Her Business of Sport - Sarah Lewis OBE OLY

Joe de Sena, founder of Spartan Race, the USA-based obstacle-racing series that has just taken over its rival, Tough Mudder, is Callum Murray's latest guest on the Business of Sport Podcast with the International Sports Convention. Joe started Spartan Race two decades ago while working on Wall Street, having participated in many adventure races and triathlons himself, concluding that: "Humans were not meant to sit on a couch operating a remote control. We become our best when the blood is flowing, and we're sweating and we're breathing heavy. You've got to activate every muscle in your body, and you've got to do it in a way that makes you uncomfortable." Now, with events in over 45 countries and over 1.5 million participants, he's facing a new challenge in the shape of the coronavirus pandemic which has forced the postponement of all Spartan Race and Tough Mudder events. "I don't think there can be an industry in the world hit harder than our industry of participatory sport," he says. "We are the actual opposite of social distancing." The group has been forced to place staff on furlough as it anticipates the possible resumption of events on 1 July. But in the meantime, de Sena says he's encouraged by a 300-per-cent increase in merchandise sales, presumably driven by the fact that loyal customers are sitting at home in front of their computers with time on their hands to order goods. Could the coronavirus actually benefit the stronger companies in the saturated mass-participation sports market in the long run, by forcing the collapse of weaker competitors? De Sena's answer is to quote Charles Darwin, who, he says, pointed out that: "It's not the strong; it's those that are agile and able to pivot that survive." De Sena regards himself as an inveterate entrepreneur after a tough upbringing in Queens, New York in which the primary sport was making money. "Win or lose," he says, "I just love going from the whiteboard to Main Street." Nevertheless, he's frank about the fact that he spent years operating Spartan Race unprofitably. "But," he says, "it was about finding my purpose, finding my true north. And for me it clearly was my true north to rip people off the couch. It makes you feel alive, it makes you feel like a human being. And so I just kept losing money., before finally reaching enough volume to break even in 2011-12." Yet even now, he says, "The economics come from merchandise, nutrition sales, training. The events themselves are loss-leaders." From watching the fall of the Twin Towers on 9:11 from a neighbouring tall building, to having the idea for Spartan Race when he nearly died in temperatures of minus 25 on an adventure race in northern Quebec, de Sena has built a philosophy that he summarises as: "Attack life, don't be sleep-walking through life. Tough Mudder and Spartan are religions, they're cults. But they're very healthy cults. It's about being the best version of yourself."

