Her Business of Sport - Sally Sheppard
The Business of Sport
With the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 in full swing, the RFU’s Head of Consumer Engagement, Sally Sheppard, joined our Her Business of Sport podcast to assess the success of the tournament so far and to reveal an insight into England Rugby’s plans to harness new supporters in the future.
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Her Business of Sport - Emily Heath
The Business of Sport
After more than 15 years with Unilever and over a decade as Global Lead of their Rexona/Sure brand of deodorant, Emily has led numerous high impact global campaigns and strategic partnerships. The Sure brand, known as Rexona globally, is over a hundred years old, but Emily’s focus is very much on the future, developing on-going partnerships with Manchester City FC, the reigning World Club Champions, Chelsea Football Club and the UEFA Women’s Euro Tournament, recently won by England. This is part of a broader strategy to drive brand growth, global visibility and deeper consumer engagement....
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Her Business of Sport - Thayer Lavielle
The Business of Sport
Thayer Lavielle says she is never afraid of a blank page, something she has proven over the last 6 years, by leading the development of The Collective, a women-focussed division of Wasserman, designed to bridge gaps in gender equity in sport and music through community, insights, events, tools and services. Since 2019, that “blank page” has grown to include The Collective Think Tank, The Goal Post and the Collective Marketplace. Thayer has negotiated over $250m worth of deals across talent, brand, property and venues and has extensive experience with leading female-focussed brands...
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The Business of Sport - Justin Papadakis
The Business of Sport
A year out from the next FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, one man is leading the charge to create a sustainable platform for soccer in the USA. For over 50 years, American soccer has relied on importing players from around the world, mostly at the end of their careers, to play in stadiums designed for more popular American sports. Now though, a former college goalkeeper turned entrepreneur is trying to change all that. Justin Papadakis is the Chief Real Estate Officer and Deputy CEO of the USA’s fastest growing pre-professional and professional soccer organisation, which is...
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The Business of Sport Steven Ball
The Business of Sport
Imagine being a student at one of the best sporting universities in your country. An opportunity to learn from the best and to play in the greatest facilities available. Well, for Steven Ball, that dream not only became a reality, but almost 30 years later, he is still there, as CEO of The High Performance Centre (hpc) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. HPC is a partner organisation of the ISC, offering some of the best facilities for national teams, professional clubs, universities and colleges to enjoy over 72 hectares of training and recreational facilities.
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The Business of Sport - Paul Stewart and Ian Bishop
The Business of Sport
A new organisation has been formed to offer guidance, education and legal support to those working to protect children, young adults and the vulnerable in sport. The Union of Safeguarding Officers, with a Mission Statement of “Every Child Safe, Every Voice Heard”, was formed by former Manchester City and Tottenham star Paul Stewart, who has spent almost a decade raising awareness of sexual abuse in sport, following his own harrowing experiences as a young footballer. Many ISC delegates at our event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024 witnessed Paul's story as he spoke about his...
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The Business of Sport - Michael D’hulst
The Business of Sport
Michael D’hulst is a man on a mission. Driven by a passion for triathlon, the Belgian entrepreneur and former Ironman World Championship athlete, is currently seeking funding to take his Supertri business to the next level. After helping Volkswagen set up a new plant in China, D’hulst turned his entrepreneurial skills to his love of Triathlon. Along with business partner and four-times Triathlon World Champion Chris McCormack and Russian Tech Investor Leonid Boguslavsky, D’hulst founded Supertri in 2016, with an ambition to transform Triathlon from a traditional, participant-led...
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The Business of Sport - Charlie Copsey
The Business of Sport
Charlie spent the first decade of her career producing TV, radio and film for the biggest UK networks and companies, including the very popular radio show Fighting Talk. During this time, she worked closely with talent, where she witnessed their unfiltered, off-duty, human side and started to think about creating a world where fans could gain access to this too. Disenchanted by the unimaginative, boring, predictable events she attended, where talent was reduced to scripted conversations and stifled interactions, Charlie saw the need for something radically different. She envisioned a space...
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The Business of Sport - Ben Baroody
The Business of Sport
Formerly the Director of Leadership, Organizational Development, & Mental Wellness for the Texas Rangers, Baroody brings over 20 years experience in professional sports, having overseen leadership, mental wellness and organizational development programs for the Texas Rangers Baseball Operations Department. During his tenure with the Rangers, he spearheaded the revolutionary ‘Rangers U Player Pathway’ in partnership with ACU, creating bilingual, custom educational programs aimed at enriching players’ personal development and advancing their careers. He also played an integral role in...
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The Business of Sport - Josh Harrington
The Business of Sport
Josh is a digital media professional with a comprehensive understanding of the OTT ecosystem. He joined Simplestream in 2015 and has been a part of their commercial and business development team since then. His primary responsibility is to create, launch, and manage OTT services for various broadcasters, rights holders, and publishers such as British Forces Broadcasting Service, GAAGO, PBS America, Telus, Racing UK, TVSN, and NewsCorp. Before joining Simplestream, he worked with digital rights experts at Perform Group which has since become Stats Perform and DAZN.
info_outlineGabby is the Senior Strategic Partner Manager for International Sports Convention Season Ticket holder, Greenfly, a digital platform seeking to maximise fan engagement opportunities for sports, clubs and leagues globally. Greenfly enables organisations to capture, distribute and organise content. They have become established as part of the short-form content infrastructure.
Gabby previously spent four years working for Meta in a Partnerships role and had a brief spell as New Media Partnerships Director for Copa 90. Gabby also includes Google among her previous employers and she has a First Class honours degree in International Business Management from Newcastle University.
Gabby on the evolution of short-form content: "When you look at the way short-form content has evolved over the last few years, it's been pretty astronomical. You've had the introduction of social media platforms like Tik-Tok for instance, but equally, existing social media platforms, whether it's Instagram or You Tube have evolved their platforms to keep up with this shift in consumer trends.
Gabby on globalisation of content: "Because it is short, short-form content can translate into different interests and cultures. You can make that much more accessible to fans who don't have to sit there for several minutes. You can consume a good variety of short-form content in a short space of time and I think as long as the quality is there, you can translate and make short-form content appealing to all kinds of people.
I think that although that kind of content appeals to sports fans, it also appeals to casual fans. So you don't have to be hardcore fans of tennis or F1, to watch that content. I do believe if the content is engaging and entertaining, you will get an audience. We try and show our clients that yes, you are a sports entity, but you have to be in entertainment too."
Gabby on User-Generated content: "USG is a really powerful tool to enable fans to be brought closer to the action. It makes content a lot more relatable to see yourself represented in that and touching on the diversity point of view, whether you are a league, a team, or a federation, you are able to represent the diversity of your fanbase and give them the microphone to tell their own stories and how they perceive the club and how they enjoy following the journey from their own perspective."