalls. On the pressures and demands. The unique challenges and often downright weird situations that only sports owners have experienced. And all while they’re doing their day job. Our first guest on One Careful Owner is Marc Lasry. In 2014, Marc bought the Milwaukee Bucks NBA franchise from long-time owner Herb Kohl. Kohl had paid $18 million for the team when he bought it in 1985. Marc – alongside his partners Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan – paid $550 million for it. According to the latest Forbes list, the franchise is worth $1.6 billion today. Marc founded Avenue Capital Group in 1995, building the hedge fund over time to the point at which it now has $11 billion under management. He lives in New York with his wife Cathy and they have five children. Leaders Chair Jimmy Worrall spoke to Marc towards the back end of 2020, with the NBA having just completed its truncated 2019/20 season.

One-on-one with video monetisation guru Yoav Arnstein | Olympics in peril | First thoughts on Clubhouse. Episode 104 of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast sees us delve deep into the mechanics of Facebook's monetisation machine with the social giant's Director of Product Management Yoav Arnstein (conversation starts at 15:30). Video monetisation is arguably the top priority for any of the major sports publishers - including rights holders across the sporting spectrum - on Facebook, and Arnstein leads the development and roll out of the monetisation tools that the platform provides. He is one of the key internal stakeholders informing - and being informed by - the sports strategy that Peter Hutton and his team have been developing as Facebook has evolved its formal relationship with sport. On the conversational agenda: - The role video plays in fostering community; and the role community plays in monetisation strategies; - How Facebook currently monetises video, and why in-stream ads and pay-per-view are about to get big on the platform in 2021; - How the product roadmap is developed and implemented at Facebook, and the reason that traditional sports media products might not yet have been developed; - Arnstein's view on the video monetisation strategies in play at Amazon, YouTube and Facebook's other major competitors; - How Facebook attempts to find the balance between commercialisation and positive user experience.

  Leaders Founder and Chair Jimmy Worrall introduces the pilot edition of Rules of the Game, a new series unpacking the skills required to be an effective leader in 2021. In this edition, Jimmy explores the art of networking, identifying and explaining the keys to doing it well, adding value and forging connections that turn into longstanding relationships. Through extended conversations over several months with some of sport’s leading figures and expert networkers, and Jimmy’s own personal experiences with Leaders in Sport over the past 12 years, this is the ultimate practical guide to how to build and nurture your professional network – quick-fire tips and golden rules to network by. You’ll hear from: - Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Scott O’Neil on asking questions, surrounding yourself with smart people and helping others to connect. - Kathy Carter, Chief Revenue Officer at LA 2028, on finding commonality, building trust and earning respect. - Former UK Sports Minister Tracey Crouch on treating everyone with respect and finding the right relaxing networking environment. - FA and Premier League ambassador David Dein on sticking your neck out, the importance of humour and how relationships were at the heart of the formation of the Premier League. Presented by Jimmy Worrall Produced by James Emmett Edited by Danny Garlick Music by Wataboi and lrobinson_sds (via Pixabay)  

The trading card ecosystem and its rapid growth | How team and player licensing agreements work | Working with athletes and maximising their value   Episode 102 of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast lifts the lid on the inner workings of trading card licensing agreements, featuring conversations with Panini America’s VP of Sales and Product Development DJ Kazmierczak (starts at 1.55) and Malaika Underwood, SVP of Licensing at OneTeam Partners, the organisation that helps the likes of the NFL Players’ Association and other player unions maximise the value of athletes’ names and images (starts at 24.30).   On the conversation agenda: - How licensing agreements between teams/athletes and companies like Panini actually work; - The growth of the trading card ecosystem and the emergence of breaking; - The biggest challenge for licensees like Panini; - The importance of rookie cards; - Panini's production decisions around high value cards; - How OneTeam Partners is aiming to build more comprehensive partnerships and unlock new revenue streams for the player unions it works with; - What athletes want from licensing agreements; - The trading card from 2020 you ought to have in your collection.