6 Apr 202048min

The IOC have announced today that the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be postponed until 2021. Many are asking, why did the IOC take so long to make the decision? UEFA made a swift call to postpone Euro 2020, but the Olympic Games is a far more complex beast. Here are just some of the considerations that the IOC will have been mulling over in recent weeks: The Host City Contract As is typical with an event of the magnitude and appeal of the Olympic Games, the Host City Contract between the IOC, Tokyo City and the Japanese Olympic Committee strongly favours the interests of the IOC and there will have been little room for negotiation on its terms. Consequently, the IOC has the final say on the scheduling of the Games, a right to terminate where participants' safety might be threatened and limits the host's legal remedies. Whilst there are no express provisions around postponement, it seems clear that the IOC has a strong argument for imposing a change of date or even terminating the contract. However, that would have been the last thing that the IOC wanted to do. The business of the IOC relies on hosting the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in each cycle; and the trust and reputation of the IOC and the Games in the eyes of hosts, participants, audiences, broadcasters, sponsors and a multitude of stakeholders is critical. As with many rights holders at this time, whilst it is of course important to understand the contractual position, finding a workable solution, involving the host, and trying to keep as many of those stakeholders as possible happy, will be the IOC's number one priority – even if the IOC has to spend some money to do so. Tokyo Huge amounts of money, resources, manpower, marketing and political capital have already gone into planning for the delivery of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. Postponement will have a significant impact in all of those areas. The Tokyo budget before this crisis was reported as being around $12.6 billion. Of course, much of this will not be wasted with postponement. However, some will. Expect the final budget to be far higher. Key commitments such as government budget underwrites and tax and immigration undertakings will have to be extended by a further year. Major facilities and infrastructure will have to be secured for the alternative dates. In the case of the athletes' village, for example, this may well require postponing commitments to private tenants. Contractors will have to be engaged for longer than anticipated; hotel block bookings and pricing commitments will have to be deferred and secured for the new dates; equipment will have to be deferred or alternatively stored for a further 12 months. Some other 2021 events, both sporting and non-sporting, may have to be postponed or cancelled in Tokyo and more widely in Japan to accommodate. All of that and a gubernatorial election for Tokyo likely at some point this year, gives a flavour for some of the logistical headache for the host city. National Olympic Committees The National Olympic Committees of each participating nation, and their sponsors, rely on the IOC and the Olympic Games for their income. Planning for the Games is done many months in advance and money on travel, accommodation, staffing and equipment will have been spent and committed in anticipation of the Games going ahead this year. Athletes The safety of athletes must of course be paramount. With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating around the world their health and safety can't be assured – this is undoubtedly the main reason why the Games could not go ahead this summer. Athletes across all sports usually taper their training programmes and events to peak in the summer of for an Olympic Games. The postponement will at least allow athletes to resume training and work towards the rescheduled Games, albeit many may not feel that they are at their peak. For many athletes, 2020 was set to be a bumper year for revenues from ambassador partnerships with brands, particularly following recent easing of Rule 40 restrictions on personal sponsor communications around the Games. Many of these deals will now be on hold. Finally, it is inevitable that the postponement may rob some athletes of their Olympic dream altogether, whether due to health, selection or conflicting commitments. International Federations The 33 International Federations representing the Summer Olympic sports all oversee packed calendars of National, Regional and International championship events built around the 4-year Olympic cycle. The postponement will put these out of synch and likely to require multiple major events (and their associated hosting and commercial arrangements) to also be postponed or even cancelled. The most notable of these is the World Athletics Championships due to take place in Eugene, Oregon in 2021. Broadcasters Broadcasters will have planned their summer schedules around the Games and have sold advertising revenue around the event. NBC, the national broadcaster for the US, has surpassed $1billion in such sales alone. Sponsors Olympic TOP sponsors have also invested billions of dollars in acquiring the rights to associate with the biggest show on the planet and in activating those rights to the global audience. Those activation plans will have to change and some campaigns cancelled, resulting in wasted costs. Travel Travel and hospitality packages will have been marketed and sold around the Games. These are likely to need to be refunded at significant cost to some companies, and arrangements will need to be put in place for a re-arranged date. On the ground in Tokyo, hotels and local tour operators will have been gearing up for a very busy year, which will now not happen. Merchandising The Olympic licensing and merchandise programme is a huge global operation. The IOC has trade mark registrations around the world for "Tokyo 2020", covering almost all goods and services imaginable and many officially licensed products will have already been developed or even be in production. Will the IOC maintain the Tokyo 2020 brand (as UEFA are reported to have decided for the Euros)? Suppliers The Olympic Games is the largest and most complex sporting event on the planet. A multitude of logistics is required to ship people, equipment, provisions and even (in the case of equestrian sport) animals from all around the world to the host city. Within the host city, temporary infrastructure is acquired, contractors and volunteers are contracted and organisational staff are engaged. The number of related contracts is likely to run into the many thousands – all of which would be impacted by the postponement. Insurance Some of the largest stakeholders are likely to have some insurance coverage for direct losses due to event cancellation, although it remains to be seen whether such coverage extends to postponement. Many of the stakeholders will have no insurance coverage for such losses at all. Almost all stakeholders will be out of pocket in some way, making practical commercial measures from the IOC crucial. Lessons Whilst no other rights holder or host will be dealing with all of the complexities that the IOC and Tokyo are managing, there are some lessons that can be learnt across the industry: It is of course important to assess what your contractual position is with regard to postponement or cancelation. However, the importance of long-term commercial relationships cannot be ignored – finding sensible, practical, commercial solutions to minimise the damage to key stakeholders is key. The host city will often invest the most, through a combination of rights fees and infrastructure and operational costs. This also means that it has the most to lose. Involving the host in decision-making and finding a solution that works for the host are imperative for the delivery of a successful event. The scheduling implications must be thought through carefully. There will already be limited windows in 2021 to host an event without the distraction of competing sports and entertainment properties. This needs to be managed with broadcasters, the host and other related organisations such as the IFs in this case. For future contracts, ensure that the terms are clear. This includes not just a right to terminate (for example using a standard 'force majeure' clause), but also a framework for making decisions around postponement or cancellation, and the financial and practical consequences arising from it. There are a seemingly infinite number of different parties affected by a postponement. Sadly, some will lose out significantly. However, this network of service providers, suppliers and staff are critical to the ultimate success of the event. Again, consideration needs to be given to minimising the impact on even the smallest of stakeholders.

