The Ankura Podcast

This month on The Business Behind Sport podcast, our Ankura experts discuss the creation of The Hundred Cricket competition, and the England and Wales Cricket Board's (or ECB’s) plans to invite private investment into the tournament.  Join Alecia Futerman, Jonathan Brown, and Torie Hamilton Wilson as they explore the potential implications for the sport and its stakeholders. Listen now to fin...

Join Ankura’s Lorynn Demetriades and Danny Mayhew, Global Head of Organisational Justice and Smart Assurance at Sanofi on this episode of The Ankura Podcast where they discuss high-stakes investigations, and, in particular, managing crises as they unfold. They discuss: The importance of being prepared for crisis-led investigations Developing an investigation function within your organisation Build...

Should sports arbitrations and tribunals continue to be held in private? In this episode of The Business Behind Sport we speak with one of the most high-profile sports barristers in England, Nick De Marco to discuss: ⚽ The arguments for and against private arbitrations in sports  🏆 How do sports differentiate compared to other industries in terms of handling the privacy aspects of arbitrations o...

At the Paris Olympics last week, Saudi Arabia submitted plans to build 11 stadiums - including one set 350 meters above ground level - as part of the country's bid to host the 2034 World Cup. Listen to this episode of #TheBusinessBehindSport recorded live from London International Disputes Week where Jonny Gray speaks with Helen Waddell, Partner at Pinsent Masons, Richard Liddell KC at 4 New...

This month on The Business Behind Sport, Jonny Gray speaks to James Stebbing, a Senior Sports Executive who has held General Counsel and Legal roles at Six Nations Rugby, British & Irish Lions, and England Rugby.  Throughout his career, he has been at the heart of some of the most pivotal moments in Rugby’s recent history, including the impact and response to the Covid crisis and planning for...

This month on The Business Behind Sport we take another look at safeguarding in the sports industry, this time focusing on investigations.  Jonny Gray speaks with Megan Griffiths, Barrister at 12 King’s Bench Walk, and Charli Curran, safeguarding and investigations specialist at Ankura, to discuss:  • What risks should be discussed when cases of harassment and abuse are raised?  • What does a “goo...

🚑💡 When healthcare meets innovation, big change happens!  Ankura healthcare strategy expert Michelle Mader and Ray Anderson, Chief Strategy Officer of Trinity Health talk about the intersection of innovation and transformation to tackle today's tough challenges of clinical integration, nursing shortages, and balancing national leadership versus local decision-making. 

In this episode of The Business Behind, Sport Jonny Gray is joined by “the most powerful woman in African football” Abi Ijasanmi, former Chief Operating Officer of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).  This conversation ranges over the landscape of football on the continent, looking closely at integrity and good governance as well as the improvement of infrastructure, the growth of the wom...

Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, with much of its growth being driven bottom-up by investors.  One of those investors, Houman Ashrafzadeh, Founder of Padium, joins Jonny Gray on this episode of #TheBusinessBehindSport to discuss the rise and growth of padel in the UK and worldwide over recent years. Together they discuss:  • What makes padel different from other racket spor...

Sports are still a very male-dominated space, especially in the boardroom. In this episode of The Business Behind Sport, Jonathan Brown speaks to two female leaders in the sports industry, Monique Choudhuri Board Director at Women in Football and Rowena Samarasinhe, Managing Director at GENSport. During this episode, they explore the progress female sports have made over the years, the challenges...

Snooker has always been a popular sport, particularly in the UK, but its rapid growth worldwide has led to a potential global audience of 1.8 billion viewers. In this episode of The Business Behind Sport podcast, Jonny Gray speaks to Jason Ferguson, Group Chairman & CEO of The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) and Director of the World Snooker Tour to discuss Jason...

Disputes and investigations expert, Jacqui Record, construction expert, Sena Gbedemah, and cybersecurity specialist, Kajen Subramoney, are joined by Bevan Farmer, Construction and Engineering Partner at Addleshaw in this latest episode to discuss the role of AI and its impact on expert evidence, cost implications in construction disputes, and their views on future trends.

Following the previous The Business Behind Sport episode, we continue our conversation on the club acquisition process, but this month we explore the investment and legal considerations. Jonny Gray is joined by Tom Sheldon, Director at Ovation Corporate Finance, and Ben Hanglin, Partner at Onside Law to look at the deal structure, the legal contemplations throughout the process, and how to deal wi...

