Today we welcome a true sporting legend. Bryan Habana is a 100+ cap Springbok, a World Champion and joint highest tryscorer in Rugby World Cup history, a man who races cheetahs. As I’m sure you’ve noted this is our longest show yet. That is because it’s also one of the best. Rugby sits at the heart of it, but the personal stories bring a side to an elite athlete we rarely see. There are moments in this where we were shocked at what happened to Bryan and inspired by how he navigated the demands of his performance while experiencing immense personal turmoil. We sat down and kept the cameras rolling. 

Please excuse Harry’s dishevelled look if you’re watching; he just about made it in time out of the pouring rain, having not originally been able to make it, so we give him a pass this time. And for a bit of fun, we have a discussion debating how many global sports icons rugby has had; people that could do what Bryan did and stand alongside Thierry Henry, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a Gillette advert. We’re not talking legendary rugby players, we’re talking global superstars. Comment who you think sits in that category below and we can move the debate of the best answers to our socials. 

On today’s show we discuss: 

The Making of a World Champion:

• The discipline and sacrifice required to compete at the top for 15 years.

• Why Bryan believes greatness is built, not born, and the mindset that allowed him to sustain elite standards.

• His philosophy on resilience, humility and redefining success beyond tries, trophies and fame.

Money, Trust & the Hidden Vulnerability of Athletes:

• The psychological crash that hits athletes after retirement and why so many feel lost without structure, identity or purpose.

• The shocking story of how Bryan’s trusted advisor mismanaged and spent years of his commercial earnings.

• The lessons he believes every young professional must learn about protecting their finances and their future.

The Springboks Blueprint for Success:

• Why South Africa has become the most consistently dominant rugby nation in the modern era.

• The culture, leadership structure, and alignment that underpin the team’s identity.

• Rassie Erasmus’s role in transforming the Springboks and why empowerment and clarity are central to their success.

The Future of Rugby:

• Why rugby cannot survive without global calendar alignment, better storytelling and more connection to young fans.

• How commercial realities, travel demands and private equity influence the sport’s next decade.

• Why Habana believes rugby must modernise fast or risk losing cultural relevance.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 
Stryde

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

Hello and welcome to Business of Sport: The Breakdown, a brand new show where we will be reviewing the week’s biggest stories from sport business. Hosted by Charlie Stebbings & Charlie Methven, the former CEO of Sunderland and Charlton among multiple other roles in sport with organisations such as McLaren and The Jockey Club,The Breakdown will analyse the biggest commercial, financial, and strategic stories shaping global sports.

To prepare for the full launch in January, this week we are releasing the pilot, aimed at getting this show ready to deliver for you! We want your feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas to make this the place you can get your weekly fill of the business of sport.

So why are we doing this? Well as we continue to rattle on about on the interview show, the business of sport has never been of more importance or more relevance to fans, to executives, to investors, to athletes. And the current news needs a bit of digesting. We will be talking through various stories from the week, looking at takeovers, investments, governance decisions, athlete deals…you name it, we’ll talk about it.

First up:

- Does England’s collapse in Perth create a financial problem for cricket?

- Should Ronaldo be banned for the World Cup?

- Is Toto Wolff’s part sale of Mercedes a worry for F1?

- What are the ramifications of Anthony Joshua’s fight with Jake Paul?

This is Business of Sport: The Breakdown

----------------------------------------------------

In Today's Show We Discuss:

00:00 Intro

04:05 The Cost Of England’s Ashes Collapse

17:04 AJ + Jake Paul: Business Before Belts

29:27 When Ronaldo’s Marketing Beats The Rulebook / The Ronaldo Effect

35:02 Wolff’s 15% Shake-Up: Win Or Warning

Sir Andrew Strauss is the last England Captain to win the Ashes in Australia. So what better time to get him in the hotseat. Aside from the timing being perfect, this is a show I have wanted to do from day one. That is not just because he is one of England’s greatest captains and batsmen, but he has also played an integral role in shaping the success of English cricket across formats in recent years. He transformed white ball cricket as Director of Professional Cricket at the ECB, culminating in that most incredible World Cup win in 2019. In doing so, you could say he laid the foundations for the style of test cricket the team is now playing today. 

