Business of Sport Ep.41: Liam Scully, CEO @ Lincoln City, ‘The Premier League are living in a different universe’
Release Date: 10/15/2024
Ben Calveley, The British & Irish Lions CEO: “We Need Some Wins; This Is A High Performance Team!” (Ep68)
Business of Sport
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 to be successful. There are few things more difficult than winning away in New Zealand, South...
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Charlotte O’Neill, Manchester City Women Managing Director, ‘Why Is Women’s Football Expected To Be Profitable When Men’s Football Isn’t!?’
Business of Sport
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 successes and major challenges to overcome. From developing female first brands with unique...
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Steven Elworthy, Surrey County Cricket CEO: ‘Is County Cricket Sustainable?' (Ep66)
Business of Sport
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 championship, a key piece of infrastructure generating tens of millions a year, a perfect...
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Joe Gorman, Exeter City CEO: ‘The Club with 4700 Owners!’ (Ep65)
Business of Sport
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 more than competitive. So how does a club owned by 4700 fans paying £24 a year compete at the top...
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Nicolas Julia, Sorare Founder: ‘Building a $4bn Fantasy Sports Empire’ (Ep64)
Business of Sport
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-owned, athlete connected future of sports entertainment. From signing partnerships with the...
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Jimmie Johnson, 7x NASCAR Champion: 'Has the Rise of F1 Been Good For NASCAR?' (Ep63)
Business of Sport
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 Championships won, dominating the sport in the noughties winning 5 titles in a row. Now, he’s...
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Andrew Parkinson, Plymouth Argyle CEO: ‘Hiring Rooney, Beating Liverpool, and Fighting for Championship Survival’ (Ep62)
Business of Sport
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 football club when you can’t rely on money to win? On today's show we discuss: Economics of a...
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Bill Sweeney, RFU CEO: Behind the Curtain of Rugby's Most Scrutinised Organisation (Ep61)
Business of Sport
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 almost holistic negativity around Rugby, which we have talked about many times on the...
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Simon Leslie: Eastbourne Borough Owner, ‘Non-League Clubs Deserve Better’ (Ep60)
Business of Sport
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 delighted to welcome Eastbourne Borough owner Simon Leslie to the show. This is the fully...
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Liam Dooley: Shrewsbury Town CEO, ‘How to Work With the Smallest Budget in League One’ (Ep59)
Business of Sport
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 side has impressed. With a top manager like Gareth Ainsworth in charge on the pitch, the fight is...
info_outlineLiam is the CEO of Lincoln City, who are currently competing in League One of English football, and who at Liam’s own admission, have been overperforming both their budget and performance expectations for years. The running of clubs further down the football pyramid is not easy. They have to operate as far more and sensible businesses rather than billionaire playpens.
Liam not only brings some incredible insight into managing a team in the lower leagues, but as he sits on the board of the English Football League, a much broader perspective on the business of football.
Existing in the same structure as enterprise Premier League, 3pm domestic broadcast blackouts, the financial controls required to protect the future of these most treasured community assets; this was a fascinating insight into the world of a football CEO.
After a week where the back pages were dominated by the Man City vs The Premier League, this was a real question of how do you protect the product we’ve done so well to create while ensuring top to bottom longevity of the industry?
In today's show, we discuss:
Rise of Lincoln City:
- Small budgets and non-league football status when he joined, how has Liam built a club to compete in the top tiers of English football?
- What are the key things to focus on when running a club?
- The revenue streams that a club must capitalise on to ensure they are able to compete with some of the biggest teams in the league.
- The value of a strong academy; first team feeder or profit driver?
- Bringing the glory back to Lincoln: what does it mean to the community to re-establish a club steeped in history?
- The £1.3m FA Cup run; what did this enable the club to do from an investment standpoint?
Football League Challenges:
- The football industry is unsustainable. Why?
- There needs to be more money that filters down the pyramid to protect teams in the lower tiers. How do you do this?
- The transfer market is the key generator of cash for lower league clubs, but they need Premier League teams to keep buying from English teams to sustain that flow.
- Is the 3pm broadcast blackout an issue or vital to sustainability of the broader football ecosystem in the modern sporting environement?
The Nuclear-Sub vs. a Canoe
- Football is full of inequalities. How do you operate in a market where there is such a spread of wealth and opportunity?
- League One is the eleventh most watched League in Europe, the product is better than ever.
- US investors: The rise of foreign ownership has opened new markets to promote teams and competitions
- How great owners and structured management can be the most important assets of a club regardless of their size.
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