The Business of Sport
A multiple world cup medalist in the sport of Olympic Sailing, and an athlete on the Canada SailGP team, Isabella Berthold also leads a Next Gen Legacy Fund, focused on providing financial support to youth athletes in British Columbia. Isabella is also a professional cyclist, racing a European focused UCI Road Calendar. A former venture capital analyst, Isabella believes that responsible business, is good business. She believes that sport and sustainability can work side-by-side to develop innovative products and business models that drive real change, fast-tracking our journey towards a...
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From having Olympic Games accreditation at the age of just 4, to leading one of the world's biggest broadcast operations, Ursula Romero has a fantastic story to tell. The daughter of early pioneers in major event broadcasting, Ursula is the CEO of ISB, International Sports Broadcasting. With over 20 years experience providing coverage of global sporting events, Ursula and ISB are now transitioning away from mainstream sports to providing a platform for emerging sports and events.
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Michael Payne has been at the forefront of Sports Marketing for over 40 years, most of that time spent leading and advising on deals around the Olympic Games. Payne has brokered over 25 billion dollars worth of deals and sold his first sponsorship package at the age of just sixteen! He worked alongside all of the great leaders who built the industry โ from two decades at the IOC with President Samaranch, and in those early days Horst Dassler of adidas, to over a decade with Bernie Ecclestone at F1 as his right hand person, to now Chairing Volleyball World - a joint venture between FIVB and...
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Hugo Inglis is a four-time Olympian with New Zealand. For over a decade, he scored goals at the very top of international elite Field Hockey. Nowadays, Hugo is a co-founder of High Impact Athletes (HIA), a global movement empowering athletes to fund the worldโs most effective climate and social solutions. Under his leadership, HIA has grown to over 220 athletes across 48 sports and 34 countries, collectively driving almost $2 million in donations, improving almost half a million lives, protecting nearly 7 million animals and mitigating more than 600,000+ tonnes of COโe. ...
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Lindsey Eckhouse is the Chief Revenue Officer at Mercury 13, a multi-club ownership group focussed on acquiring controlling stakes in professional womenโs teams in Europe and Latin America. Lindsey has previous experience in sport with the NFL and Maclaren Racing.
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With the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 in full swing, the RFUโs 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 Rugbyโs plans to harness new supporters in the future.
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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 Emilyโs 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 Womenโs 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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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 โblank pageโ 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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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 USAโs fastest growing pre-professional and professional soccer organisation, which is...
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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.
info_outlineImmerse yourself in an extraordinary episode of our sports podcast featuring Tim Hinchey III, the President and CEO of USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation! ๐โโ๏ธ๐ Hear firsthand about the exciting plans for the upcoming USA Olympic Swimming Trials and how USA Swimming is aiming for new heights.
๐ Tim on hosting the USA Olympic Swimming Trials inside an NFL stadium: "We are really excited. This year it's a bit special. We have previously held four consecutive Olympic Swimming Trials in a Basketball Court and sold them out, but this time around, we are going a bit bigger. We are using the NFL Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, The Lucas Oil Stadium, and we are going to try and set a world record attendance on the first night on June 15th, which we think is about 16,000 for a global swim meet. What is also great is that in 1924, Indianapolis hosted the first Olympic Swim Trials and also sent those athletes to Paris, so we are doing it a hundred years later, and that is going to be really exciting for us."
๐ Tim on selling swimming to a new audience: "We are going to have nine days, on NBC, one of our largest broadcast partners, in Prime Time for nine consecutive nights. We need to take advantage of that. They are going to talk about these World-Class athletes, and it's my job to make sure those stories get out to that audience and the spotlight goes on these amazing Women and Men who are in a traditionally amateur sport, but give them the spotlight that they really deserve. USA Swimming hasn't lost a major international competition in over sixty years, so there's a lot riding on this. Hopefully, telling the stories of these swimmers will hopefully inspire the next class of swimmers and keep that 'pipeline' full. So talent development is a big part of this as well."
๐ Tim on leadership role models: "One of the first big, huge, personalities that I was very fortunate to have several one-on-one experiences with, was the NBA Basketball Commissioner, David Stern. Watching what David did for the NBA, from the 1980's to where it is today, arguably, one of the most profitable, diverse, successful, athletic organisations globally, and to spend time with a leader like that, is something I will never forget. ...the times he put his arm around me, the times he put his finger in my chest, and grabbing those Golden Nuggets out of what he did was super inspiring."
๐ Don't miss this episode where Tim shares his insights and excitement about the future of USA Swimming!