Unofficial Partner Podcast

Our guest today is Brian Moore, former England and British Lions rugby player, lawyer, newspaper columnist, television commentator and author.  If it’s informed and insightful opinions you’ve come for, you’re in luck.  In a world where the professional sphere of sports intertwines with broader societal issues, Brian Moore dives into themes of identity, retirement, and the business of sports, unrav...

Rory Smith recently wrote a think piece in the New York Times titled What is Ronaldo at 40? The article posed some good questions about the nature of sporting celebrity in 2025 and beyond.  So we asked Rory on to the podcast to discuss, with two expert guests from the sports industry, Louise Johnson and Andy Meikle.   Rory Smith joined The Athletic from the New York Times, where he spent eight yea...

This is episode two of a four part series called What’s Sport Selling, created in partnership with Redtorch, the research and creative agency that’s been at the heart of Olympic Sport for over 20 years.  This conversation builds on the first episode, with guests Celine Del Genes of Decathlon and Emma Mason Zwiebler of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, in which we discussed the b...

This is a special live recording of the podcast created in collaboration with the Strategic Sports Advisory Team at Teneo, at the company's London headquarters. Together we convened a roundtable forum on the topic of India and its relationship with the sports marketplace.  Around the table was group of specially invited guests all of whom have a connection to the country and its sports busine...

Will Netflix buy F1 rights in the US? Will TNT buy Six Nations in the UK? Will DAZN back out of their Ligue1 deal in France? Streamers' January accounts: is anyone not losing money? Is TGL any good? Do you go to the Super Bowl just for the meetings?  Join Richard Gillis on The Bundle with Yannick Ramcke, General Manager of OTT at OneFootball and Murray Barnett, 26West Sport, formerly World Ru...

The Buy Side is our regular series talking with brand side marketers about sport and sponsorship.  Our guest is Richard Deane, who's career includes running sponsorship programmes at Standard Life Investments, Abrdn and Investec across Ryder Cup, British and Irish Lions and many other major sports properties.  The Buy Side is sponsored by the Two Circles intelligence platform KORE.  More than...

 Other People's Money is our series on the sports investment marketplace with regular co-host Matt Rogan, co-founder of Two Circles. Bruin Capital, George Pyne's private equity firm, has launched a new international soccer agency called As1, representing more than 300 players and coaches as clients. The list includes Bruno Fernandes, Man United, Moises Cascedo, formerly of Brighton, now...

This is a continuation of a series of podcasts focused on the sporting product, formats and the link to financial success and fan engagement.    Guests: Barney Schauble, co-owner of Venezia FC and Oakland Roots SC Omar Chaudhuri, chief intelligence officer, Twenty First Group AJ Swoboda, managing director Americas, Twenty First Group US financier Barney Schauble is part of the ownership group at S...

Gamechangers and Rainmakers: How Sport Became Big Business is a new book by British sports industry veteran David Stubley. The growing relationship between sport, television and the advertising industry has been key to this development, as have the boundless ambitions of influencers such as Bernie Ecclestone, Billie Jean King, Pete Rozelle, Mark McCormack, Rupert Murdoch and Horst Dassler. David S...

Media rights auctions are the moment when the question of 'What’s sport worth?' is asked and answered; the point at which the talk becomes real; where fortunes are been spent, won and lost, psychology meets money. The auction gives us a glimpse of a different future, that may or may not be the direction of travel for everyone else in the marketplace.   What makes this imperfect process m...

Today's guest is Infinite Athlete founder Charlie Ebersol.  Infinite Athlete has been a sports business story since the brand suddenly appeared on Chelsea’s shirt at the start of last season. It's a story with a lot of baggage: Charlie Ebersol is the son of actress Susan St James and Dick Ebersol, the legendary NBC Sport chairman. IA is backed by Andreesen Horowitz, Silver Lake, Endeavou...

Welcome to The Bundle, our regular series on the sports media and streaming marketplace with co-hosts Yannick Ramcke, General Manager of OTT at the streaming service OneFootball and Murray Barnett, founder of 26West Consulting and formerly of F1, World Rugby and ESPN International. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conv...