Thinking of buying a Football Club? In this special edition of #TheBusinessBehindSport podcast we are joined by Analytics FC to discuss the steps investors should consider when buying a football club. With institutional investors and individuals showing more interest in purchasing football clubs, Ankura regulatory and financial risk expert Jonathan Brown and Jeremy Steele, Managing Director of Ana...

Can sports really regulate itself? With talk of independent regulators high on the sports agenda, Jonny Gray is joined by Karena Vleck, General Counsel at World Athletics, and Lorynn Demetriades, compliance specialist and Senior Managing Director at Ankura to discuss compliance programs in sport for The Business Behind Sport.   In this frank discussion, they also touch on how organizations hit by...

In this episode of The Business Behind Sport podcast, Jonathan Brown, Senior Managing Director in Ankura's Sport Advisory team speaks with Richard Bush, Partner in Bird & Bird’s Media, Entertainment & Sports Group, and Charli Curran, Senior Director in Ankura’s Risk, Forensics and Compliance team to discuss investigating abuse in sport and the practical and legal considerations that n...

Following his keynote speech at MENA Information Security Conference 2023, Senior Managing Director and former FBI Special Agent Ted Theisen, speaks with Kajen Subramoney in the latest edition of The Cyber Series. In this episode, they discuss the development of the cybersecurity sector and the evolution of the cyber threat landscape throughout their careers. Ted shares his insights on his top thr...

The need to digitalize the infrastructure sector has been understood for some time, but progress has been slow and the gap is widening quickly. The sheer pace and accessibility of developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recent months – and the alarm that it has caused some tech executives and academics – illustrates its potential power. In this episode, we speak to Jingchao Yang, a softwar...

In this episode, Jonny Gray is joined by Mike Laflin, CEO and Founder of Global Sustainable Sport. Together they discuss: • Mike’s journey working within the sports industry and what led him to set up Global Sustainable Sport in 2022 • What exactly is "sustainable sport?"  • The seven pillars of sustainable sport that Mike and his team have established and how these can be measured  Glob...

In this episode we turn our heads East to put a spotlight on the emerging opportunities for investment in sports in Asia. Senior Managing Director, Jonny Gray speaks to Jean-Baptiste Roy, Co-Founder of Asia Sports Tech, where they discuss:   • Where are the growth areas for participation, broadcast rights, sponsorship, and more in the region  • What risks should sports and investors think about wh...

As we hit the halfway point in the international cricket season for 2023 and as the Ashes series is currently underway, Jonathan Brown speaks to Simon Taufel, Former International Cricket Umpire and 5-time International Cricket Council Umpire of the year, in the latest episode of #TheBusinessBehindSport. Listen to the full episode to hear more Simon reflect on his journey in cricket and his expert...

In this episode, Jonny Gray talks to Simon Hallett, majority owner and Chairman of Plymouth Argyle Football Club who was recently promoted into The Championship League. Simon openly discusses everything around owning an English Football League Club and how he and his team managed to take Plymouth Argyle from being a loss-making League 2 (4th Tier) team to one of the most well-run clubs by challeng...

In this episode, Jonathan Roe speaks with Dom O'Donnell, Managing Director at Infrastructure Matters on one of the key themes in our latest report, From Pandemic to Permacrisis: Infrastructure Perspectives 2023, that was produced in collaboration with Infrastructure Matters. Together they discuss how it is taking longer for major infrastructure projects to get off the drawing board and into t...

Brazil is a country renowned for its love of sport, in particular a love of football. In the latest episode Felix Vetter and Reecha Patel speak with Tiago Gomes, Partner at Ambiel, Belfiore, Gomes, Hanna Advogados, to discuss the impact of investment from new developments in football within the country, such as the new breakaway league, as well as initiatives to improve sports betting regulation a...

In this episode of the Ankura Cyber Series, Adam Horsman speaks with Danny Howett, a Director in the Ankura Cyber Threat Intelligence Team based in London. Danny explains what he does day to day in his role and how gathering and analyzing information for threat intelligence can benefit companies and mitigate any cyber risks. Following the Breach Forums & Genesis Market being taken down by the...