Episodes

With the new MLS season underway, Radhika Duggal joins Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan to discuss the marketing activity at the centre of the league’s 30th anniversary. She explains how the season-launch Game On campaign came to life, why a Super Bowl advert was just one of many touchpoints for it and why players - as creators, brands and influencers in their own right - are increasingly at the heart of how MLS markets itself. Duggal also reflects on...

Behind the scenes at F1's partner day, Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan speak to senior brand executives from some of the sport's key sponsors. You'll hear from Moët Hennessy's Sport Partnership Director, Vincent Borjun-Privé, on why experiences are at the heart of LVMH's new relationship with F1; Thomas Mulders, Global Sponsorships Manager at Heineken, on ten seasons of F1 partnership; Globant's Global Sports Partnerships Head, Nicolas Rey Petit and G...

F1’s Chief Commercial Officer Emily Prazer and Director of Commercial Partnerships Jonny Haworth sit down with Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan, during F1’s hectic launch week in London. In a wide-ranging conversation on the commercial health and outlook for F1, they discuss the sport’s enviable global partner roster - including major new brands like LVMH, American Express, Santander and Kit Kat and, as well as new licensing partners like Lego. Prazer...

Sports media and marketing expert David Stubley, author of ‘Gamechangers and Rainmakers: How Sport Became Big Business’, joins Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan, to discuss what there is to learn from the sports industry brands that no longer exist. It’s a whistle-stop tour through decades of sports industry history, including the American Football League and its eventual merger with the NFL; Billie Jean King’s breakaway Virginia Slims Tour; Kerry Packer...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan share what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. They’re joined by Steve Gera, President and COO of Grand Slam Track, the new athletics series fronted by Olympic legend Michael Johnson. Gera shines a light on this week’s US media rights announcements for the first season, starting in April, and the calendar of Slams, beginning in Kingston, Jamaica and then moving to Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan share what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. They’re joined by Juan Delgado, CEO of Footballco, the 350-person digital media company that owns and operates online brands such as GOAL, Mundial and Kooora. He explains how audiences consuming football content are growing and morphing into fully-fledged communities, the monetisation models underpinning that growth and the football content trends and m...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan share what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. They’re joined by Rachel Knight, Co-Managing Director of Women’s Sports Group. She details the ins and outs of the media rights process WSG ran for the Women’s Super League, which resulted in October’s landmark deal which will see the BBC and Sky Sports paying a reported £65 million for the next five seasons of live coverage. She reflects on the market...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan share what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. In the mix: The Australian Open’s Nintendo Wii tie-up and a new breed of alt-casts to complement - and in some cases circumvent - traditional broadcast rights arrangements; the debut of 3x3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled later this week, which is taking place, like the new TGL golf series, in a brand new broadcast-first venue; the launch of Kroenke...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan strap in for 2025, exploring what’s worth knowing in the global sports industry this week. They’re joined by Ed Warner, Chair of UK Athletics between 2007 and 2017 and current Chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships, to discuss who’ll be the next President of the International Olympic Committee and the routes to victory for the seven candidates in the race. Warner sets up the back...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are in reflective mood, as they review the stories of the sports industry year - as clicked on by you, the sports industry, in our weekly Worth Knowing newsletter. They recall Netflix’s big commitment to sport (and entertainment); organisational chop and change at Manchester United; a stream of investment chatter; the proposed merger between the ATP and WTA tour; LVMH’s takeover of the Paris Olympics; George Pyne’s inve...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan buckle up and settle back to review the stories of the sports industry week. They’re joined by Isabelle Stewart, F1’s Head of Original Content to discuss her two years in the role so far; the logistics, planning and purpose behind Brad Pitt’s F1 movie as filming wraps; what F1’s content slate looks like now and could look like soon, from scripted drama to new short-form formats; and targeting and appealing to fresh new ...

Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan and Senior Content Manager Henry Breckenridge run head-on into the stories of the sports industry week. They’re joined by Matt Porter, Chief Executive of the Professional Darts Corporation, ahead of this month’s World Championships at Alexandra Palace in London. He offers his SWOT analysis on the sport at the end of 2024 and explains the fan-first, party-first approach the PDC has refined over the past few years; expansion around the world to venues like ...

