SportsPro Podcast

Regular hosts George Breare and Tom Bassam are joined by SportsPro features editor Sam Carp to discuss the upcoming Solheim Cup, before Stephen Minning, founder and CEO of PAM Wayfinding, joins the pod to talk about venue technology.  Talking points:  What is the state of play in women’s golf? (1:11) Have the Solheim Cup and the Ryder Cup missed a trick with B2B events? (4:51) Does the Solheim Cup...

Regular hosts George Breare and Tom Bassam are joined by senior staff writer Ed Dixon to discuss the latest sports industry news, including a review of YouTube’s first week as an NFL broadcaster. Then Dixon talks us through his latest long read on a decade of of Thomas Bach as IOC president.

Digital transformation will impact sports organisations of all sizes, transforming existing processes or unlocking entirely new possibilities in almost every area – on and off the pitch. Recruitment, performance, and fan engagement are but three areas that are being revolutionised by digital innovations.  Navigating an increasingly complex technological ecosystem that comprises big tech, startups...

Co-founders Xavier Green and Victorien Tixier explain the journey of establishing ScorePlay, their AI-fused content management management designed especially for the sports industry. The conversation with SportsPro’s George Breare covers all the steps of the startup’s journey, from setting up the business, to gaining high-profile athlete investors and case studies from ScorePlay’s clients, through...

The NFL’s head of Europe and the UK, Brett Gosper, explains to SportsPro CEO Nick Meacham how the biggest money maker in American sports plans to grow that pie overseas. Talking points: What has been on Gosper's agenda since he joined the National Football League (NFL) from World Rugby? (0:57) How the NFL's approach to Europe has changed over time (6:00) The role of teams in marketing the NFL over...

Recorded at SportsPro Live 2023 to celebrate ten years of our flagship event, we put together a panel to predict what we have in store over the next decade in the sports industry. For this job we asked SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham, SportsPro editorial director Michael Long and Laura Williamson, deputy editor at The Athletic, to get out their crystal balls. The voice you'll hear first is...

Spain have won, the Lionesses fell just short and Australia fell in love with the Matildas, but what does it all mean? Tom Bassam, Steve McCaskill and Josh Sim unpack the 2023 Women's World Cup. Talking points: Tournament takeaways (1:10) The big winners (2:42) Who were the losers? (9:03) The important numbers (15:33) Spain and the RFEF, uncomfortable winners? (23:44) How should the FA and the Lio...

Gary Lineker, the former England striker turned Match of the Day host and founder of Goalhanger Podcasts, sits down with Tom Bassam for a wide-ranging conversation.  Talking points: Becoming a podcast mogul with Goalhanger (1:21) The Walkers relationship (10:50) Lineker's media career (14:35) How Match of the Day is made (17:50) The role of the BBC in modern sports media (24:35)

Tom Bassam hosts a look ahead to the new season of the Premier League with SportsPro colleagues Sam Carp and Ed Dixon. The panel tackle a few key storylines dominating the headlines going into the new campaign by asking: what’s more likely? Then, Josh Sim comes on to talk about his latest feature that dives into some of the more interesting metrics that we should be on the look out for with the Pr...

With 11.4 million users around the world, Fantasy Premier League is a success story in fan engagement. Alexandra Willis, director of digital media and audience development at the Premier League, explains how the English soccer competition’s official fantasy game provides value for the organisation’s commercial partners and underlines its role in promoting the league globally.

George Breare and Ed Dixon bring you the insights and sounds from SportsPro APAC 2023 from on the floor at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands. Talking points: Setting the scene (0:52) The importance of mobile (4:32) ONE Championship and the metrics that matter (7:43) FanCode and cracking the Indian market (15:34) How Hong Kong Sevens has positioned itself as an entertainment event (23:07) Liverpool's ap...

BlackBook Motorsport writer Cian Brittle sits down for an in-depth conversation with Dorna Sports' new chief commercial officer, Dan Rossomondo, about improving the fortunes of MotoGP. 

