The Footballco Business Podcast

This Pride Edition of the Footballco Business Podcast looks at how the media handles conversations about sexuality and gender identity in football. Our guest host for this show is Jon Holmes, a journalist, media consultant and the founder of Sports Media LGBT+. Jon is joined by Erin Williams, Sport Programmes Manager at Stonewall and Jack King. Jack covers film and TV for publications including GQ...

On This show we’re speaking with Pien Meulensteen, a sports presenter, reporter, and commentator working across Sky Sports, BBC Sport, Radio 5Live, CBS, and a number of other broadcasters. Recently, Pien became the first female to call a live Premier League game on Sky Sports, and took home the 'One to Watch - On Air' award at this year's Sports Journalism Association Awards. We talk to Pien about...

On this show, our guest is David Jackson, Vice President of Brand for EA SPORTS FC. David could be considered presiding over the biggest piece of brand work seen in football for decades: the creation of EA SPORTS FC, the brand that will replace FIFA as the title of the EA SPORTS football video game series. We talked to David about the creation of the FC visual identity, how the new brand goes beyo...

On this show, we're talking to James Ruth, chief marketing officer at MLS club, Austin FC. James talks about how the Austin FC brand was created, what it’s like having Matthew McConaughey as a Minister of Culture and how all this translates into the stands to create the Austin FC match day atmosphere. This atmosphere is driven by Austin FC’s unique supporters' culture, sitting at the centre of the...

On this show, our guest is Jane Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer for Australia for the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023. We also have a guest host with Morgan Brennan, Head of Indivisa (Footballco's women's football brand) taking over from our regular host, Alex Manby, Morgan speaks to Jane about preparations for this summer's tournament, from the bid process to how it is th...

On this show, we're speaking withPeer Naubert, chief marketing officer for Bundesliga International. Alex and Peer discuss how the Bundesliga grows its fanbase abroad and how in an age of player-focused fans, competitions can strike a balance between bringing fans in through star players but not being left high and dry when those stars move on. Also, ahead of Der Klassiker, we find out how the DFL...

This week, we're talking to Mark Lowyns, creative director at Orlando City, SC, and Orlando Pride and co-founder of Fly Nowhere, as well as being an American football culture connoisseur. Mark talks about the emergence of soccer culture in the US during the 80s and his own introduction to it before he made it his career. Mark covers the relationship soccer has with music and fashion, including loo...

This week on the Footballco Business Podcast, we're talking to Marlon Fleischman, agent and MD of player management services agency Unique Sports Group. Marlon discusses both the World Cup and January transfer window as well as tackling the role of agents and the debate around players on social media.

This week on the Footballco Business Podcast we're talking to Mateo Kossmann and Andrew Dolan, both Senior Product Managers for adidas Football, on what goes into designing World Cup football shirts. The pair cover both the performance and aesthetic side of kit design, with a focus on the kits worn by Argentina and Japan at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Here the stories behind the kits, what special co...

This week we're talking to Lee Price, former Head of Mischief at Paddy Power. During his time with the bookmaker, Lee was responsible for Rainbow Russians, Paddy Power's campaign for the 2018 World Cup which saw Paddy Power donating £10,000 to LGBTQ charities in Russia for every goal the Russian team scored during the tournament. As well as talking about the creation of Rainbow Russians, Lee discu...

This week on the Footballco Business Podcast is a 2022 World Cup Special with former US international and Fox Sports broadcaster Alexi Lalas. Alexi discusses USA '94 and how both fans and the media treated soccer in the US in the 1990s, as well as looking ahead to the USMNT's chances in Qatar. He also discusses in detail what might be the most important transfer in MLS history, David Beckham to Ma...

This week on the Footballco Business Podcast we're speaking to Alan Granger, Head of Brand and Marketing and Sports Interactive, the developer being the hugely successful Football Manager games. Speaking to Alan ahead of the launch of Football Manager 2023 we discussed how they keep players coming back and how they bring in new fans. We also discuss player power in the form of famous fans like Gri...