1 Apr 202013min

Today we will focus on how Italian Sports industry is facing up the outbreak. After more than a month from the outbreak, Italy has now the highest death toll of the world with more than 10 thousands victims. The country, still completely quarantined, was the first country in Europe to take serious measures toward sports events. All Sport leagues in the land had to stop. While the main heads of the various leagues are still questioning when, or if, restart the season, the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) is the first to announce the cancellation of the whole season with no assignment of the 'Scudetto' (the Italian Championship). This involves also no promotions and no relegations. Health of the players and their communities was the main reason that brought to the decision. The championship saw more of 50% of the games done and the side Rugby Rovigo on the top of the table, 7 points over their rivals. The common thought in Italy is pretty pessimistic toward the possibility of the recovery of most of the sports leagues. Everyone is still talking about Serie A's fate. Where the "Scudetto" is contended by Juventus, SS Lazio and FC Inter. With the Rugby federation taking such a decision, the Italian Football Federation has now more pressure than before in considering the idea of not assigning the championship. Lazio, who is fighting for the championship for the first time in 20 years, is pushing the Italian league to find a way and conclude the season during summer taking advantage of the Euro 2020 postponement. Many clubs and institutions are going against Lazio declaring the season over. The Italian government doesn't seem to help either since it announced the extension of the stop of every kind of sport activity to undefined date. Also the Italian referee's association is stating that they will return on the field only under the safest conditions. Atalanta fans, who are in the epicenter of Italian outbreak in Bergamo, said that the season is for them over, asking their team to abandon the championship proclaiming the moment as "Historical Massacre". Atalanta, by reaching quarter finals in UEFA Champion's League, has touched the highest point of their history. Juventus, meanwhile, announced that its players will reduce temporary their salaries. The agreement, which was proposed by Bianconeris' captain Giorgio Chiellini, includes the months of March, April, May and June, giving more than a sign to the perception that football in Italy won't recover till the end of June. Juve's gesture aims to give an example to the rest of Serie A's teams who are already speaking to their players to find an agreement. The word "sacrifice" is the common word used in this negotiations. As many Italian sport clubs, players and fans are helping local Hospitals with donations, buying thousands of masks and new ventilators (or even producing them as in the case of Ferrari), social media activity is still on trying to entertain the fans closed home by sharing content from the archive such as anniversaries, but, most importantly, by paying homage to doctors and nurses who are fighting the pandemic. AS Roma has launched a campaign where pictures of doctors and nurses are shared on their social media with a big caption that says "Heroes". Moreover, the company has founded a public charity called "Roma Cares" back in 2014. This foundation, which aims to promote social solidarity, was active during these days of emergency taking care of all season ticket holders aged over 75. More than 200 boxes were left at the elderly fans' door with medical supplies, food, beverages and a scarf of their favorite team, ready to be held high at the next game.

1 Apr 20205min

"The ball is still rolling on the pitch in Belarus" Who would ever thought that FC Minsk vs Dynamo Minsk would be the only match broadcasting in Europe? Belarus Premier League are still playing. The derby of Minsk with an attendance of 3000 inside the stadium, attracted also foreign watchers. Someone even entitled it as the "the only football match on the earth". With fans all around the world left with nothing to watch, Belarus Football Federation secured broadcasting deals with sports network from 10 countries, including Israel and Russia. The rest of the top European clubs have to deal with the economic consequences of the pandemic: FC Barcelona has been the first team in Spain to consider alleviating the economic impact by cutting up to 70% of their players' salaries as the lockdown lasts. This intention would apply to every player in the teams inside the Catalan's conglomerate (Basket team and Women team as well). Lionel Messi himself announced that the cut of the salary would allow the 100% of the salary for all staff members of the company, this way all the members of the company would still have their paid job. La Liga's teams of Espanyol and Atletico Madrid announced that cuts will be applied especially to those members of the staff who received a big reduction impact on the working hours. There are no details of the extent of the cuts applied. Germany's giants of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have already agreed to 20% wagecut while the season is put on hold by the Covid-19 crisis. Title contenders of Borussia Monchengladbach saw a volunteer approach by the players themselves proposing a salary cut. This move made the rest of the staff to join them. But, besides this internal club's issues, Major German's clubs decided to take care of German Football. Indeed, the top four clubs of the league, which were participants of the current Champion's League, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, will finance smaller clubs with 20 million euros in order to help them cope this lockdown situation. This money will be collected by foregoing next year's TV rights revenue. Meanwhile no agreement has been taken in UK for the premier League, but the idea of players cutting their wages, following the previously mentioned European Examples, seems maturing day by day. The FA, EFL and Premier League are outlining a strategy which promises "difficult decisions". Yes, economical system is facing up to a huge crisis… but, at the moment, it is more important to help the medical emergency. There are numerous initiatives in sports industry that are trying to tighten around the NHS. Arsenal donated to the local charities and organizations. Barcelona, Manchester City and other big clubs are offering their facilities to host medical emergency structures. Athletes around the world are giving their support. La Liga players, combining with singers, joined La Liga Santander Fest and helped in raising more than 600k euros. Tennis star Rafa Nadal and NBA hero Paul Gasol launched a new fundraising with the aim to reach over 11 million Euros to help Spain, one of the most hit countries by the outbreak. With the season put on hold and the entertainment moved on the virtual racing, Formula 1 announces that their 7 teams based in UK will join together 'Project Pitlane'. Their skills and abilities in developing new technologies will be used in the production of ventilators in response of the government's call for companies to provide assistance due Covid-19 emergency in UK. NFL draft appears to move on this April despite Coronavirus break. The audience will not be allowed, but the display will be broadcasted on television. However, fundraising will happen related to the event in order to give a charitable effort for those impacted by the pandemic.