We recorded this before the disaster (if you’re an England fan) that occurred in Perth, but that makes some of the frighteningly accurate observations made in this conversation more impressive. It is of course a reveal of how to win in Australia, but it is much more than that. From dealing with maverick talent to how to sort out domestic cricket, we’re delighted to welcome Andrew Strauss to the Business of Sport.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:40 Ashes Predictions

07:29 Parallels Between the 2010/11 Win and Today’s Team

14:46 The Most Nervous Game

17:29 Is Modern Sports Stardom Any Different Today?

24:13 Breaking Down Central Contracts & Player Income

27:08 Players Get More Exposure Than Ever

31:12 Balancing Individual Brilliance with Team Structure

34:18 How Bat Sponsorship Deals Actually Work

41:33 Resetting English Cricket

45:56 How Franchise Cricket Is Reshaping Test Player Pathways

49:32 Is County Cricket Financially Sustainable?

53:18 Why Distribution Isn’t Enough

58:20 If You Had to Choose One Sports Asset to Buy

01:00:41 How Athletes Transition Into Business Roles

01:03:28 How Captains Balance Leadership and Individual Output

01:08:00 The Ruth Strauss Foundation

01:10:16 Quick-Fire Round

On today’s show we discuss: 

Ashes Predictions and How To Win Down Under:

• The brutal realities of touring Australia. Bounce, conditions, the Kookaburra ball, and the psychological toll of playing in a “goldfish bowl.”

• Why England have won just one Test in Australia in 14 attempts, and why preparation is everything.

• The inside story of the 2010/11 Ashes triumph and what that team got right.

• The psychological battle of opening the batting, staying calm when the ball is flying past your ears, and facing the greatest to ever do it. Including Strauss’s unforgettable encounters with Shane Warne.

Running Elite Cricket & Winning a World Cup:

• What Strauss changed after England’s 2015 World Cup disaster and how it led directly to the 2019 World Cup win.

• Why he pushed for white-ball specialists, a fearless scoring philosophy, and a total cultural reset.

• Inside the tensions between formats, franchise cricket, and player availability and the challenges of managing England cricket like a true performance organisation.

The Hundred, County Cricket & the Future of the Game:

• The truth about county cricket’s finances. £40k average salaries, 450 professionals, and no sustainability.

• Why Strauss believes English cricket needs fewer teams, fewer matches, and an elite first division to compete globally.

• The insane valuations in The Hundred, why investors bought anyway, and how private capital will reshape cricket whether counties like it or not.

• What Test cricket will look like in 20 years.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Stryde

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

Emily Frazer is the CEO of Matchroom Multi Sport. She's led the charge in transforming sports like 9-ball pool into fast-growing, commercially compelling global properties, building new formats, elevating athlete storytelling, and bringing fresh audiences into what we could call a challenger landscape. 

The Multi-Sport story was told to perfection in the recent Matchroom Netflix series, shining a light on the lesser known side of the organisation at the centre of the boxing world and driving the boom we’ve seen in the darts. The question for Emily is simple: can the success in these other sports be replicated in the multi-sport model?

Ahead of the Mosconi Cup next week at Ally Pally (pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup), Emily delivers a compelling reveal on life behind the Matchroom curtain and what it’s going to take to deliver an emerging sport on a global stage. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:01 What is Multi Sport?

16:31 How Early Opportunities Accelerate Learning

20:53 How Did Matchroom Become the “Owner” of the Sport?

26:35 What’s the Master Plan to Make Nine-Ball a Global Sport?

31:46 Is Narrative More Important Than Quality Now?

34:14 The Upcoming Mosconi Cup

36:33 Do Athlete Brands Matter More Than Teams Now?

40:47 Is It Truly a Viable Job for Players?

44:11 Where Matchroom’s Core Revenue in Pool Comes From

49:42 Should Matchroom Create a Unified Fan Loyalty Program?

54:41 Pressure to Match Darts’ Success

59:59 Why Pool Is More Accessible Than Snooker

01:03:09 Quick-Fire Round

On today’s show we discuss: 

From ‘Special Events’ to a Global Multisport Division:

• How a once-overlooked corner of Matchroom evolved from “the joke department” into one of the company’s fastest-growing verticals.

• The commercial blueprint Matchroom is applying, from multi-table events to digital-first broadcasting, social virality and new formats.

• The weight of carrying a whole sport on your shoulders, and why Emily believes that “80% crazy” is an essential part of the job.

