Business of Sport Ep.6: Ivan Gazidis, Former Arsenal & AC Milan CEO, 'Money talks: How to manage billion dollar brands'

Today, we are delighted to welcome Ivan Gazidis to the show. One of the most respected executives in sport, Ivan began his career in football as one of the founding members of MLS in America, laying the foundations for the now hugely successful league. He became Chief Executive of Arsenal in 2009, spending 10 years at the helm of the Premier League club before taking the same position at AC Milan, delivering a much coveted Serie A title in 2022.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

Football in America:

• Founding the MLS - creating the foundations for success and integrating ‘soccer’ into the US sporting environment.
• The importance of infrastructure, from community to football-specific stadia, in creating value and long term success.
• How did Inter Miami sign Messi? MLS as a group of teams searching for collective value and the requirement to work together to facilitate a move like this.
• ‘For Major League Soccer, really the question is not how do I get baseball fans to be soccer fans, the question really is how do we get a bigger piece of the soccer pie’.
• How the value of an MLS franchise has gone from $5m to $1bn.

From League to Club Management:

• How the opportunity to take over at Arsenal came about and adapting from running a league to running a Premier League club.
• Installing a commercial structure to build the best partnerships and experiences for partners who help drive the financial success of a club.
• How do you manage a transfer process and what things are considered when making bids or accepting/rejecting offers for players?
• The genius of Arsene Wenger; a unique and incorruptible romantic view of football.
• ‘Football is like playing with rocket fuel’. How did Ivan execute the responsibilities of his job while ensuring the emotions of the fans were always considered.
• The most special Serie A: The story behind Milan’s historic title win, returning one of Europe’s biggest clubs to its peak.

Leadership in Football:

• Football is unique as a business; it is often not clear who is really in charge. How do you operate effectively as a CEO in this environment?
• Why creating an open and inclusive environment for people to thrive is essential in football and what needs to be done to make this more commonplace?
• It’s a team game: sustainable success is about everyone and never down to one component in a single department.
• ‘When you're in the center of a club, you are living that football club with your whole life.’ Don’t underestimate how much CEOs care!