1 Apr 20205min

The coronavirus pandemic is the defining crisis in the modern sports event industry. Like me, you will have had the conversations with colleagues, clients and assorted sector experts, where you go in search of precedents. We want to gauge how bad this is, to put some sort of order on the chaos as it unfolds. That list probably that starts at the 2007 banking crisis, then 9/11, and on through a catalogue of natural, human and economic disasters until you get to the Second World War. So, make no mistake, this is a massive moment, the implications of which we'll be living with for years, probably decades. We are all waiting for the heroes of the medical and science community to do their work and report back. So anyone trying to offer solutions or predict the new normal for the sports market is not to be trusted. But here are some things that are true: 1. SPORT IS IMPORTANT Economically, culturally, socially. Sometimes we take it for granted or argue over attempts to quantify its importance. But even the anti-sport brigade can see and feel the impact of its absence. Its roots in communities are broad and deep. 2. HOST CITIES ARE UNDER APPRECIATED Most of the early industry conversation has been about the second level impacts on sports rights holders' relationship with broadcasters and sponsors. Do not forget that government money drives the sports economy. The sector's biggest financial investor is not the media, corporate sponsorship nor the fans who buy the tickets. The single biggest contributor to the sports economy is the public sector, which pays out tens of billions of dollars every year globally, mainly via city and national governments which pay hosting fees and associated costs to put on major events. 3. THE SPORTS EVENT MARKET IS OVERSUPPLIED An uncomfortable truth, but there will be a shakeout in the event sector. The calendar will be different. The market will look anew at which events really matter and which are 'nice to have'. 4. THERE WILL BE HUGE LOSSES Across the sports event sector, small and medium sized supply businesses will cease to exist. People will suffer real hardship at every level. We must act as a community to help in any way we can. We are interconnected. 5. ECONOMICS IS NOT FAIR Events that do not deserve to go under will vanish. Others will get lucky and survive, even thrive. Success and failure will be allocated in an inefficient way. We are conditioned to think in narrative stories that suggest a logical chain of cause and effect. But the reality is closer to messy chaos. It always is. 6. THERE WILL BE THOSE WHO SUFFER MORE AND THOSE WHO SUFFER LESS The next few months are an opportunity. That is how capitalism works, it is brutal and simple. As businesses fail their assets will be feasted upon by others. There will be people whose careers will be made over the next few months. Amid the debris there will be some very undervalued events, relationships, rights and brands going for a song. 7. RADICAL IDEAS WILL BECOME MAINSTREAM Virtual sports events, esports, remote fans. Some of the stuff we have been talking about as 'future gazing' will make commercial sense for the first time. 8. GOVERNMENTS WILL MAKE EXPENSIVE MISTAKES Government money is the engine of the event sector. Those in charge of the public purse will allocate funds to try to help. This process is inexact and unreliable and it will make some of us angry. Who will they choose to bail out, who will they leave alone? 9. TRUST TAKES TIME Some rights holders enjoy long-term relationships with their host cities, broadcasters and commercial partners that have reaped broad and real mutual benefit for years, even decades. Others are short-term, transactional relationships of convenience. 10. NUMBER ONE CANNOT BE REPEATED ENOUGH – SPORT IS IMPORTANT In our 14 years as an active player in the sports industry, The Sports Consultancy and TSC Legal have worked throughout some of the biggest shifts the industry has seen, some of which have been seismic in scale. It is true that we're in new territory and there are few precedents to compare to where we are today. Yet our experience has taught us that global sport is a resilient, endlessly creative and supportive community, and we'll come out of this stronger.