This week we're speaking to Union Berlin's Christian Arbeit, a man who as well as being the club's communications officer is also their stadium announcer and possibly their biggest fan. We talk to Christian about the rise of Union and how this newfound success has (or hasn't) changed the club's identity. We also discuss the role of the stadium and the fans and how the club mirrors the city it was...

This week we're speaking to Greg Lalas, Chief Marketing Officer of the fastest-growing soccer league in the world, the United Soccer League. Greg talks us through the US' relationship with football and why for football to grow in a country the size of the US there needs to be more on offer than just MLS. Listen now to find out how clubs across its divisions engage fans on a local and US-wide level...

With the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 kicking off this month it felt like the perfect time to sit down with Kayleigh Grieve, Women's Football Marketing Manager at UEFA to discuss the forthcoming showcase event. Kayleigh discuss the challenge of attracting young girls into women's football, UEFA's goals for the tournament and also the challenges faced in making sure as many fans as possible can watch the...

On this week's Footballco Business Podcast Alex Manby welcomes TikTok content creator Ben Black. Ben was an early adopter of TikTok (back when it was called Musically) and has gone on to build a huge audience on his platform that, in turn, has attracted some major brands looking to tap into that audience. Alex talks to Ben about the potential he saw in the platform in those early days, how he stay...

This week on the Footballco Business Podcast it is all about the most famous of all football competitions, the Emirates FA Cup, as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first-ever FA Cup Final. On the show is Ryan Armstrong, senior brand manager at the Football Association and the man in charge of marketing the oldest national football competition in the world. Ryan talks about the competitio...

This week on the Footballco Business Podcast we're talking about the Women's Champions League with DAZN's VP of rights partner relations, Katie Smith. Alex and Kate also discuss DAZN's plans for women's football and what's worked so far, from record-breaking crowds to iconic moments. The Footballco Business Podcast is a show focused on the most innovative people working in the world of football me...

We're off to Miami for this episode of The Footballco Business Podcast as we step on stage at Soccerex Americas with Wolves, LAFC, Sabrina Carroza and BOL all discussing how soccer clubs need to look outside of their sport to attract and engage fans. The panel discuss how areas like gaming, music and lifestyle have become integral to a modern soccer club's DNA and how that can be leveraged both in...

Darren Eales, president of MLS team Atlanta United joins us to talk about creating a soccer team from scratch in a city dominated by major sports and growing to pack out the Mercedes Benz Arena. Darren discusses how they established their passionate fanbase, what was on his "to do" list when he became the club's first hire back in 2014 and what other football clubs around the world can learn from...

For many football fans who look back on the 90s with fond memories, MUNDIAL magazine is somewhat of a bible. For those who work in the print industry, it is a blueprint. A beautiful magazine with well-told stories and an example of an incredibly high watermark of modern journalism. On this episode of The Footballco Business Podcast Alex speaks to one of the man behind the magazine, Owen Blackhurst...

On this show, we're talking to Mike Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Italian football giants, Juventus. We're focusing on the club's success on TikTok and Twitch, the content that worked best, the growth potential within these channels and the strategy behind using them to announce the arrival of flagship signings such as Dusan Vlahovic. You can see Juve's excellent TikTok and Twitch content...

Alex Manby sits down with J League's global business officer, Kei Koyama to talk about the future of the competition and how a domestic football league, such as Japan’s J League, grows its brand and status. They also discuss the impact that European superstars such as Andrés Iniesta had on the league's reputation outside Japan, the league's ground-breaking rights deals and the vision for growth an...

We're looking at the world of digital innovation in women's football and how brands can better understand and activate in this space. To do this. we're speaking to Nora Henriksson head of sport and managing director at Media. Monks. The Footballco Business Podcast is a show focused on the most innovative people working in the world of football media, brands and marketing. Each episode features som...

We're speaking with Luca Danovaro, chief marketing officer at Inter Milan, about how the club went about their re-brand, navigating that relationship with the fans and what the future holds for one of the most iconic clubs in European football. The Footballco Business Podcast is a show focused on the most innovative people working in the world of football media, brands and marketing. Each episode...