• The belief that with the right innovation, risk, and relentlessness, Pool will become a global powerhouse.

Athletes, Pressure & Player Pathways:

• The human realities of managing athletes in a developing sport. Expectation, frustration, and the emotional weight of leading a tour they rely on to feed their families.
• Why Pool is one of the rare sports where amateurs can face legends, and how that creates powerful fan moments that drive new fandom.
• How the rise of local ranking events has unlocked hidden talent in Vietnam, the Philippines, the U.S. and beyond.

Commercial Strategy, Media & Monetisation:

• The economics of Pool today: ticketing, sponsorship, WNT TV, and the importance of viewership for long-term sustainability.
• Why Pool cannot rely on tradition or federation structures, and must innovate faster and more aggressively than snooker or darts ever did.
• The long-term vision: a profitable global tour, star-driven marketing, and a world where Pool sits alongside darts and snooker in Matchroom’s “big three.”

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

David

Go and check out the amazing products revolutionising the protein bar at https://davidprotein.com

Stryde

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

Mosconi Cup Tickets

https://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/mosconi-cup/

IT’S ASHES WEEK. One of the biggest occasions of the sporting year is here, and with it we have a special show unlike any other we’ve done before. The Barmy Army is so influential it has made it into the Oxford Dictionary: to quote…it is a term for a group of passionate, noisy, and dedicated fans who support the English national cricket team, especially during overseas tours. For over 30 years, they’ve built incredible atmospheres by leveraging trumpets, original songs and bucket hats so fashionable they’re found all over Glastonbury. 

But did you know behind this infamous group sits a hugely successful business, with a responsibility to bring the best experiences to the thousands of touring fans under their banner. Chris Millard is the man in charge of the Barmy Army, and in a 6 week period that will no doubt have them front and centre of sports news as 40,000 England fans descend on Australia, we thought it was the perfect time to take a look at the organisation that defines fandom and community. This is a side of the Barmy Army you will not have seen before.

It’s time to build the hype for as we enter the ultimate cricketing Christmas. We’re delighted to welcome Chris to the Business of Sport

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:22 What the Barmy Army Has Planned for the Ashes

09:20 What the Barmy Army Is Today

12:15 The Revenue Streams

14:41 How Bazball Has Boosted Test Cricket Demand

16:39 How Touring Groups Collaborate in Cricket

23:39 Did Commercial Growth Threaten the Barmy Army’s Values?

27:07 How Barmy Army Merch & Licensing Works

31:14 How Fan Culture Can Help Strengthen County Cricket

34:20 Why Test Cricket Survives Only in a Few Nations

37:52 How Packed Calendars Impact Player Welfare

43:08 How Iconic Grounds Were Left Off the Ashes List

46:03 Predicting the Ashes Outcome

51:43 The Long-Term Vision for the Barmy Army Business

On today’s show we discuss: 

The Business Behind the Barmy Army:

• How a grassroots fan group founded in 1994 has grown into a multimillion-pound sports business.

• Why the Barmy Army now operates with full-time staff, global partnerships, and a sophisticated travel, merchandise, and events model.

• The operational challenge of managing over 3,500 official tourists, and more than 40,000 fans, on a single Ashes tour.

• How it evolved from a group of England fans into a global movement with over two million social followers.

Partnerships & Governance in Cricket:

• Inside the economics of a modern fan brand. From travel packages to apparel, partnerships, and social media monetisation.

• How collaborations with TNT Sports, retro kit lines, and bespoke tour collections have turned the Barmy Army into a fashion and lifestyle label as much as a supporters’ group.

• The Barmy Army’s evolving relationship with the ECB, from being seen as a rival to becoming an ally and trusted partner.

• How the group now collaborates with governing bodies across the world to influence tour schedules, ticketing, and fan logistics.

Test Cricket, Tourism & the Global Game:

• Why the Barmy Army believes Test cricket is still the sport’s heartbeat and how their tours generate up to $750 million in host-country impact.

• The critical link between tourism, culture, and cricket’s survival, from Barbados to the Ashes.

• The fight to preserve the long-form game amid scheduling chaos and private league dominance.

• The obstacles of perception, access, and tradition when expanding into new territories.

• Why the future of fandom will be driven by authenticity, emotion, and the fans who live the game, not the corporations who sell it.

