Business of Sport

What a start to the World Cup. What was all the fuss about? As often happens, football seems to have taken over from the outside which is what everyone wanted to see, but we’ll give it another week before reviewing the ticketing and commercial delivery we couldn’t stop talking about in the run up. It is the turn of Burnley and Everton to take the limelight after the landmark £35m compensation ruling in Burnley’s favour. This is used a lot but it really does look like it has opened Pandora’s Box. Add to that an overdue look at SailGP and the world of sailing and we have ourselves a breakdown!

Disclaimer:
The content of this podcast is intended as commentary and opinion on matters of public interest in the sports industry. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, figures, statistics, and financial data referenced may be based on publicly available estimates and could be subject to error or change. Nothing in this podcast should be taken as a statement of fact. If you believe any information is inaccurate, please contact us at ⁠⁠⁠charlie@20vc.com⁠⁠⁠ and we will endeavour to correct the record promptly.

We’re delighted to partner with Obelisk Sports Agency⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://obelisksports.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're delighted to also partner with the Global Institute Of Sport
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gis.sport/BoS⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to our Substack for bonus content:
⁠⁠https://substack.com/@businessofsport⁠⁠

If you’re interested in partnering with the show, please reach out to us at
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bos@20vc.com⁠⁠

When we sit down with football club CEO’s, we hear about plans, ambitions, challenges, expectations. These are some of the most scrutinised jobs you could wish for, a privilege but also a huge responsibility. When Lincoln City shocked football this season, in what could only be described as romping to the League One title and therefore promotion to the Championship, getting their excellent CEO Liam Scully back in to talk us through this was an inevitability.
We can embarrass Liam briefly, one of the most humble people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in football. It was obvious from our first interview in October 2024 that this is an exceptional CEO and leader of football. But does that translate to the only success football truly understands: winning? That question has been answered. There’s been an operational discipline that would be the envy of many for a while; now they’ve added the performance to match. So how did Lincoln upset the sporting and business odds to achieve this? Let’s find out as we welcome Liam Scully back to the Business of Sport.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Airwallex
The intelligent financial platform for global businesses
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.airwallex.com/uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Gemini
We empower the most confident sports organisations on Earth
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geminisports.ai/⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you’re interested in partnering with the show, please reach out to us at
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bos@20vc.com

Huge news this week. It’s Charlie’s birthday, his 50th he’ll be happy for me to tell you, not that that is a surprise for those of you who are watching this; the studio got an impressive one day makeover. As his present, we let him dive back into the world of horse racing and deliver another knockout segment as Epsom and Ascot fill the sporting calendar. Add to this the long awaited start of the World Cup and a check on on what can only be described as the ticketing fiasco, and another fiasco featuring the well behaved, highly disciplined England Cricket Team, and we have ourselves a Breakdown!

Disclaimer:
The content of this podcast is intended as commentary and opinion on matters of public interest in the sports industry. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, figures, statistics, and financial data referenced may be based on publicly available estimates and could be subject to error or change. Nothing in this podcast should be taken as a statement of fact. If you believe any information is inaccurate, please contact us at ⁠⁠charlie@20vc.com⁠⁠ and we will endeavour to correct the record promptly.

We’re delighted to partner with Obelisk Sports Agency⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://obelisksports.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're delighted to also partner with the Global Institute Of Sport
⁠⁠⁠https://gis.sport/BoS⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to our Substack for bonus content:
⁠https://substack.com/@businessofsport⁠

If you’re interested in partnering with the show, please reach out to us at
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bos@20vc.com⁠

We’re back to four wheels today as we welcome Jean-Éric Vergne to the studio. JEV, as he is known in the world of motorsport, has seen it all in a career that has spanned F1, Formula E and Le Mans to name but a few. He raced in 51 Grand Prix’s as part of the Red Bull Racing family with Toro Rosso and is Formula E’s only double world champion.
Now JEV is not known for being reserved with his opinions; his character is built on a refreshing directness you don’t get as much in sport these days. This comes through in a perfect balance of self-belief and honest reflection when assessing his time at Red Bull, coming to terms with decisions made out of your control, and re-building a career and image that got him back to the elite end of motorsport. This is a real look at life as a driver, behind the assumption I, and I’m sure many of you, have on the luxury of elite four wheel performance. We’re delighted to welcome JEV to the Business of Sport.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Airwallex
The intelligent financial platform for global businesses
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.airwallex.com/uk/⁠⁠⁠

Gemini
We empower the most confident sports organisations on Earth
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geminisports.ai/⁠⁠⁠

If you’re interested in partnering with the show, please reach out to us at
⁠⁠⁠⁠bos@20vc.com

It’s a huge week so let’s go. Athlete pay. We haven’t been able to escape it in recent weeks and with IOC President Kirsty Coventry’s recent comments suggesting there would be no change to her stance on athletes earning money at the Olympics, we go head first into the why and what should happen when an organisation that generation generates €8 billion euros in revenue per cycle and doesn’t pay the key contributors. Add to that a long awaited venture in to the health of women’s football, and a commercial deep dive into the incredible world of F1 sponsorship after Gucci’s announcement as Alpine’s title sponsor, and we have ourselves a breakdown.

Disclaimer:
The content of this podcast is intended as commentary and opinion on matters of public interest in the sports industry. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, figures, statistics, and financial data referenced may be based on publicly available estimates and could be subject to error or change. Nothing in this podcast should be taken as a statement of fact. If you believe any information is inaccurate, please contact us at ⁠charlie@20vc.com⁠ and we will endeavour to correct the record promptly.

We’re delighted to partner with Obelisk Sports Agency⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://obelisksports.com/⁠⁠⁠

We're delighted to also partner with the Global Institute Of Sport
⁠⁠https://gis.sport/BoS⁠⁠

Subscribe to our Substack for bonus content:
https://substack.com/@businessofsport

If you’re interested in partnering with the show, please reach out to us at
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bos@20vc.com