Matt Hancock, Port Vale CEO: ‘Success is about more than 3pts on a Saturday’ (Ep49)
Release Date: 12/10/2024
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_outlineAfter 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 ownership. Understanding how to run a sustainable company that is not eternally dependent on owner financing while constantly trying to win on the field is so difficult. Then add the fact that almost every decision is reviewed under a microscope generally with the benefit of hindsight, you do sometimes think who would take this on.
But then you remember that alongside these challenges comes the privilege of looking after the thing that can give people their greatest enjoyment. The lower down the football pyramid you go, being a CEO is about building an environment to sustain a community’s most valued asset. This is a compelling reveal on how you do just that.
On today’s show we discuss:
Becoming a CEO in Football:
- How did Matt come to take charge of one of English Football’s oldest clubs?
- From building community to winning on the pitch, what are the key focuses of clubs the lower down the Football League you go?
- How important is the relationship between executive and owner?
- It’s about more than results; why Matt believes his job is to ensure those working at the club know that success can be about more than 3 points on a Saturday.
- How to ensure you keep level headed, not getting too high on the highs and too low on the lows.
Handling Relegation:
- Port Vale got relegated from League One in the first few months of Matt’s tenure as CEO. How did he make sure the club recovered to build for the new season?
- The importance of a great manager in the lower leagues; why Darren Moore has been crucial to the recent development of Port Vale.
- What attracts players to a club that goes beyond just being paid the most?
- The financial impact of relegation and trying to move away from a reliance on owner funding to ensure sustainability.
Working for the Fans & Community:
- Is it better to over communicate with fans and open yourself up to increased scrutiny or reduce what you share and lose connectivity?
- How Port Vale has become an intrinsic part of its community and the importance of the club to the local area.
- The challenge of ensuring you don’t make decisions based on fan sentiment; how to remain neutral and not be influenced by emotion.
- The role of lifelong Vale fan Robbie Williams!
- Communicating spend away from the pitch on infrastructure and development is important to create an understanding around the need to build value in the ‘business’ of the club.
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Tyndall Investment Management