Making a brand impact with Arsenal and Manchester United | Using influencers to authenticate and embody your brand | Breaking through the noise in a busy 2021. Episode 101 of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast features a conversation with Adidas VP of Brand for North Europe, Chris Walsh (starts at 2:41). Working across product range planning, brand marketing, advertising, creative and retail marketing, Walsh plays a key role in bringing the sportswear giant's sports and culture partnerships to life, chief among them the global deals with Arsenal and Manchester United, and new local partnerships with Glasgow Celtic and Leeds United. The episode also includes a brief discussion with Andy Childs (starts at 16.27), who leads 'connection planning' for Facebook in Europe, consulting with the top 100 brands on the platform on how to use digital marketing to drive business growth. On the conversation agenda: - The three pillars supporting all Adidas partnership marketing efforts; - The 18-month design-to-sales lifecycle of a 21st Century football kit; - How Adidas works with influencers to embody and authenticate the brand; - Andy Childs' tips for using digital marketing to break through the clutter in 2021; - Building Arsenal campaigns around the strengths and skillsets of Ian Wright; - Lessons in marketing from a tumultuous 2020.

The man writing the NFL's business playbook | The 'sportification' of political media coverage | How the biggest get bigger and what growth will look like for the NFL. Episode 100 of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast features a conversation with NFL Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Chris Halpin (starts at 12:24). Halpin joined the league in 2013, making the move from the private equity world and his job as MD of Providence Equity Partners. Although he has held a number of roles since that point, strategy has always been a key focus, and Halpin has become a pivotal influence on the business of the league as it strives to achieve its much-vaunted target of $25 billion in revenues by 2027. Halpin was promoted to his current role in 2018 and has established himself as cornerstone member of the league's C-Suite. When Mark Waller left his role running the league's international business after the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta, it was Halpin who took on his responsibilities. His purview is now as wide as it is long term and bears some breaking down: Halpin's responsibilities as Chief Strategy Officer Innovation Driving fan acquisition Maximising fan engagement Using data and analytics to propel all the above Halpin's responsibilities as Chief Growth Officer International Football development and play pathways Media distribution and digital engagement Legalised sports betting New markets and 'owner development' On the conversational agenda: - ‘Positive vigilance vs optimistic paranoia’ - the mood inside the NFL offices; - The processes and people Halpin relies on to keep on top of all of his objectives; - Where the NFL's next billion dollar revenue rise is coming from; - The link between private equity and sport and why Halpin's watching CVC's rugby play with interest; - How to be interested in things that matter: have a set of ‘virtual advisors whose insights you steal and morph into your own’ - Roger Goodell’s secret to success - How to present to a boardroom of 32 billionaires that make up the NFL ownership group.

How sponsorship in official groups can work | Community management | Partner make-goods | Unique content campaigns. Episode 99 of the podcast looks at how some sports rights holders are using Facebook groups to commercialise relationships with brands. We’ll hear from two experts in the field. First, Nick Marquez. He’s Facebook’s North American Sports Teams Partnerships Lead – and he works closely with a select band of major league franchises to maximise value through Facebook’s various functions and platforms. What that means in practice is a focus on four key areas, namely audience development, sponsorship and branded content; commerce and conversion; and direct revenue-generating products. One of the teams Nick works most closely with is the LA Clippers in the NBA. We’ll be hearing from the Clippers’ Executive Director of Digital Media and Content, Charlie Widdoes, and we’ll be homing in on the work that Charlie and his team have been doing on building and managing a community within the Clippers official Facebook Group, and looking at how they’ve already managed to commercialise that with their partners at Red Bull. Maquez and Widdoes – as well as many other sharp digital sports content folk – were interviewed for the latest Leaders Special Report. It’s called Activating Digital and it plots the accelerated route to digital the sports industry has now embarked on as a result of the pandemic, picking out areas of outstanding impact along the way. You can download the 24-page report for free from the Leaders website. This episode of the Leaders Sport Business Podcast is supported by global facilities management firm ARC. ARC is continually developing life changing solutions for the world’s ever evolving workforce because they understand the need to restructure and remain safe during these unprecedented times. Their team of specialists has devised every conceivable variation to deliver working solutions, which are equally applicable for those working from home or in the office. Visit www.e-arc.co.uk for more information.