Welcome to the third and final episode of Model making, a series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that analyses the flux across the global sports industry and asks whether we need a new commercial vision for sport. Hosted by Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Viagogo’s International Lead Matt Drew, the three-part series puts sport’s traditional revenue streams under the microscope. If media rights increases cannot be taken for granted and sponsorship revenue is under threat, wh...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan dig in to the stories the sports industry week. They tackle the big news that the Premier League is launching its own media production business from the start of the 2026/27 season, ending a 20 year partnership with IMG which has operated under the Premier League Productions brand, delivering coverage and content to its international broadcast partners. There’s discussion on the rationale behind the move, the realities...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan dissect some of the stories of sports industry week. They reflect on whether Friday’s Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson fight was a win for Netflix; the slightly mesmerising nature of the Vendee Globe app; and the social media trend towards Bluesky. Then, in a conversation recorded at last week’s Leaders Sport Performance Summit in London, David chats to Peter Mattson, Red Bull’s Global Performance Director. He offers a glim...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are out and about at this week’s Leaders Sport Performance Summit, looking out over The Oval cricket ground in central London. They’re joined by astrophysicist Professor Carole Mundell, the Director of Science at the European Space Agency, fresh off a scintillating presentation on stage, for an outside-of-sport, out-of-this-world conversation on leadership and culture: making complex decisions, managing a multitude of s...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan give their verdict on the sports industry week, then introduce two power conversations from on stage at Leaders Week London. First, Jess Smith, President of soon-to-launch WNBA team Golden State Valkyries sits down with Netball Super League Managing Director, Claire Nelson. Then former Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham is in conversation with Esteve Calzada, the former City Football Group executive who is now CEO of PIF-own...

Brett Gosper, Head of NFL Europe & Asia-Pacific, takes a quick break from a very busy month of American football to join James Emmett on this week's episode. He shares his top-line reflections from the 2024 London games, along with some impressive and record-breaking stats for the league; plus, what's immediately up next as the NFL touches down in Munich for its second foray to Germany, this weekend. Elsewhere on the show, Leaders' Strategic Account Manager Javan Odegah shares his reflections ...

Welcome to episode two of model making, a new series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that analyses the flux across the global sports industry and asks whether we need a new commercial vision for sport. Are the business models that have sustained professional sport for so long at breaking point? And what are the solutions that sport's most innovative thinkers are endorsing? Big questions answered on-stage at Leaders Week London 2024 by Chicago Cubs and Marquee 360's Senior Vice Presiden...

Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan return to the studio, for some more reflections on Leaders Week London and to review the most notable stories of the sports industry week. As IMG, On Location and Professional Bull Riders move from Endeavor to TKO ownership, they consider the corporate storytelling implications and ponder whether it's the precursor to further change. They also discuss the WNBA’s upcoming collective bargaining negotiations, after the pl...

In this episode, James Emmett and David Cushnan are joined by special guests, Richard Conway, Founder & Managing Partner at Spectacle Partners, and serial sports industry board member, Nic Coward, to review the action from a barnstorming return to Leaders Week London. The team touch on a number of topics from Day 2 of The Summit at Allianz Stadium as well as the on-stage sessions, which featured Nikki Doucet, Chief Executive Officer, Women's Professional Leagues Ltd; Kealan Casey, Director of B...

James Emmett and David Cushnan reflect on a terrific opening day at The Summit from Allianz Stadium, which saw over 2,000 movers and shakers from across the global sports industry gather at the home of England Rugby. The duo discuss a range of themes and talking points from on-stage sessions, which featured a stellar lineup of speakers across three stages. Alongside the dialogue, this episode contains short snippets of sessions and from around the venue, featuring Gerard Piqué, Kosmos; Sally H...

Welcome to model making, a new series from the Leaders Sport Business Podcast that analyses the flux across the global sports industry and asks, do we need a new commercial vision for sport? Are the business models that have sustained professional sport for so long at breaking point? And what are the solutions that sport's most innovative thinkers are endorsing? Hosted by Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Viagogo's International Lead Matt Drew, the three-part series puts sport's tradi...

James Emmett and David Cushnan are joined by Leaders Managing Director, Laura McQueen, and Event Director, Hannah Redfern, to preview the annual sportsbiz extravaganza that is Leaders Week London. It's a week filled with forums, think tanks, Awards and social get-togethers – taking place all day, all night, all week, right across the city. The week culminates with The Summit at Allianz Stadium: a place where you’ll find sport’s biggest names and the most progressive ideas shaping the industry, ...