Dame Tracey Crouch on the Football Regulator Kieran Maguire on Richard Masters  Fiona Harold on golf's big merger Jason Siegel on VR Jenny Mitton on rugby Steve Martin on brands Jo Redfern on gaming formats Nic Coward on India Rich Johnson on single location challengers Nathan Homer on Rwanda and Albania Professor Simon Chadwick on Morocco Maggie Murphy on entitlement of Lionesses fans Siddha...

The 3 is back for a special Christmas episode, looking back at the sports business in 2024. Richard is joined by David Cushnan and James Emmett from Leaders in Sport, each of whom is tasked with revealing their most interesting story, person and sport from the year in the sports industry. What could go wrong? Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertainin...

Wedge Issues is Unofficial Partner's business of golf series. Ryan Howsam is the insurance entrepreneur behind the giant Staysure organisation, who liked golf so much he bought the European Seniors Tour, beginning as a sponsor and turning that in to a majority ownership stake, rebranding it as the Legends Tour.  This gives him a fascinating angle in to the golf product, from the elite tours,...

In a sports industry obsessed with data and measurement, brand is the great intangible asset, the bit of the balance sheet that remains largely opaque, which is why it’s so important.  But mention brand in the vicinity of fans or the football media and there's a row.  It’s no surprise that the kit launch genre has evolved during this period, growing in importance and sophistication (and cost)...

A special live episode of the podcast recorded at BAFTA in Piccadilly in London, in collaboration with HBS, or Host Broadcast Services, the leaders in sports broadcast production, which was celebrating 25 years in the industry and the opening of it’s London office. The company has produced every FIFA World Cup and many other events since established to be host broadcaster of the 2002 FIFA World Cu...

This is the first episode in a series of four podcasts made in collaboration with Redtorch, the research and creative agency that’s been at the heart of Olympic sport for over 20 years, working for many of the key international federations. We’ve used Redtorch research insights several times on the podcast because they ask really good questions that seek to break the walls between the elite perfor...

The conversation dissects sport’s relationship with the phone, how that differs depending on the nature of our fandom, and the specific roles played by mobile games and fantasy league products in attracting, building and retaining fans.  Finn Bradshaw, head of digital at ICC, the global governing body for cricket, and held similar roles at Tennis Australia, Cricket Australia and News Corp.  Siddha...

Welcome to The Bundle, our regular series on the sports media and streaming marketplace with co-hosts Yannick Ramcke, General Manager of OTT at the streaming service OneFootball and Murray Barnett, founder of 26West Consulting and formerly of F1, World Rugby and ESPN International. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conv...

Two Circles is predicting the global sports fanbase will grow from 3.2billion to 4billion by 2033. But below that bullish headline, there’s some nuance. For example, two thirds of consumption comes from just 20% of the most dedicated fans. So there’s a race on to get at that remaining 80% of casual fans, who make up the famous long tail. But how?  Christian Harrall-Baker is Director of Content, fo...

The Buy Side is our regular series talking with brand side marketers about sport and sponsorship. Today's guest is Willem Dinger, global head of sport and entertainment partnerships at Unilever. The Buy Side is sponsored by KORE Software the global leader in engagement marketing solutions. More than 900 brands, venues, and sports organisations trust KORE’s tools and platforms as a source of t...

Other People's Money is our regular series on sports investment, with co-host Matt Rogan, co-founder of Two Circles. Today the subject is sports tech, with our guest Dugald Macdonald co-founder of Sportable. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our co...

There’s a row going on over who should run the nascent and potentially commercially valuable sports of padel and pickleball.  This issue has a universal application across many sports, as NGBs seek to wrap their arms around what they might call strategic adjacencies . So, what are pros and cons of the LTA owning Padel and Pickleball. Is the NGB model the right one? Do we want or need every version...

A special live episode recorded on stage at Sportel Monaco, the global sports television and technology convention. Guests: Glen Killane, Executive Director of Sport, European Broadcast Union, the EBU. Claire Kelly, Managing Director of Gemba Europe and Middle East. Yannick Ramcke, General Manager of OTT at OneFootball. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of...