Her Business of Sport - Sarah Lewis OBE OLY

Robin Russell is CEO and Chairman at Sports Path. In 2005 after 26 years with The Football Association (the FA), Robin left to start his own business in e-learning specialized in football and also to become UEFA Football Development Consultant for whom he still works. He has also acted as a consultant on coach education and football development projects with FIFA, CONCACAF, Asia Football Confederation and a number of national football associations and professional clubs. In this edition of the Football Industry podcast, Robin explains:  Growth and retention, the need for innovation in football participation.  Why retention is important  Why participation is important  Which groups are most at risk  Relative Age Effect, ie late birthdates  The underlying problems in retention  Linking video games to practical football  Coach Quality and retention  Free play – facilitate but not coach Numerous case studies and examples are drawn upon globally. Stay tuned.

1 Maj 202058min

Stefan Gunnarsson is head of marketing and commercial at the Icelandic Football Association. In this edition of the Football Industry podcast Stefan explains: The marketing and commercial structure at the Icelandic FA Some of the key initiatives with sponsorship partners -Opportunities for commercial growth, the development of esports How the fans and supporters are the DNA of the national team and current national identity How fan engagement matters and what digital and brand activation has been successful Stay tuned.

30 Apr 202035min

Vincent Gaillard, CEO and Director General of European Professional Club Rugby, is our latest guest on the Business of Sport Podcast with the International Sports Convention. EPCR, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, is responsible for the two top, annual pan-European rugby union clubs competitions: the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. Speaking to Callum Murray, Gaillard discusses the challenges facing EPCR, as it wrestles with the implications, sporting and financial, of the COVID-19 lockdown in place across Europe. Both of the EPCR-run competitions have been halted at the quarter-final stage, but, says, Gaillard, "We remain absolutely committed to the completion of the current 2019-20 season as soon as it is practical to do so, according to the guidance of the governmental authorities. We're looking at a late summer, early autumn window to play those last three weekends." Canal Plus, the French pay-TV broadcaster, was recently reported as withholding the final tranche of its rights fee payments for the season to the country's Top 14 league, because of the failure to complete its own season, but Gaillard insists that EPCR's broadcast partners have made no such threats because its two competitions intend to complete their seasons in the late summer or early autumn – even if this means playing the quarter- and semi-finals and finals behind closed doors. This option is, however, one that one that "we hope to avoid at all costs – a last resort," according to Gaillard. Gaillard is also frank about the problems facing rugby in general. "There is absolutely no question that the financial implications of the crisis will be challenging for all," he says, "perhaps for some more than others. The risk of collapse of some clubs is real. I think it's going to get worse before it gets any better, for sure. In the wider business one of the knock-on effects of this crisis is to question the value of everything we do." The 21 employees of EPCR itself are presently working reduced hours during the lockdown, albeit, "Right now, the only known impact on our revenues is on ticketing," Gaillard says. To put this in context, 85 per cent of the revenues for the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup come from broadcast rights fees, with sponsorship and ticketing making up the rest, in the proportion of roughly two-thirds to one-third. Earlier this week, it was revealed that talks are under way to create a Club Rugby World Cup. One possibility, Gaillard says, is a competition taking place once every four years and replacing the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, with the eight clubs qualifying for the quarter-finals playing off, instead, against eight clubs from the southern hemisphere. "This is not for next season, and possibly not for the one after, but hopefully not too long after that," says Gaillard. There were reports that World Rugby, the international governing body, wanted an annual competition, but, says Gaillard, "It has to stay something rather exceptional, something rather rare, and that's why we don't believe doing it every year is right." Meanwhile, he dismisses the possibility of World Rugby intervening, saying: "We have been reassured by World Rugby that there is no opposition to EPCR owning and running such a competition."

21 Apr 202049min

Mats is currently head of efootball and gaming at the Norweigan Football Federation. In this edition of the Football Industry podcast:  Mats explains efootball and gaming and what the status is currently in Norway and how efootball is growing.  The link between social media, digital activation and e-football, and the collaboration between professional players and pro gamers.  The opportunities of sponsorship through efootball and how this transpired and the benefits to sponsors such as Santandar.  The friendly efootball match between Norway and Germany.  Fan engagement and looking at differences between to the two genders in terms of participation and efootball and much more. Stay tuned.

21 Apr 202048min

In this edition on Sports Tourism, we will explore: Catalonia as a sports destination Catalonia Events strategy Catalan Athletes acting as ambassadors The diversity of Sports as an attraction for tourism and business tourism The region as a Technology hub, reviewing esports as priority - Public and Private partnerships 2030 plan – Pyrenees-Barcelona candidature of the 2030 Winter Olympics We review Sanchez Casal Academy and of course their flagship brand FC Barcelona Insight into Catalonia marketing, communication and partnership strategy to continuously develop and build Catalonia as a hub for tourism through sports Stay tuned.

20 Apr 202038min

Our guest today is Stuart Larman. Stuart is currently director of Club Licensing and Club Development at the UAE Pro League. He has had previous roles with FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation and worked for numerous development projects in Japan. Stuart supports local team Southend United in the lower divisions of the English professional football. In this edition, Stuart explains football development and best practice in Asia. His role at FIFA in overseeing and implementing infrastructure projects. Insights into the benefits of artificial turf pitches and small-sided football. Information and football development insights on England, Japan, China and the UAE.

