New York, Birkdale and everywhere in between: where sports industry bigwigs are spending the weekend

0:03James Emmett:Hello and welcome to the Leaders Worth Knowing podcast, the sports industry show from Leaders where we talk about what's worth knowing in the business of sport this week. I'm Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett.

0:15David Cushnan:And I'm the Content Director David Cushnan on the show this week. Summer party season in full swing and sports hospitality is the bell of the ball. India increases its global sporting power base And Premier League clubs scramble to replace gambling sponsors This is Leaders Worth Knowing This is Leaders Worth Knowing, isn't it? David, how are you? Very well, thank you How's your summer going so far? Crash bang, what a summer so far Here, there and everywhere Relentless heat here in the UK It is actually, we're recording this on, where are we? Tuesday morning, UK time

0:50James Emmett:Tuesday, 14th July

0:51David Cushnan:Correct just a day before England playing World Cup semi-final, you might have heard. And this strikes me, this is the kind of week that sports marketing agencies, the brands, try so often to replicate in campaigns. You've got this mix of genuine national fervor about England's footballers. You've got the heat wave. you've got you know casual fans you've got the bunting schools out for summer yeah new prime minister next week you know this this is the stuff maybe not the last thing tomorrow for the for the

1:35James Emmett:england semi-final um it's the first time that i can remember that i might actually be involved in a scenario that all advertisers tell us happens for big footy games where you go around to a friend's house get some crisps in you're all gathered on a sofa and someone jumps over the back of it with a bag of crisps yeah and you're all you know obviously a range of ages genders and ethnicities uh and that may well happen to me tomorrow i'm looking forward to it we're living

2:04David Cushnan:we're living the sports marketeer's dream uh for potentially about uh 30 to 40 more hours and after

2:12James Emmett:that who knows eh do you know what we've both been busy on the feed recently you've um you've dropped something hot uh on jaw with george pine the founder and ceo of bruin sports capital and i did something snuck something in late last week with richard easelgrave uh the chief revenue officer of paris saint-germain should we mark each other's work quickly yeah okay eight out of ten

2:37David Cushnan:b plus for you um two fine fellas different parts of the industry um and very different conversations. And I really enjoyed talking to George about his much vaunted investment thesis, this idea of... Playing time. Yeah, this idea of, in many ways, deliberately avoiding the star properties, the headline properties, the teams, the leagues, and going in at what he calls second level enabler level, or the pipes. He was talking about small to middle market companies. Yeah. And George Pine's and Bruins track record pretty much speaks for itself in terms of Delta train on location and two circles and the investments in each and then the exits from each.

3:29David Cushnan:And full swing, of course, that we touched on briefly last week, the golf simulator business sold for a reported$500 million, a significant uplift on what Bruin initially invested in it. So yeah, I think always, always fascinating to speak to people who are right at the forefront, right in the thick of the investment world and busy, not just spending money, but raising it as Yeah.

4:00James Emmett:And actually, the work that George Pine does, investing in growing and opening up new market opportunities to these small to middle market size companies, to the pipes, as he calls them, you know, the companies that serve the sports industry is in and of itself an endorsement of the sports industry, I would suggest. It has to bring good cheer to all of those who work in the sports industry away from the property side. And there's a thing going on, I think, and we'll touch on the latest NFL franchise sale a little bit later. But there's a thing going on with increased valuations of sports teams.

4:48James Emmett:partly this is asset inflation basically and it's driven by sort of engineering rules to allow different types of buyers which itself inflates prices i don't think in most cases the size of purchases and sales of properties is necessarily corresponding to their potential kind of growth and revenue kind of achievement. It's just a sort of the buyer-seller kind of construct and the engineering of the market. But what George Pine does with businesses that serve the sports industry is absolutely working on driving revenue, streamlining businesses, helping them grow and reach new markets. So, yeah, definitely a very positive thing for the sports industry there.

5:44David Cushnan:Yeah, absolutely. And as you say, you slipped one onto the feed on Friday. Sure did. With the third instalment of your Cannes special. We're still talking about Cannes. Yeah, let this be the final moment that we talk about it, actually. Yeah, but it was good stuff with Richard Easelgrave, the chief revenue officer at Paris Saint-Germain, European champions, French champions, football heavyweights. And Richard's been in that post for around about 18 months now. Just over a year. Yeah, and is, I guess, has been spending his time figuring it out and understanding where and how PSG can play beyond the, and this is underselling what he does, the day-to-day business of doing sponsorship deals, but really trying to pinpoint where and how PSG can play in that sort of lifestyle, culturally relevant space that Cannes is very much at the centre of.

