This week, we’re delighted to welcome Wolves Chairman Jeff Shi to the show. Having been at the club since 2016, he has been a key part of the club’s rise from Championship survival to top half Premier League finishes and European quarter finals. Currently enjoying their longest run of Premier League football, there is a lot to be proud of. Jeff hasn’t done a huge amount of interviews. With the club surviving a tricky period last year when their top flight status was at risk for half the season, ...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 76
This week, we’re delighted to welcome Millwall’s Managing Director Mark Fairbrother to the show. This is a football club that many people both in and out of football have a preconceived idea about, built around historical associations with hooliganism and social unrest. These perceptions are rooted in media portrayal, cultural symbolism and sociopolitical factors rather than the club’s present day values. So, what does the Millwall of today represent and stand for? Off the back of a hugely succe...
Jun 24, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 75
This week we’re delighted to welcome Carl Frampton to the show. Second dive into boxing is long overdue and so much has happened since we last visited the sport. A boxing legend and Ring Magazine ‘Fighter of the Year’ in 2016, he was the first Northern Irishman to hold world titles in two weight classes, Carl is recognised as one of the best fighters of his generation. As you may expect, there is far more to him than the success he achieved in the ring. This was also the time for us to understan...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 74
This week we’re delighted to welcome Sony Sports CEO Rufus Hack to the show. Strap in, this is a reveal on how technology is changing sport, from the man that brings us Goal Line Technology, VAR, TMO, DRS and much more. Sony have been elevating their proposition, developing on the established Music, Entertainment and Playstation divisions to influence sport and deliver crossover value as sport converges with the modern entertainment industry. Through their ownership of Hawkeye, Rufus oversees th...
Jun 10, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Today we’re delighted to welcome Bradford City CEO Ryan Sparks to the show. Promotions don’t come much more dramatic than Bradford City’s 96th minute winner on the final day of the season to seal promotion to league one. We know how important it is to move through the leagues for both the business and performance side of clubs. Bradford is a team with immense support, Premier League history, a 25,000 seater stadium…but it’s been a chaotic 25 years since leaving the premier league. Administration...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 72
I love this game! To anyone who has an interest in sport and finds themselves regularly on social media, this catchphrase is likely to mean something to you, as is the person who coined it. Patrice Evra is one of the most decorated and stand out footballers of the last 20 years. Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues, his success on the pitch most famously with Manchester United is no secret. But as his media profile has shown, there is more to the man than football. There’s a drive, focus, and appl...
May 27, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Today we’re delighted to welcome Guy Kinnings to the show. Guy is the CEO of European (DP World) Tour and Ryder Cup Europe. Our first venture into golf and it couldn’t be better timed. An Incredible Rory McIlroy Masters win to kick off the season followed by a summer of elite culminating in the Ryder Cup in New York in September. The business or politics of golf have been hotly debated since the inception of Saudi backed LIV Golf a few years ago. Big cheques attracting some of the world’s top pl...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Today we’re delighted to welcome Spencer Owen, Founder & Owner of the iconic Hashtag United, to the show. This is one of the most unique organisations in football. Why? Well it was founded on the internet before becoming a successful men’s and women’s team competing in English football. Spencer, or Spencer FC as many of his fans know him, built one of the strongest online brands in football, with over 2m YouTube subscribers regularly engaging with his channel. When he decided to take Hashtag...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Today we’re delighted to welcome the British and Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley to the show. The Lions are one of the most iconic institutions in sport. Made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, this team which tours once every four years is the pinnacle of many a rugby player's career. In just a few weeks, the team will begin its tour of Australia, trying to win a series for only the third time in the last 30 years. This highlights how difficult it actually is for the Lions t...
May 06, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Today we’re delighted to welcome Manchester City Women’s Director Charlotte O’Neill to the show. This is a part of the game we talk about a lot. The growth of women’s football has been in turbo over the last decade, both in the UK and beyond. Man City have been one of the clubs leading that charge, compiling a squad of world class talent with the facilities and infrastructure to deliver on a long term ambition, to be the best women’s team in the world. But behind this is a broad range of both su...