Rugby is facing a massive few years. A battle to demonstrate financial sustainability, the need for players to build brands that can compete with sport’s biggest stars, a threat to established systems from challenger leagues; it’s sink or swim time, if that’s not being too dramatic.

Dan Biggar is one of the game’s great fly-halves (though he’d never admit it himself): over 100 caps for Wales including 3 World Cups and a 6 Nations Grand Slam, and a 2-time British & Irish Lion. While it pains me to recognise much of this success with any genuine words of congratulations, what we are seeing from him now in his work behind the scenes in the media and wider business world is much easier to support. It’s a great example of the real value an athlete can bring beyond the field. As you’ve just heard, a quite brilliant segment of this chat is Dan opening up on life after retirement and how to adjust as an athlete to a new reality. 

Yes this is about the state of Welsh rugby, but it’s also a look at the broader game and what needs to happen to ensure rugby can compete for the attention of fans increasingly being pulled in different directions by new and shiny entertainment offerings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:49 The Current State of Welsh Rugby

10:13 Why Wales’ Rugby Results Have Declined

12:17 Inside the WRU’s Unique Funding Model

17:26 What Steve Tandy Brings to Wales

20:14 Why Gatland Worked Then

30:26 Inside the 2015 Rugby World Cup ‘Group of Death’

34:31 Life After a Defining World Cup Moment

46:37How Dan Biggar Views the PREM Rugby Today

50:53 How Competitive Are Welsh Teams Right Now?

54:54 Moving Into a New Environment After Rugby

01:00:52 How Personal Brands Shape Today’s Athletes

01:03:37 The Scheduling Problem Facing Club & Country

01:07:37 After Rugby & Media: What Comes Next?

On today’s show we discuss: 

The State of Welsh Rugby:

• Why Welsh rugby finds itself at a crossroads. From funding issues to failed reform and player development.

• The controversial “One Wales” plan, the fallout from the WRU’s regional restructuring proposals, and why leadership and clarity remain missing.

• Inside the WRU’s unique funding model.

• Why this structure has created dependency, stagnation, and political tension between clubs and the national setup.

• Why new head coach Steve Tandy represents a complete cultural reset for the national team.

The Biggar Years & Playing at the Top:

• What went right during Wales’s recent golden generation and what went wrong since.

• The evolution from Warren Gatland’s hard-edged discipline to Tandy’s empathetic, relationship-driven leadership.

• The psychological toll of success and expectation, and what it really takes to stay at the top for nearly two decades.

• How contract negotiations, club moves, and personal ambition shaped his career.

The Future of Rugby & Athlete Branding:

• Why players like Henry Pollock are the future of rugby, as entertainers and cultural icons as much as athletes.

• The value of player branding in driving ticket sales, sponsorship, and engagement in a sport fighting for relevance.

• • Why rugby must embrace individuality, storytelling, and innovation to compete with football, Formula One, and the NFL.

  
  

  A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

  Stryde

  Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

  
  

  SBS: Follow in Dan’s footsteps & join the community powering connectivity in sport https://www.sportsbusinesssyndicate.com/

  
  

Multi-club ownership groups have had a tough year in the eyes of many, with high profile cases around Crystal Palace & Lyon as well as Forest & Olympiacos showing the competitive risk of one owner or group having too much control over multiple entities. But, and it is a big but, this model can be a hugely valuable business and performance structure to apply to football.

Tim Bezbatchenko is the President of Black Knight Football, the group who owns or has minority ownership in multiple clubs including Bournemouth, Hibernian, and Lorient in France to name a few. It’s an amazing time to be having this chat with Tim due the success Bournemouth are achieving this season, miraculously after another summer of selling some of their best players. This is an insight into how they have built a player trading model to offset the financial challenges of having an 11,000 seater stadium, the plans to develop infrastructure, the value of shared intelligence and analytics across multiple clubs, and most importantly how you protect the badge of each team so they do not just become feeders to the premium asset in the group.