6:48Yeah.

6:48James Emmett:And we've all seen this happening, right, with PSG in particular. They've been pioneering these tangential brand moves, I guess you would call them, sort of outreach into crossover spaces. Fashion, art, music. Well, and you can see them doing it in the sort of traditional fields that sports teams might operate in. For example, the shirt deal that they did with Nike wasn't with Nike. It was with the Jordan brand, you know, an offshoot of Nike. And they're doing that very specifically and deliberately to target new audiences and to position them themselves as a lifestyle brand or not your ordinary football brand.

7:33James Emmett:Richard it seems and everyone at PSG licensed to take a very creative approach to this and the overarching view the overarching concept is that the PSG brand is very simply being merged and melded with the brand of Paris itself the city whatever Paris stands for brings to mind PSG must also stand for and bring to mind and that being the case it opens up all sorts of other opportunities to get into the luxury space, food, fashion, entertainment, etc. And Richard actually had a very clear articulation of what's useful and what's measurable for PSG. And that is simply, does the brand resonate? You know, do people like the brand?

8:22James Emmett:That's it. That's all that matters. And maybe I'd argue that, you know, he's in the luxurious space of having very wealthy sort of owners sovereign state of Qatar behind PSG so you know in a different position to other chief revenue officers around the sports industry but yeah really simple clarity of approach there and actually I really like the way Richard speaks in general he's got a real clear articulation of purpose and vision, but also how he actually speaks. There's a lovely lilt to how he talks, probably from having spent his career dotted around hither and thither across different parts of the world.

9:07David Cushnan:He's a great man, and it sounded to me like he was quite keen on opening a brasserie. Certainly referenced that. But yeah, very good, a good listen. And if you haven't listened to either of those conversations yet, just have a little scroll down the feed and immerse yourself in two really fascinating conversations and a couple of really fascinating sports industry executives. And talking, James, of sports industry executives, they're gathering all over the world at the moment. Cannes, we've talked about. Yeah. Let's put a pin in Cannes for another year. but we are approaching this final week of the World Cup and we are going to see an incredible gathering of football administrators, business leaders, celebrities.

9:56James Emmett:It's such a busy summer season, right? It's just, it is sports hospitality season in overdrive. We talk about, you and I often talk about these sort of weekends, these weeks in the sporting calendar where there's a concentrated sort of bulk of events. We're just going through another one right now. Over here in the UK, you've got in short order the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Wimbledon, and the Open in golf. All three massive sports hospitality events. Is there a sponsor that covers all three? I'm not sure. I know American Express definitely do the British Grand Prix and Wimbledon. There must be one that covers all three there.

10:43James Emmett:Anyway, there are these increasingly large sports hospitality events. Throw into the mix now the World Cup, which is just gone gangbusters in terms of its hospitality offering.

10:58David Cushnan:Well, specifically the World Cup as of about Thursday when the semifinals are completed. And the world, as I say, of football and celebrity descends on New York initially and then out to New Jersey for the final on Sunday. And several major, major, in fact, loads of activations being planned by all manner of sponsors. FIFA are effectively taking over Bryant Park right in the heart of Midtown as a sort of guest and sponsor and business center for the week. you've also got fanatics fest happening which is michael rubin's baby and has grown over several years now which brings together and the guest list is is tremendous you know michael rubin's black book of of contacts this is a consumer facing a consumer facing uh event with with i think some real business chops behind it as well it's going to be the place to be and BC and FIFA will be holding its pre-final press conferences.

12:02David Cushnan:The two coaches of the finalists, Gianni Infantino, might even answer a few questions as well. Extraordinary that that's happening. Yeah. And this is part of FIFA's wider new deal with Fanatics. But you have got everybody from Beckham to LeBron, Tom Brady downwards attending Fanatics Fest. And there's a fascinating list of rights holders, properties who are going to be, well, have booked space essentially on the floor at Fanatics Fest. All the New York teams, FIFA have a huge presence, as you would imagine. F1, the aforementioned Paris Saint-Germain. Zuffer Boxing, presumably a new edition this year.