Apr 29, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Today we’re delighted to welcome Surrey County Cricket CEO Steve Elworthy to the show, our first venture into one of the toughest businesses in sport. Surrey is a historic institution in a historic sport, part of a club set up integral to the development of all cricket, including the much loved short form franchise tournaments that dominate today. But well documented, the clubs are struggling big time. Surrey, as you’ll hear, is not one of them. By far the best team chasing a 4th consecutive cha...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Today we welcome Exeter City CEO Joe Gorman. This show is long in the making. One of the most requested guests we have had. Why? Well Exeter are one of football’s biggest rarities; a fan owned club. This means they cannot rely on the wealth and exuberance enjoyed by many to succeed on and off the pitch. They actually have to try and make the business make sense. Punching above their weight for many years, the club sits in League One alongside mega rich teams like Birmingham and Wrexham, and are ...
Apr 15, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Today we welcome Nicolas Julia, founder of Sorare, the record breaking platform that blends fantasy sport with digital collectibles. This is a step beyond the fantasy football/F1/rugby you may already be a part of. It’s an open market, providing the chance to show your skills and talent identification to buy, select and trade tangible assets in the form of player cards. They are reimagining sport for the digital age, combining NFT’s, global partnerships, and strategic gameplay to create a fan-ow...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Today we welcome 7-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson, a racing legend. Motorsport has never been bigger. The Liberty Media world of F1 has exploded, MotoGP has sold for over $4bn, but what about NASCAR? The US's second most watched sport is an entertainment and commercial giant, yet outside of America, it’s fair to say exposure is limited. Jimmie Johnson is one of the most successful drivers to grace any track; think Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher. He is the joint record holder for most ...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 63
This week, we take a look inside one of the most talked about clubs this season. From hiring Wayne Rooney as manager to knocking Liverpool out of the FA Cup, it’s been a crazy season for Plymouth and CEO Andrew Parkinson. Even more so when the club finds itself bottom of the championship fighting for survival. But this is a club that continually outperforms its budget, competing against teams with 6x bigger budgets, and that’s what we want to get into today. How do you build success in a footbal...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 62
This week, we’re delighted to welcome the CEO of the RFU, Bill Sweeney, to the show. There’s no hiding from the fact it’s been a hard few months for the organisation and Bill personally. Significant losses reported last year alongside the now infamous LTIP scheme generated an unrelenting flow of negative press and questions of the leadership. This show is about understanding the financial health of the RFU and wider sport. And it’s certainly not as bad as many would have you believe. Fueling the...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Welcome to the business of Non-League football. Beneath the top four tiers of the revered English football pyramid sits a whole other football world; hundreds of teams, players, coaches, owners playing week in week out to climb the ladder. Jamie Vardy, Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen, Tyrone Mings have all played non-league football. ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ recently storied the quality that exists and the difficulty in getting out of it. I’ve wanted to do a show focused on this from day one, so I’m del...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Another first class Football League CEO in the studio this week. Liam Dooley has been in charge of Shrewsbury town, League one’s longest serving club, since 2023. Operating on the smallest budget in the division, balancing good business with competitive performance is not easy. Shrewsbury have had 10 consecutive years at this level, but are currently bottom of the league having lost their last four games. But, with their latest accounts showing they have halved their annual losses, the business ...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Today we welcome one of football’s most iconic CEOs. When Peter Kenyon moved from Manchester United to Chelsea in 2003 after Roman Abramovich bought the club, it was the first time a move in the boardroom was treated like a player transfer. Sir Alex Ferguson was said to be ‘intensely disappointed’, not least because he recognised the role Peter played in the success of United at the time. Having built Man Utd into both a performance and commercial powerhouse, Peter took on the task of executing ...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 58
This week, we’re delighted to welcome Lee Johnson to the show. Lee has had a stellar career as both a player and manager, playing over 400 games before becoming the youngest manager in the Football League at 31 when he took over at Oldham in 2013. Since that first job he has managed some historic clubs including Sunderland, Bristol City, and Hibernian. After a tough year, leaving Hibs followed by a very brief spell at Fleetwood, Lee took the time out to reflect on the next stage of his career an...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 57
This week, we are delighted to welcome James Barclay to the show. James is Team Principal at Jaguar Racing, the current Formula E constructors World Champion. We have done some amazing shows on Formula 1, but this is a new area to venture into. Formula E is the fastest growing motorsport in the world. It has been a rapid rise for electric racing since the first season in 2014. In an age where the environment and sustainability dominates, this format has become a pioneer of ‘green’ sport, influen...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 56
With the Six Nations underway, it’s time to talk rugby. Benjamin Kayser won 47 caps for France, playing club rugby in both The Premiership and Top 14 for the likes of Leicester Tigers and Clermont. Since hanging up his boots, he has become a regular on our screens as a commentator and pundit with ITV. Not afraid to say it how it is, and with an undying passion for the game, there was no one better to sit down with on the eve of the tournament to look at the overall health of the sport. We have h...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Today, we welcome a British sporting legend. That term can get thrown around a lot, but as a multiple Olympic, World and European Champion, Alistair Brownlee is one of the greatest triathletes of all time. As you hopefully now know with this show, the sporting success is only one side of our guests. It’s what they are doing alongside their elite performance that drives our intrigue, and Alistair is far more than the sum of his medals. The money in athletics and triathlon is nothing like the mone...
