SportsPro Podcast

As COP26 arrives, SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan talks to SOAS’s Dr Tom Tanner centre director and programme director at the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy about how sports bodies can respond to the climate emergency.  Dr Tanner helps to define some of the central challenges facing sport and how concepts like ‘resilience’ will give structure to the fightback. He also discu...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly checks in on the US sports industry with Sportico sports business reporter Eben Novy-Williams and seasoned soccer journalist Grant Wahl. Eben explains how supply chain issues are preparing to wreak havoc for sports teams, examines the latest controversy in the NFL and provides an update on the Kyrie Irving Covid vaccination row.  Then Grant looks at the fall...

SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan talks to Beth Barrett-Wild, head of The Hundred women’s competition and female engagement at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), about engineering a female sports event to deliver an instant impact.  They talk about the decisions that helped shape the women’s edition of this summer’s much-discussed short-format competition, how they built a platform...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly is joined by Press Association chief sports reporter Jamie Gardner and Professor Simon Chadwick, global professor of sport at Emlyon Business School, to unpack the takeover of Premier League soccer team Newcastle United by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. They assess the response in Newcastle and across the English game, and consider some of...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly heads to London’s West End to talk to Brett Gosper, head of Europe and the UK at the National Football League (NFL).  As the NFL stages two International Series games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Gosper explains how the league is rebounding from a Covid-enforced break in the British capital, how it is taking on markets like Mexico and Germany, and the i...

As in-person conferences resume in pockets of the sports industry, SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly checks in with staff writer Rory Jones, on the ground this week at Sportel in Monaco. Rory shares his impressions from the influential sports media and tech event, sizing up the priorities of delegates and understanding how the experience has been adapted with Covid protocols. He also talks t...

SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan talks to Nick Meacham, managing director at SportsPro. In this episode Matt learns about SportsPro’s journey over the last two years, navigating international expansion, transitioning further into the digital space and managing through the pandemic - all while creating confidence in the parent company.  SportsPro operates across many of the spaces that impac...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly is joined by two guests from the award-winning Ear To The Ground agency, chief executive Richard Adelsberg and chief innovation officer Owen Laverty. As EA Sports prepares to release the latest edition of its all-conquering FIFA videogame series, they discuss how that title and others like it have created communal spaces for fans, and what brands need to und...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly speaks to Christian and Damien Devaux, the co-founders of World Chase Tag, about the realities of launching a new sport in the 21st century. The brothers reflect on WCT’s brief journey from the back garden to a burgeoning global series, refining the rules and creating a global network of athletes, enthusiasts and promotional partners. They also explain how t...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly and Matt Slater, football news reporter at The Athletic, discuss the push to stage the Fifa World Cup every two years instead of four. They look at what is driving soccer’s global governing body to pursue such radical change, who is behind the move politically and financially, and what it says about the battle for control of time and talent. They also ask wh...

SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan talks to Dan Roan, the sports editor at BBC News. They discuss Dan’s path to one of the most visible roles in British sports media and the unpredictable nature of following developing stories. Dan also reflects on how the growth of the industry has brought sports news closer to hard news in the past two decades, how the emergence of digital media and podcast...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly talks to Ali Krieger, soccer player for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride who has been capped 108 times by the US women’s national team.  They discuss how Ali – who was seventh on SportsPro’s list of the world’s most marketable athletes in 2021 – has gone about nurturing her public and commercial profile, both individually and with wife and teammate Ashlyn Harris, an...

SportsPro's editor at large, Eoin Connolly, and Frank Gregory, social intelligence practice lead at 50 Most Marketable analysis partner NorthStar Solutions Group take you through some of the most prominent themes in this year's list.

In this special episode of the Playbook Podcast, Two Circles co-founders Gareth Balch and Matt Rogan reflect on the first ten years of the business.  The duo share some of the lessons from building a differentiated offer right from the start, to developing a performance culture in the team, while prioritising client retention and pushing on with international growth. The episode tracks the ideas w...

As the Paralympic Games continue in Tokyo, SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly talks to Craig Spence, chief brand and communications officer at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and Jarrod Clyne, human rights advisor for the Human Rights Council at the International Disability Alliance. They discuss the opportunity the Paralympics creates to celebrate and support people with disabi...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly talks to Jon Varney, chief executive of newly promoted Premier League soccer club Brentford FC. They reflect on Brentford’s unlikely journey to the top level of the English game – making their return after a 74-year absence – and the careful building that has gone into that process on and off the pitch. Jon also discusses the move from their much-loved old h...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly is joined by senior contributor Matt Rogan to discuss the first season of the Hundred, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) much-heralded new short-form competition.  They talk about what worked and what needs work across the format, presentation and delivery, what the centralised model made possible and where existing teams and structures still bring...

SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan speaks with John Dowson, chair at the English Institute of Sport to discuss the role of the board. They talk about how the bi-monthly board meeting is just the start and how the very best not only support the organisations they are a part of but challenge them in their entirety. John outlines the importance of role clarity at the highest level and how cognit...

For this special edition podcast, SportsPro digital editor, Tom Bassam, is joined by Greenfly chief executive, Daniel Kirschner, to break down the 50 Most Marketable Athletes list. Then, Zoomph's director of business strategy, Scott Lewis, is on to explain the methodology behind the rankings. Music: Surf Inspector by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4447-surf-inspector Lic...

The New York Times’ global sports reporter Tariq Panja joins deputy editor Sam Carp to assess the commercial impact of Lionel Messi’s arrival at Paris Saint-Germain. Following Lionel Messi’s shock departure from FC Barcelona, The New York Times’ global sports reporter Tariq Panja joins SportsPro deputy editor Sam Carp to discuss whether it really should have come as a surprise at all. They discuss...

SportsPro managing director Nick Meacham speaks with the FuboTV co-founder and chief executive, David Gandler, on the platform's recent success as well as its plan for the future. It has been a successful period for FuboTV after announcing a record set of results for the last financial year and a bumper Q2 in 2021 - with that in mind, and with regular host Eoin Connolly away, we dip into the vault...

Digital editor Tom Bassam and deputy editor Sam Carp look ahead to the start of the 2021/22 top-flight English soccer season. With the 2021/22 Premier League season set to get underway with Arsenal’s trip to newly promoted Brentford on Friday, SportsPro digital editor Tom Bassam is joined on the podcast by deputy editor Sam Carp for a commercial preview of the upcoming campaign. They consider the...

SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan speaks with Jonathan Perelman, President of ICM Stellar Sports to explore the art of the modern acquisition and the rapidly-changing face of athlete representation.  They reflect on Tokyo 2020, the new world of athlete activism and how representation must adapt if it is to survive. This conversation is also about the often mystified world of acquisitions, wh...

As the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games draws to a close, SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly is joined by Angela Ruggiero, a former Olympic ice hockey champion and IOC member who is now the co-founder and chief executive of Sports Innovation Lab, and T Burns Sports founder Terrence Burns, an experienced advisor to brands, bids and federations. They share some of their reflections on how the event has...

SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly speaks to Etienne Thobois, chief executive of the local organising committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.   They discuss what the Paris 2024 team have been learning in Japan, how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected those activities and the progress of their own preparations, and how the pressure will change after the closing ceremony at Tokyo 2020.   The...