This is a proper look at the MCO model from someone who firmly believes that collective value can breed the best business in football. We’re delighted to welcome Tim to the Business of Sport.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:26 What Black Knight is really about

12:07 The business edge of owning multiple clubs

17:02 Inside Bournemouth's rise under Andoni Iraola

25:45 Bill Foley's mantra: "Always Advance, Never Retreat"

31:24 How Bournemouth sells stars yet keeps getting better

44:52 Building a sustainable club: revenue, academy & player trading

01:01:14 Why Bill Foley chose Bournemouth over an MLS team

On today’s show we discuss: 

The Rise of Black Knight Football Group:

• What it takes to build a multi-club ownership group across five countries and why Bill Foley’s “Always Advance, Never Retreat” mantra is shaping everything from the Premier League to Portugal.
• How AFC Bournemouth became the flagship club for a growing global network that includes Hibernian, Lorient, and Moreirense.
• Why multi-club ownership is football’s next frontier and how to build it sustainably

Inside the Business Model:

• The economics behind owning multiple clubs from shared scouting, player development, and data systems to group-wide sponsorship deals.
• Why player trading drives profitability, and how clubs like Lorient and Moreirense fuel Bournemouth’s long-term success.
• The art of finding value: buying clubs with strong DNA and fan culture, not just financial upside
• How Black Knight is using its network to develop talent like Junior Kroupi and accelerate their pathway to the Premier League.
• Why football’s next phase will be defined by structure, not just spending.

Building a Sustainable Premier League Club:

• Inside Bournemouth’s transformation from League Two survival story to Premier League mainstay.
• How a £45m training ground and planned stadium expansion are reshaping the club’s future.
• The economics of player trading, matchday revenue, and sponsorships and what it really costs to compete with England’s elite
  

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

David:

Go and check out the amazing products revolutionising the protein bar at https://davidprotein.com

Stryde:

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit ⁠http://www.gostryde.com⁠ to become part of the movement!

The celebrity investor coming into football as part of an ownership group is nothing new these days, but there were more than a few eyebrows raised when it was announced that Snoop Dogg, alongside footballing legend Luka Modric, had become a minority investor in Swansea. There must be something in the Welsh water. Swansea is storied club with a hugely passionate fanbase and a recent history of Premier League football and both elite player and manager development. 

Getting to the bottom of what facilitated this high profile involvement is one thing, but CEO Tom Gorringe is facing all the usual challenges of creating an elite playing environment delivering results on the pitch while trying to ensure the business is exceeding expectations to allow the club to spend money and challenge for promotion. 

There are some statistics in here that shocked us, some conditions that have to be taken into account that are unique to this club, but when reflecting on this conversation, this is a team absolutely moving in the right direction. It’s maximisation of financial opportunity without losing your values alongside how we’re still gunning for a Snoop Dogg, Just Eat, Rossi’s collaboration to take place pre game (one for Swansea fans/if you’re not go and google the iconic fish and chip establishment). Let’s get on with it. We’re delighted to welcome Tom to Business of Sport.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:24 On Staying Open and Connected with Fans

06:53 What Tom’s Job Actually Involves

09:14 How Modric and Snoop Joined the Club

14:54 Death Row Records Deal

18:11 The Power of Celebrity in Football

20:38 The Revenue Drivers

23:01 Content Strategy

25:13 How Communication Works with Multiple Owners

29:56 Lessons from Bristol to Swansea

31:05 Budgeting

35:07 How Loan Deals Are Structured

37:17 How Swansea Supports Players Beyond the Pitch

38:22 Inside the Decision to Appoint Manager

42:09 Ranking Why People Join Swansea

44:41 The Role of Football Regulation Today

47:10 Tom’s Opinion on Parachute Payments

48:24 Is Owning a Club Serious Business or Just Fun?

53:07 Quick-Fire Round

On today’s show we discuss: 

Snoop Dogg, Luka Modric & a New Era for Swansea:

• How one of the most unexpected ownership stories in football came together.

• Why Snoop Dogg and Luka Modric invested in Swansea and how it’s changing the club’s global profile overnight.

• How the club is using celebrity partnerships to drive sponsorship, retail, and brand awareness including a Death Row Records x Swansea collaboration that broke sales records

Authenticity, Community & the Fans:

• Why Swansea’s local identity remains at the heart of everything and why openness with fans is one of Tom’s core principles.

• The balance between commercial growth and staying true to the club’s roots as a working-class, one-club city.

• How fan engagement and local pride are helping rebuild trust and unity across the club

Financial Discipline & Sustainability:

• The economics of a Championship club in 2025. £21.5m turnover, £15m losses, and the battle for sustainability.

• How Tom cut £3.9m in annual costs without harming performance including the famous “dirty windows” moment.

