Leaders Worth Knowing Podcast

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan hit the studio again for a wander through the sports industry stories of the week. On the eve of the Uefa Champions League draw, they’re joined by Uefa Marketing Director Guy-Laurent Epstein to help explain the revamped competition format and the reasons behind the changes. Epstein also discusses partner reaction to the ne...

Marina Storti has spent over 20 years in the sports industry delivering strategies to accelerate commercial growth, engage diverse fans and impact positive change. And she’s been bringing all of that experience and expertise to her new role as CEO of WTA Ventures – the commercial arm of the WTA – having previously earned her sporting stripes at Sky and NOW TV. One year into the role, she joined Da...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan gather their thoughts and reflect on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They discuss the broadcast coverage and tone, for the BBC, Discovery and NBC in particular; sponsor creep in the wake of LVMH and Samsung’s activity in Paris; the visual spectacle and the power of the still image; the challenges ahead for organisers of LA28...

Claire Nelson is in the midst of overseeing the relaunch of Netball Super League. As Managing Director, she’s plotting a 10-year path to professionalisation for the newly-restructured eight-team league and intent on growing the sport around the UK. On this edition of Leaders in Focus, she shares those plans; her approach to breaking the bad news to the existing teams that won’t be getting a place...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are reunited for a chinwag about the global business of sport. They reflect on the summer of sport and hospitality so far - from Wimbledon to the British Grand Prix - and consider the latest state of play at the NBA, as its new media deal nears completion, and the health of tennis and golf. Then, on the eve of the Olympic...

Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan rattles through the big stories of the sports industry week - media rights updates from the NBA and Ligue 1, and the IOC-Saudi deal for the Olympic Esports Games - before two more conversations recorded at last month’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. He was joined by two athletes transitioning into executive roles, operating in growing, ch...

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan is back with the stories of the sports industry week, while Editorial Director James Emmett chips in with two more conversations from last month’s Cannes International Festival of Creativity. England and Arsenal footballer Alessia Russo was first to drop in to the Sport Beach, hosted by Stagwell, for a chat about working with brands, and learning from the cr...

Recorded at The All England Lawn Tennis Club on the eve of the 2024 Championships, Sally Bolton discusses life as Wimbledon's CEO. In a wide-ranging conversation on Leaders in Focus, in partnership with IMG, she reflects on the varying leadership styles required to manage a two-week Grand Slam, a thriving year-round club and relations with a host of partners and global tennis stakeholders. She als...

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan brings you the stories of the sports industry week, while Editorial Director James Emmett brings you a couple of heavyweight brand CMO conversations from last week's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.   At the Sport Beach, hosted by Stagwell, he sat down with Don McGuire, CMO of Qualcomm, a B2B company that, through its Snapdragon brand, is a...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are out and about, sharing their sports industry week.   James is in Cannes, taking in the beaches, making note of the activations and soaking up the vibes at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity - and asking what sport is doing there, who it wants to meet, why so many athletes have turned up and where spo...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan take an amble through the sports industry week, joined by Seven League and Rematch Founder Richard Ayers. They discuss how politics and sport are mixing during the UK General Election campaign, and as French President Emmanuel Macron calls a snap election just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics. It’s a free-flower of a...

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan is joined by Javan Odegah, for the latest on the Leaders Meet: Diversity Series.    They reflect on the recent Diversity breakfast hosted at 4se New York, touch on reports Anthony Joshua may be about to buy a stake in his hometown football club, Watford FC, and consider how Arsenal's newly-adopted anthem, North London Forever, has taken hold.   Then you'll h...

Andy Anson is preparing Team GB for a golden summer in Paris. The British Olympic Association CEO is the guest on this month's Leaders in Focus, where he looks ahead to the Olympics; considers the major challenges the Olympic world faces; and discusses whether athletes should be paid directly for winning medals at the Games. He reflects on a long and varied career in sports and media: developing h...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan take stock of a big week of sports, entertainment and business at 4se New York. As the green room is dismantled around them in Chelsea, they reflect on some of the big themes of the event: storytelling in all its forms, the rise Cowboy culture, and the budding relationship between sports organisations and the music industr...

Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan lean into the sports industry stories of the week. They're joined by Anna Edwards, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at executive search and advisory firm Elite Performance Partners (EPP), to discuss Manchester United' Co-Owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's new work-from-office edict and, as the WNBA continues to expand, how to struct...

Barbara Slater is one of the most respected figures in the sports broadcasting industry. A former international gymnast and Olympian, Barbara joined the BBC 40 years ago and is on the cusp of retiring from her current Director of Sport role. During her tenure, she's changed attitudes and enhanced perceptions of women's sport, overseen remarkable growth in BBC Sport’s digital services, and cemented...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan shake down the global sports industry for the stories of the week. That includes Amazon’s potential broadcast deal with the NBA, Saudi giant Aramco’s new partnership with Fifa, difficult days for sports journalism, George Payne’s turf management, DAZN’s German football dispute, the rise of Cowboy culture, and reflections o...

Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan run the rule over the stories moving the global sports industry needle this week. They're joined in the studio by Aquatics GB CEO Drew Barrand.   Together they discuss the fallout from the Chinese doping story; and the CEO response to scandal: the motivating factors behind any move or statement and the stakeholder sensitivi...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan pick out and poke around the stories of the sports industry week, joined by DAZN VP, Right Strategy, Tom Waterhouse. They discuss World Athletics’ announcement it will pay athletes who win Olympic gold this year - and the wider debate over whether and how athletes should be paid that’s opened up - and the BBC and its sport...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan have a roam around the stories of the sports industry week. On the eve of the Masters, there’s a reminder of Augusta National’s well-manicured and private approach to running a global sports event; remote reflections on the Caitlin Clark-inspired remarkable few weeks for women’s basketball in the United States; honourable...

Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan review the big sports industry stories of the week, joined in the studio by Giulia Zecchini, Co-Founder of Sneaker Sisterhood. There’s reflections on the big motorsport announcement which has seen F1 owner Liberty Media acquire MotoGP in a deal valued at £3.6 billion. Elsewhere, Giulia Zecchini joins the show for a deep di...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan return for an extended ramble around the stories of the sports industry week. There’s reflections on the Cheltenham Festival as an event, a social occasion and a sports industry hospitality hotspot; the competing visions for the future of global professional tennis; and the NFL’s latest expansion of its team international...

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan has the stories of the sports industry week, and he's joined by Winners Alliance CEO Ahmad Nassar.   Nassar discusses Netflix's decision to halt production on tennis documentary Break Point and the latest on the NBA's next media rights deal.   He also explains the rationale behind Winners Alliance, the for-profit affiliate of the Professional Tennis Players...

Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett sifts through the sports industry stories of the week in the company of World Horse Racing CEO and sports broadcast expert Russell Scott. Leaders MD Laura McQueen is also in the hot seat and outlines what you need to do to win a Leaders Sports Award this year. On the conversational agenda: Reviewing the National Rugby League’s first foray to the US with two...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan sum up the sports industry week, joined in the studio by British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton. They reflect on the first edition of the Greater Bay Area International Sports Business Summit, held last weekend in Macau, and a new positivity around China’s relationship with sport. There’s also time to examine the abandonment of th...