1 Apr 20206min

Sir Keith Mills, successful businessman, America's Cup entrant, founder of a charity helping children through sport, and former leader of the London 2012 Olympic Games, is Callum Murray's guest on the third edition of the Business of Sport Podcast with the International Sports Convention. With a background in advertising and marketing, Sir Keith, who also chairs the Invictus Games for wounded ex-servicemen and women, and owns several companies involved in sports marketing, especially in sailing, is uniquely placed to talk about the relationship between business and sport. For example, one of his companies was involved in the birth of the new SailGP series, a grand prix sailing series for America's Cup-style foiling catamarans, organising the British stop on the series, which is entering its second season. The series, led by top America's Cup sailor Russell Coutts, has got off to a good start, but, cautions Sir Keith, "It will take several years for a new circuit in any sport to build the momentum necessary to make it commercially attractive." Sir Keith also chairs Five West, a sports consultancy specialising in the sailing and marine industry, and from this perspective he describes the market for sports sponsorship and marketing as "very crowded." However, he points out that Hugo Boss, the fashion brand that his company works with, has produced a retail range that derives from hi-tech clothing developed for use of sailors in the Vendee Globe race. Similarly, sailing sponsors, such as Nokia and Bell Labs, "are not doing it for branding at all. They're using the team to test their technology," says Sir Keith. "Sports properties need to understand the marketing objectives and challenges of the companies they're talking to and find ways in which their sport can help solve those challenges." The London 2012 Olympics were widely recognised as a huge success, but despite their promise to 'Inspire a Generation' official figures showed that sport participation in the aftermath of the games actually fell in the UK, and continues to fall. Sir Keith acknowledges and regrets this fact, laying some of the blame at the feet of government which, he says, needed to commit more investment to build on the uplift in sporting awareness that the games created. However, he lists a series of other benefits and advantages that the UK gained from hosting the games, including: a change in the perception of disability in the UK, through the success of the Paralympic Games; the regeneration of east London; and the financial return to the UK from staging the games, which he describes as "phenomenal." This year's Olympics in Tokyo are facing a grave threat in the shape of the coronavirus, and Sir Keith says that there are no easy contingencies, in case the virus means that they cannot take place as scheduled. He lists the IOC's probable options as: cancelling the games entirely (which he describes as "highly unlikely"); staging a "TV-only" games, with a restricted number of spectators, or none at all; or postponing the event for three or six months: "possible, but very, very difficult," according to Sir Keith. To hear the interview, including Sir Keith's views on the future of the America's Cup, how to win a sceptical public round to the idea of hosting the Olympics, and his most memorable sporting moment, click here.

9 Mars 202045min

In the second edition of the Business of Sport Podcast with the International Sports Convention, Callum Murray talks to Sandy Brown, Commissioner of USA's Major League Lacrosse. The podcast airs at a pivotal moment in MLL's 20-year history, with the league having just voted to become a single-entity league, discarding the franchise model on which it was founded. The change, which means that the league now owns all six of its teams, comes with MLL facing a major challenge to its business model from the rival Premier Lacrosse League, which launched last year and is competing with MLL for both fans and sponsors. The switch to a single-entity model was made with the aim of saving money through centralising operations, says Brown, adding: "The advent of another outdoor professional league caused us to re-evaluate to become as efficient as possible in how we run our business. We're trying to create greater efficiencies and run a smarter business." Brown is open in his opinion that the market cannot support two competing pro leagues in a second-tier sport such as lacrosse in USA (he compares its status in the country with that of rugby). So, will there eventually have to be a merger between the leagues? Brown doesn't rule out this option, but in the meantime insists that, to enhance its competitiveness, MLL must learn from the likes of the NFL and NBA and create an entertainment 'experience' around its games. "The entertainment value, the action off the pitch, has got to be even better than what happens on the pitch," he says. "If you're a paying customer at any NFL, NBA or MLS game, you've come to expect a certain standard of entertainment and value for your entertainment dollar. The basic principles of the fan experience are going to be critical going forward." The "bifurcation" of the lacrosse fanbase and sponsorship base between the rival leagues "has not been healthy for the sport," according to Brown. "It's been incredibly disruptive," he continues, adding, however, that "out of disruption you can ultimately end up seeing stronger entities." A top college lacrosse player himself, Brown joined MLL in February 2018 after a lengthy career in sport and TV that has included working with the legendary sports agency ProServe, working under David Stern at the NBA, and a 15-year spell in Asia with ESPN, before returning to USA with sports broadcasters Univision Sports and One World Sports. Other topics discussed in this podcast include: lacrosse's push to join the Olympics; MLL's decision to take back control of its own media rights; and what makes the sport special and different from other US pro sports. "With my international sport background," says Brown, "I've seen the greatest cricketers, rugby players and soccer players. I'll put our guys up against anybody. Lacrosse is often called the fastest game on two feet. It has all the speed, agility and contact of gridiron, but none of the head injuries." And Brown's top sporting hero? Michael Jordan, a client when he was at ProServe. "Time and time again, when the chips were down," Brown says, "he always delivered. Obviously, his business acumen has been very, very strong too."