• What running a Championship club actually costs, from stadium leases and catering royalties to travel and academy budgets.

• How the incoming football regulator could transform sustainability and fairness across the EFL.
  

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Stryde

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit ⁠http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

What does women’s football need to do to match men’s? Could it be even bigger? What is currently holding it back? Every so often, we have a chat on this show which pushes beyond the surface of sport. The potential, growth and popularity of women’s football has become a feature of macro conversation for years, but finding someone with the credibility and willingness to say it how it is is not easy.

Meet Bex Smith, former New Zealand Captain, treble winner with Wolfsburg, FIFA Women’s World Cup executive, and now club owner. Having founded Crux Football, a MCO Group looking to build collective value across core assets in the women’s game, she is on a mission to be a key part of unlocking the business and performance success she believes is inevitable in the sport if the right structures are in place to support it. With the recent purchase of their first club Montpellier, the vision is about to become reality; it is not just an ability to affect an individual club but the change that needs to happen across the league and broader ecosystem that will determine true success.

If anyone is going to do it, you’re about to meet her. No statements for the sake of it, no positioning without considered justification. It’s the women’s football show we’ve been waiting for. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:38 Why Montpellier Was the Perfect Start

14:04 Building the Right Financial Structure

18:04 The Valuation Problem in Women’s Football

23:35 Why Women’s Football Need To Stop Copying the Men’s Game

34:37 The Challenge of Managing Multiple Clubs

36:47 The Path from Pitch to Boardroom

41:12 Balancing Independence with System Constraints

44:17 What Makes the Women’s Game So Investable

48:20 Would Bex Buy a Club in England Today?

49:14 How Players Drive Engagement and Value

55:41 Why Equal Pay Isn’t the Whole Story

58:22 Managing the Female Athlete’s Body

01:03:53 Quick-Fire Round

On today’s show we discuss: 

Rebuilding the Foundations of Women’s Football:

• Why the European women’s game “doesn’t work” under its current structure 

• Why independence from men’s clubs is essential for real sustainability.

• How governance, league rules, and commercial structures need to evolve to match the women’s game’s unique audience and values.

• Why Bex believes women’s football can and should be bigger than the men’s game.

Building Crux Football & Buying Montpellier:

• Inside the acquisition process of Montpellier and what made it the perfect first club.

• Why the French league is becoming one of Europe’s most investable women’s football markets.

• The operational blueprint behind Crux Football’s multi-club model.

The Power of Storytelling & Icons:

• Why visibility and narrative are key to driving fandom and revenue.

• How the rise of icons like Lucy Bronze, Chloe Kelly, and Megan Rapinoe has reshaped global perceptions of women’s football.

• How Crux Football plans to use storytelling, content, and player-led media to grow audience and commercial value

Athlete Welfare, Data & Performance:

• How to build medical, technical, and performance systems designed for women, not men.

• Why data, analytics, and research are crucial to reducing ACL injuries and improving long-term player development.

• How Crux Football’s performance infrastructure and recruitment strategy will help close the gap in player care and analytics

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

David 

Go and check out the amazing products revolutionising the protein bar at https://davidprotein.com

Stryde

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

What is the world of LIV Golf really like? Cutting through all the noise and the image portrayed of a league propped up by PIF money incapable of supporting itself, is there another side? That’s what we take a look at with this week’s guest James Dunkley, Team Principal of Majesticks Golf Club, one of the 13 teams that compete on the tour. 

There is no denying the controversy that LIV caused when it was established, disrupting the world of golf and the established tours, taking some of the biggest stars of the game on big money and changing the format. But going beyond that, and most importantly the short term financial commitments it has required, what is the long term ambition, and how does this model fit into the broader game to co-exist with the sport’s other key organisations and tournaments while also tackling some of golf’s biggest challenges: ageing fanbases, stale formats, financial distribution outside of the top players.

James takes us through the running of a team consisting of huge personalities and profiles like Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson, the importance of creating a winning organisation, and why much of this tour is completely misunderstood by many. I won’t lie this opened my eyes to a side of LIV I hadn’t previously considered or appreciated, and I think it’ll surprise you too. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:24 How do the teams work

07:40 Reviving a stale sport

11:00 Building a community & youth programs

13:20 Inside Majesticks GC operations

16:15 Why team golf is so exciting

21:00 Relegation & Recruitment

25:00 Building audience & identity

30:00 Path to profitability

42:44 $1.1 Billion in losses & long-term vision

49:20 LIV's unique fan experience

52:00 How LIV changed the way players compete

On today’s show we discuss: 

Inside the LIV Golf Model:

• How LIV’s $1.1 billion investment is building a long-term global sports property.