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Today, we bring you the man who founded the global phenomenon HYROX. Mo is a double Olympic Gold Medallist in hockey, having won with Germany in Beijing and London. Described to me by someone who knows far more about the sport as ‘The Cristiano Ronaldo’ of field hockey, we were pretty excited to get both a sporting icon and high flying entrepreneur in the studio; always what we strive for on the Business of Sport! Since it was founded in 2017, HYROX has become a major player in sporting particip...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 53
This week we’re delighted to welcome EFL Chair Rick Parry to the show. Rick has seen it all in football; The first CEO of the Premier League, CEO of Liverpool (1998-2009), and now Chair of English Football League. It can easily be argued that overseeing the interests of 72 clubs ranging from Leeds to Morecambe, is the hardest job in football. But Rick would never look at it like that. When we asked why take this job now having been offered it in the past, he simply responded ‘because I believe I...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 52
We’re back with a bang as we welcome Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple to the show. This is one of English sport’s most historic organisations. Laurie has been in charge of the Premiership Rugby team for over 5 years, establishing them as one of the leading commercial entities in the game while delivering huge success including league titles and European Cup semi-finals on the pitch. We’ve had some incredible rugby chats on the show in the past. This is no different. From the viability of teams as...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Today is the milestone 50th episode and we have a guest to match it. Édourard Mendy is a Champions League and AFCON winner. He won FIFA's ‘The Best’ and UEFA Goalkeeper of the year award in 2021. He holds the record for the joint most clean sheets in a single Champions League season. He went from nearly giving up the football dream in a French job centre with a baby on the way to winning the CL with Chelsea in 7 years. And now he's playing alongside Mahrez, Firmino and Toney at Al-Ahli. Away fro...
Dec 17, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 50
After amazing shows with a number of CEO’s across the football industry, we’re today venturing into the lowest of the English Football League’s with current League Two promotion chasers Port Vale. Matt Hancock has been CEO of this historic club since January. Having been relegated from League One in his first few months in charge, it’s fair to say the learning curve has been steep. But these are the shows we love to do. It’s proper business, not propped up by the billions of international owners...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Today we speak to a man who has been in and around football for over 40 years. Mark Bowen played over 400 games at the top of English football for the likes of Tottenham, Norwich and West Ham, before transitioning into management as both a head coach and assistant. For much of his management career he has partnered with Mark Hughes, acting as his assistant manager at Man City, Stoke, Southampton, Fulham and QPR. Most recently Mark has spent a number of years with Reading, and is currently going ...
Dec 03, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Today we speak to a man who needs little introduction. Zak Brown is the CEO of McLaren Racing, one of Formula One’s most iconic brands and a team currently undergoing a resurgence as it challenges at the top of both the Drivers and Constructors Championships after years of struggling to match the success of Mercedes and Red Bull. Turning an organisation round and re-establishing a culture of success is no easy task, and Zak has been under no illusion that to reach the top of one of the most comp...
Nov 26, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 47