The UK media market continues to turnover, but while some things change others remain the same. Viaplay leaves as quickly as it entered, Apple indicates now is not the time for the Premier League and BT Sport becomes TNT. So where does it leave us? George Breare, Tom Bassam and Sam Carp discuss all of that and what the future holds for the Commonwealth Games.

SportsPro features editor Sam Carp makes an appearance alongside regular hosts George Breare and Tom Bassam to cast an eye Down Under as Fifa prepares for its biggest Women's World Cup yet. Talking points: Changing perceptions of women's soccer since the France 2019 (2:50) Has the unbundling of the Women's World Cup rights been a success (4:57) Will Fifa meet it two billion target for tournament v...

Something different from the SportsPro Podcast, as BlackBook writer Cian Brittle talks us through his experience of Formula One's British Grand Prix. Talking points: Reflections on race day and a health check on Formula One at Silverstone (0:41) What's the fan experience like at the British Grand Prix? (5:06) Is there room for improvement? (7:39) Can F1 Academy be a game changer for bringing in fe...

For Women's Sport Week , we share a conversation between SportsPro editorial director Michael Long and Micky Lawler, the president of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The interview, recorded as part of our special series to mark the WTA's 50th anniversary in June, covers the early days of the tour, its progression as a business and the direction of travel as women's tennis enters a new era. ...

To mark Women's Sport Week at SportsPro, we have a special NEW ERA episode of the podcast with Milly Miller-Adams, Elena Kouyoufa and Katie Preston exploring the meaning of taking risks.  Our hosts take it in turns to interview three women at different stages of their careers in the sports industry to find how they view taking risks and the biggest roll of the dice they have made so far. Talking p...

Regular SportsPro Podcast hosts George Breare and Tom Bassam are joined by technology editor Steve McCaskill to talk all things SW19 as the British tennis Grand Slam takes hold for its two weeks in the sun (and rain).

In this special episode of the SportsPro Podcast we hear from Sergei Palkin, the chief executive of Ukrainian soccer powerhouse Shahktar Donetsk, about the challenge of leading change in the face of conflict as his club struggles for survival amid the Russian invasion of his homeland. Recorded at SportsPro Live 2023, Palkin is in conversation with Empower Sports' Pedro Pinto. Talking points: How t...

SportsPro Podcast hosts George Breare and Tom Bassam chop up the latest sports industry news and look at the impact of Netflix's latest sports docuseries, before Josh Sim joins the pod to give his thoughts on MLB's return to London. Talking points: Will 'Tour de France: Unchained' do for cycling what 'Drive to Survive' did for F1? (2:44) Unpacking Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami (12:20) Todd Bo...

Tom Bassam and George Breare return for a quick roundup of the week in sports industry news. Talking points: Why has Michael Jordan sold the Charlotte Hornets? (2:10) The Women's World Cup rights picture becomes clearer (8:14) The demise and legacy of the W Series (17:50) Chelsea and Stake.com , how did we get here? (24:29)

Tom Bassam and SportsPro technology editor Steve McCaskill have an in-depth conversation about the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund's move to control the elite tours in men's golf and how the kingdom's enhanced financial backing of its domestic soccer league could reshape the sport's ecosystem. There's also time for a few thoughts on another logistical Uefa mismanagement issue at a major event...

Most people know what an electronic player tracking system (ETPS) is, but there is more to the technology than meets the eye. Barin Sports' director of business development, Daniel Shopov, speaks to SportsPro technology editor, Steve McCaskill, about the different types of systems on the market, their various use cases and the business aspect of procurement.

George Breare and Tom Bassam are back together for this week's podcast, discussing all things Champions League, plus we hear from SportsPro reporter Josh Sim who was lucky enough to attend the Women's Champions League final in Eindhoven. Talking points: Wasn't Istanbul supposed to host the final in 2021? (2:45) How the tournament can bring in major sponsors (4:30) Why it's important for Uefa to ge...

As the curtain falls on the 2023 IPL and Premier League seasons, George Breare is joined by features editor, Sam Carp, to explore record-breaking campaigns and the twists and turns that took place on the pitch and in the boardroom, including: -          The huge broadcast numbers on Star Sports and Jio Cinema -          The IPL’s commercial pull for major global brands -          Why the WPL launc...