Leaders Worth Knowing Podcast

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan share what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. They’re joined by Rachel Knight, Co-Managing Director of Women’s Sports Group. She details the ins and outs of the media rights process WSG ran for the Women’s Super League, which resulted in October’s landmark deal which will see the BBC and Sky Sports pa...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan share what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. In the mix: The Australian Open’s Nintendo Wii tie-up and a new breed of alt-casts to complement - and in some cases circumvent - traditional broadcast rights arrangements; the debut of 3x3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled later this week, which is taki...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan strap in for 2025, exploring what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. They’re joined by Ed Warner, Chair of UK Athletics between 2007 and 2017 and current Chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships, to discuss who’ll be the next President of the International Olympi...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are in reflective mood, as they review the stories of the sports industry year - as clicked on by you, the sports industry, in our weekly Worth Knowing newsletter. They recall Netflix’s big commitment to sport (and entertainment); organisational chop and change at Manchester United; a stream of investment chatter; the prop...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan buckle up and settle back to review the stories of the sports industry week. They’re joined by Isabelle Stewart, F1’s Head of Original Content to discuss her two years in the role so far; the logistics, planning and purpose behind Brad Pitt’s F1 movie as filming wraps; what F1’s content slate looks like now and could look...

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan and Senior Content Manager Henry Breckenridge run head-on into the stories of the sports industry week. They’re joined by Matt Porter, Chief Executive of the Professional Darts Corporation, ahead of this month’s World Championships at Alexandra Palace in London. He offers his SWOT analysis on the sport at the end of 2024 and explains the fan-first, party-fir...

Welcome to the third and final episode of Model making, a series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that analyses the flux across the global sports industry and asks whether we need a new commercial vision for sport. Hosted by Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Viagogo’s International Lead Matt Drew, the three-part series puts sport’s traditional revenue streams under the microscope....

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan dig in to the stories the sports industry week. They tackle the big news that the Premier League is launching its own media production business from the start of the 2026/27 season, ending a 20 year partnership with IMG which has operated under the Premier League Productions brand, delivering coverage and content to its in...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan dissect some of the stories of sports industry week. They reflect on whether Friday’s Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson fight was a win for Netflix; the slightly mesmerising nature of the Vendee Globe app; and the social media trend towards Bluesky. Then, in a conversation recorded at last week’s Leaders Sport Performance Summit...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are out and about at this week’s Leaders Sport Performance Summit, looking out over The Oval cricket ground in central London. They’re joined by astrophysicist Professor Carole Mundell, the Director of Science at the European Space Agency, fresh off a scintillating presentation on stage, for an outside-of-sport, out-of-thi...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan give their verdict on the sports industry week, then introduce two power conversations from on stage at Leaders Week London. First, Jess Smith, President of soon-to-launch WNBA team Golden State Valkyries sits down with Netball Super League Managing Director, Claire Nelson. Then former Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham is in c...

Brett Gosper, Head of NFL Europe & Asia-Pacific, takes a quick break from a very busy month of American football to join James Emmett on this week's episode. He shares his top-line reflections from the 2024 London games, along with some impressive and record-breaking stats for the league; plus, what's immediately up next as the NFL touches down in Munich for its second foray to Germany, this w...

Welcome to episode two of model making, a new series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that analyses the flux across the global sports industry and asks whether we need a new commercial vision for sport. Are the business models that have sustained professional sport for so long at breaking point? And what are the solutions that sport's most innovative thinkers are endorsing? Big questions an...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan return to the studio, for some more reflections on Leaders Week London and to review the most notable stories of the sports industry week. As IMG, On Location and Professional Bull Riders move from Endeavor to TKO ownership, they consider the corporate storytelling implications and ponder whether it's the precursor to furt...

In this episode, James Emmett and David Cushnan are joined by special guests, Richard Conway, Founder & Managing Partner at Spectacle Partners, and serial sports industry board member, Nic Coward, to review the action from a barnstorming return to Leaders Week London. The team touch on a number of topics from Day 2 of The Summit at Allianz Stadium as well as the on-stage sessions, which featur...

James Emmett and David Cushnan 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 duo 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 con...

Welcome to model making, a new series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that analyses the flux across the global sports industry and asks, do we need a new commercial vision for sport? Are the business models that have sustained professional sport for so long at breaking point? And what are the solutions that sport's most innovative thinkers are endorsing?   Hosted by Leaders Editorial Direc...

James Emmett and David Cushnan are joined by Leaders Managing Director, Laura McQueen, and Event Director, Hannah Redfern, to preview the annual sportsbiz extravaganza that is Leaders Week London. It's a week filled with forums, think tanks, Awards and social get-togethers – taking place all day, all night, all week, right across the city. The week culminates with The Summit at Allianz Stadium: a...

Mary Bekhait is one of the global entertainment industry's leading talent executives. As Chief Executive of YMU Group, she leads an international business representing mega stars across music, sport, entertainment, literary, social, art and business management, including: Davina McCall, Simon Cowell, Tom Daley, Clare Balding, Ant & Dec, Fred again, and many more. She joined James Emmett and Da...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan slip back into the studio to consider the stories of the sports industry week. As Whisper secures a big contract for host broadcast services at Roland Garros, they reflect on the changes, creativity and innovation in the sports production market - and, as Lionel Messi launches his own studio, when athletes and influencers...

Welcome to Convergence – a mini-series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast about the launch of new verticals within an existing sports business. It’s a show about strategy, growth, and fitting new products to meet audience demand. In this series we’ll be looking at sports media, betting, gamification, collectibles, merchandising and more – and it’s being co-hosted by me, James Emmett from Lead...

Welcome to Convergence - a mini-series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast about the launch of new verticals within an existing sports business. It's a show about strategy, growth, and fitting new products to meet audience demand.   In this series we'll be looking at sports media, betting, gamification, collectibles, merchandising and more - and it's being co-hosted by me, James Emmett from Le...

Dan Rossomondo has spent over 20 years in the sports industry delivering international business strategies to accelerate growth across sponsorship, media, licensing and retail. He cut his teeth at the NBA where he helped to supercharge the organisation as a sports, entertainment and lifestyle property for over a decade. He's now bringing that experience and track record to MotoGP, where he was app...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett popped his wellies on and headed down to Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire this week to join an exclusive gathering of sports, media and entertainment leaders at the IMG x RedBird Summit.   'Raising the Game' was the theme of the event, and much of the conference content was future-focused, aimed at identifying, in RedBird CEO Gerry Cardinale's words, how to 's...

Welcome to Convergence - a mini-series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast about the launch of new verticals within an existing sports business. It's a show about strategy, growth, and fitting new products to meet audience demand.   In this series we'll be looking at sports media, betting, gamification, collectibles, merchandising and more - and it's being co-hosted by me, James Emmett from Le...