15 Apr 202042min

Today we will focus on Esports Sport fans engaged with Sports because of all the positive vibes conveyed by the energy created by a racing start's "lights out", a basketball slam dunk or a football last minute screamer. With the arriving of Covid-19 al those feelings have been taken away leaving the spectator with a void. Can eSports fill that void? Is it now the time for eSports to grab all the consideration from the major sports institution? Virtual gaming is surely a passionate pastime among the youngest generation, and during this time, is also re-attracting all those people who grew up with a Joypad in the hands. As we discover eSports as a new "reality" full of competition, we see that, in the last years, many clubs from different sports have already placed a bet on this new kind of sector. Football teams joined eGaming in order to increase their followers around Asia where, it is believed, there is the most educated audience in terms of technology among the youngest generations. Anyway, during this first weeks of quarantine, several leagues, clubs and TV channels broadcasted Online gaming all around the world. An Italian TV Channel organized a FIFA 20 online tournament between legends of football; MotoGP saw a virtual race, with professional commentators, between its major bikers including current world champion Marc Marquez; The American TV broadcaster NBC is displaying previously-scheduled games of the Washington City sides of hockey and basketball, respectively the Washington Capitals on NHL 20 and the Washington Wizards on NBA 2K20; NFL featured in the Fox Esports Maddel NFL Invitational, where 8 American Football stars competed in an elimination tournament. NBA aired a tournament where each team will have its own players representing them. The highlight sport is now occupied by eSports with no other competition in the sports industry. But, with this huge necessity to keep the fans engaged, it is still unclear how virtual sports should be taken. Most of the digital content proposed is, indeed, pure exhibition. NBA itself has its own separated eSports competition, with professional eGamers, called the NBA 2K League and many are already questioning on how the tournament between real players, previously mentioned, can create help in increasing awareness toward the official virtual championship. Formula 1, also, is delivering a week special show concentrating all the hype on the figure of the current McLaren's driver Lando Norris. A couple of weeks ago the "Challenge Lando" invitational saw actual fans racing against Norris. Virtual Championships are already established in the top European football leagues, but promoting them during Covid-19 period is the key to gain success in the future. In Germany the Bundesliga launched the Virtual Bundesliga on last 28th and 29h of March where 26 professional clubs were represented on the game FIFA 20 by a team formed of one professional eGamer and one real footballer (Only FC Bayern Munich was missing from this initiative since the club is partner with competitors of Konami). This way, the German football league kept the fans engaged with their idols and promoted, at the same time, the competition between the professional eSporters giving them such a high spot. As more eyeballs will continue in getting attracted by the gaming competitions, more sponsors will follow, maybe not now but in the future and post COVID-19. COVID-19 presents a window of opportunity for e-sports.

8 Apr 20205min

Today we will focus on how the Spanish Sports industry is facing up the Covid-19 outbreak. So far Spain is the second most hit country in the world behind Italy with more than 15 thousands of fatalities and government is taking more strict measures on the country. La Liga is now studying on how to finish the championship. But questions are many: How to take care of the budget for the next season? What happens with the agreed TV deals? Jaume Roures, founder of the Spanish TV Broadcaster MediaPro, stated that, if the championship doesn't find a solution in concluding, the losses due TV deals will increase up to 700 million euros. MediaPro contribution to the league is 800 million euros, with a contract till 2024. La Liga's table is seeing Barcelona on the top fighting with Real Madrid for the championship. With only 11 games remaining, there is still optimism on finishing the tournament over 2 months, between July and August. But as the time passes, the uncertainty about the future is still the same. In the meantime, FC Barcelona has already announced a cut of 70% of their players' salaries in order to help all the employers of the club. Meanwhile, the legendary stadium "Santiago Bernabeu" opens the gates for all the medical furniture that has been donated to the city of Madrid. The structure will be used as a warehouse for all this financial and material contributions which will be used by the Spanish ministry of health. On the other side of the city, Atletico Madrid launched the campaign "Lo Damos Todo", with coach Diego Simeone, where funds have been raised to help the Capital's Red Cross to copy against the tremendous epidemic of Coronavirus that put the city and the whole region of Madrid on its knees, since this is the most hit area of Spain. Simeone was quickly joined by the directors and players of the club, and the campaign is still growing attracting also music and movies celebrities. This initiative, accompanied by many others, are constantly involved inside the social media world as well as in the eGaming one where, for example, Denis Suarez, player of Celta Vigo, is donating medical supplies and food, of an amount of 60 thousand, to his hometown's hospital by organizing charity tournaments on the game FIFA 20. With the Olympics of Tokyo 2020 postponed, some Spanish athletes have to face the fact that they won't be able to participate to what could be the highest moment of their career. Captain of Spanish Handball national team, Raul Entrerrios, is one of those. Entrerrios, aged 39, after missing the last Olympics of Rio 2016, was planning the retirement from the sport after Tokyo 2020. The man's misfortune is only one many examples that happened to this category of athletes all around the world. In response to this, the Superior Counsel of Sport, in collaboration with the Spanish agency of sports health protection, launched a new service that wants to help all these Spanish athletes who must deal with the trauma of this year's postponement. A psychological training will have the priority to increase the well-being of this group of people and to show that institutions are tightened around them in this current period.

8 Apr 20204min