The Business of Sport - Isabella Bertold
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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The Business of Sport - Ursula Romero
The Business of Sport
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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The Business of Sport - Michael R. Payne
The Business of Sport
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 – 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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The Business of Sport - Hugo Inglis
The Business of Sport
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 world’s 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 CO₂e. ...
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Her Business of Sport - Lindsey Eckhouse
The Business of Sport
Lindsey Eckhouse is the Chief Revenue Officer at Mercury 13, a multi-club ownership group focussed on acquiring controlling stakes in professional women’s teams in Europe and Latin America. Lindsey has previous experience in sport with the NFL and Maclaren Racing.
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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.
info_outlineThayer 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 including L’Oreal and Lancome.
The Collective are partners for the ISC Women’s Sport Business Summit, at the National Gallery in London on September 25th 2025.