14 Feb 202045min

In the first in a series of Business of Sport podcasts with the International Sports Convention, Callum Murray speaks to Sarah Lewis, secretary general of the FIS, the international ski federation. One of the very few women in a senior administrative and governance role in an international Olympic sport federation, Sarah joined the FIS in 1994, having been a member of the British Alpine Ski Team from 1982 to 1988 and competed in the 1987 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and 1988 winter Olympic Games. With a reputation for strong opinions and plain speaking, Sarah begins by addressing the Corona virus epidemic, after the FIS was forced to cancel one of its World Cup events scheduled to be held in China this spring, as a result of the outbreak. The event was due to be the first-ever FIS World Cup in China, as well as a test event for the 2022 winter Olympic Games in Beijing, but the FIS took the advice of its own medical commission, as well as the local organising committee and the Chinese Olympic Committee in making the difficult decision to cancel the event. The FIS will now consider how and when to reschedule the event, Sarah explains. Two weeks before the podcast was recorded, Sarah had attended the third edition of the winter Youth Olympic Games, held in the Olympic capital of Lausanne, Switzerland. What does the FIS gain from participation in those games, and what did Sarah herself, a member of the IOC's co-ordination commission for the games, learn from them? For FIS, says Sarah, the games "provide a great opportunity to underline the importance of the development pathway for youth sports in a very high-profile setting, which is what the Olympic brand gives you." The games also offer the opportunity to showcase new formats and create a workshop for the overall revised Olympic model, including decentralisation and the use of existing facilities. The FIS has just launched its own eSports game, World Cup Racing, and Sarah goes on to discuss the eSports phenomenon. There has been some controversy over the IOC's apparent flirtation with eSports. Some think computer games simply encourage inactivity; others regard eSports as valid sports in their own right. Could playing World Cup Ski Racing ever persuade a couch potato to put skis on and try the real thing? Yes, says Sarah, there's research that shows that up to 10 per cent of games players could be provoked to try out skiing for real, albeit "perhaps not on a World Cup downhill course for their very first experience!" The game represents "a new platform to promote skiing globally, a tool to reach out to an audience that we wouldn't normally have daily contact with," Sarah says, as well as an additional revenue stream, with skiing brands providing the prizes, while revenues from in-game purchases are shared between the FIS, the game developer and national ski associations. Just two weeks after its launch, the game had received 50,000 unique installs from 170 countries, with 16,000 hours played, Sarah reveals. In May 2020, there will be a FIS presidential election, with GianFranco Kaspar, the long-serving incumbent, due to step down after 22 years in the role. What are Sarah's hopes for his successor, and could that person be a woman, for the first time in the FIS's history? A new president should remain true to the FIS's core mission to develop snow sports throughout the world, despite an increasing emphasis on developing revenues, Sarah says, while pointing out that the federation is already practising positive discrimination in favour of women, with at least three places set to be reserved for women on its board in future. Sarah also addresses the future of snow sports in an era of climate change, admitting that some low-lying resorts have been hard-hit, but stressing that many have diversified their income sources, by becoming year-round facilities catering for walkers and mountain bikers, as well as skiers. Meanwhile, the production of artificial snow has become much more efficient, using less water and less energy. Sarah concludes the podcast with advice to young people seeking a career in sports administration, her most memorable sporting moment, her top sporting hero and an answer to the difficult question: 'What is sport for?'

31 Jan 202045min