• Breaking down the commercial structure: team equity, prize money, sponsorship, and central funding from the PIF.

• How initiatives like Little Sticks are teaching life skills and values to tens of thousands of kids through golf

Media, Broadcast & Growth:

• How LIV Golf secured massive broadcast reach with Fox Sports, ITV, and global partners and why timing is everything.

• The challenge of changing golf’s viewing experience: more shots per hour, better storytelling, and making broadcasts easier to follow.

• Why accessibility, not exclusivity, will define the next era of golf media

The Future of Golf:

• How LIV, the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour can coexist and why collaboration is key for the health of the sport.

• What the next five years of LIV’s expansion will look like: more team-based events, geographic franchises, and a clearer media presence.

• Why Dunkley believes golf’s “civil war” will give way to a stronger, more connected global game

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Stryde

Bringing sports investment opportunities to your door. Visit http://www.gostryde.com to become part of the movement!

Today, we’re delighted to welcome Pablo Longoria to the show. Pablo is President of french football giant Marseille, marking a welcome venture for us into European football! Make no mistake, this is a huge club steeped in history, the most passionate fans, and a global brand. Managing all of this from a business perspective is a serious job. Then of course add into it the need to create a winning team on the pitch to drive it all, and that is the challenge that faces Pablo.

From scout and technical director to club President, his route to the top is unique in itself. The approach is absolutely ‘results first’. They have compiled a squad with a strong balance of youth and experience, including former Premier League players such as Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Pierre-Emile Hojbjurg, and of course Mason Greenwood, whose controversial transfer is covered in this chat as we look at how Marseille are approaching the transfer market. The broader challenges for the club extend into the chaotic media landscape of french football and the challenge with competing against the biggest and established leagues with less financial clout. 

Deep insight into top top level football is not abundant. This is a fascinating reveal of what is takes to run one European football’s most iconic organisations. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:01 Pablo Longoria’s Path to Football Executive

08:18 Joining Olympique de Marseille

10:12 The State of Marseille When Pablo Arrived

11:37 Revenues: Ticketing, Security, Food & Beverage

20:19 How On-Pitch Success Drives Business Growth

21:56 Pablo’s Role in Player Recruitment

24:52 What People Get Wrong About Football Managers

28:41 Football Director vs Manager: What’s the Difference?

29:42 Managing Transfer Market Inflation

39:33 How Fans Influence Transfer Strategy

43:29 Learning from Transfer Mistakes

45:45 Where Marseille Fits in the Football Pyramid

49:22 Inside France’s Evolving Media Rights Landscape

53:53 The Competitive Imbalance in French Football

55:09 How CVC’s Investment Impacts French Clubs

56:37 Winning vs Profitability Under U.S. Ownership

01:01:26 The Concentration of Value in Top Leagues

01:07:18 Underinvestment in Technology Across Sport

01:10:49 Where Marseille Aims to Be in Five Years

On today’s show we discuss: 

The Business of Modern Football:

• How Pablo is leading one of Europe’s biggest clubs through the most challenging media landscape in decades.

• Why Champions League qualification changes the balance sheet by up to 40%, and how to plan when your core revenue can fluctuate by €80 million.

• How Marseille balances community accessibility, with tickets as low as €12, against the commercial pressures of competing at Europe’s top table

Building for the Long Term:

• Why sporting performance is the engine behind every revenue stream.

• The psychology of team-building and Pablo’s “building-floor” theory explaining why some players succeed and others fail.

• How De Zerbi’s arrival marked a turning point for Marseille and what true alignment between coach, sporting director and CEO looks like

The Media Rights Revolution:

• What the collapse of French TV rights means for clubs across Ligue 1.

• What leagues can learn from the Premier League’s ability to globalise its product

Transfers & the Future of Football:

• Why Marseille’s recruitment strategy focuses on age profiles others overlook and how to find value.

• Why he believes football must evolve from a “sports industry” to an “entertainment industry” to survive the next decade

  A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

  David 

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  Stryde

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