12:47David Cushnan:The Premier League will be there. The usual suspects in terms of the big the big American-based properties, UFC, MLB, NFL, Inter Milan are there, MLS, WWE. You've got ESPN and TikTok. And I was looking at the floor plan. You've also got, unusually, and I had to sort of zoom in and check, they've got a small stand, but it's a stand, Hartlepool United. Great. And I dug into this. So this is Hartlepool United, fifth tier team in English football. Is this Jeff Stelling? National League's team. Is he a Hartlepool guy? He's a Hartlepool guy. I don't think he's involved in this. This must be Jeff. It's Jeff.

13:23David Cushnan:It must be Jeff Sterling. No, this is all to do with Landon Smith, who is the new American owner as of last December of Hartlepool United. And it turns out he's a real estate guy. He's bought into Hartlepool United, but it turns out he's a massive collectibles, trading cards guy. And he's got them a pitch in the middle of the floor at Fanatics Fest next to Inter Milan, next to Formula One, which is, which is, you know, notes worthy.

13:51James Emmett:Definitely. Watching the progression and the growth of Fanatics Fest has been absolutely fascinating, will continue to be fascinating, particularly with this tie-up with FIFA, which is an extraordinary deal in and of itself. Doesn't come into play until 2032, I think, some stage in the 30s at least, but already we're seeing Michael Rubin and Fanatics move very much into the center of the sphere of influence in global football. All the names on the back of referee shirts, that's not because referees have egos. That's because these shirts are going to become collector's items. It's a little bit because they've got egos probably.

14:32James Emmett:Sure, sure. Interesting as well, if you are a Michael Rubin follower, as I am, Michael Rubin's been talking recently on Rich Kleinman's podcast about the growth of Fanatics Fest. I can't remember the name of that episode, but it is worth checking out if you're interested in that. But it can't be a coincidence that Michael Rubin hosts his famous white party a couple of weeks before Fanatics Fest. And I'm sure the sort of draw of that, this is obviously a celeb drenched, super exclusive get together in the Hamptons, in his massive mansion in the Hamptons. I imagine there's a sort of quid pro quo on some sort of come to this one and then come to that one please yeah and on the something creepy about white party though yeah I've never been invited

15:20David Cushnan:to one to be honest attendance at fanatics fest uh first two years grew from 70 000 to 120 000 and this year they're expecting over 200 000 people um to attend the I think it's four days of the event just one of the many many things happening in new york in and around the world cup final over the next few days i really think it's going to be maybe something we on a scale that we haven't seen before and this is the conclusion to of course what has always been pitched and we've talked endlessly about for years now as the most business friendly money-making world cup in fact sports event of all time and suddenly 13 billion is it yeah and suddenly the thing is now pitching up in the number one media market in the u.s uh for the the final few days

16:15James Emmett:so yeah can i give you can i hit you hit you with some stats david for world cup hospitality thus far please so according to ed horn who is the estimable uh chief operating officer on location which is the official hospitality provider for FIFA, 607 ,350 official FIFA hospitality packages have been sold and allocated. It's quite a round number, isn't it? 607 ,350. Yeah, well, it's massive. It's huge. It's extraordinary. It's huge. There have been 3 ,166 premium hospitality environments across the tournament. that's obviously fan zones and also various different segments of um stadiums 27 969 accredited personnel bringing the experience to life 700 plus unique menus across host venues guests from 154 countries and more than 16 000 guests expected for the final here's a little uh Here's a little bit of, you love stuff like this, Dave.

17:22James Emmett:Ed Horn says, enough hospitality wristbands have been produced to stretch across 2 ,988 football pitches end to end. That's great.

17:32David Cushnan:I love wristbands and I love a largely ridiculous fact.

17:36James Emmett:Very quickly, as far as the money is concerned. So we don't know the official figure, either from on location or from FIFA. But Qatar, the previous World Cup in Qatar, drove around about$250 million in hospitality. And as of March this year, so well before much of the final selling, the big ticket selling, on location had doubled the revenue of any previous World Cup program. Now, I don't know whether there was a previous World Cup that did more than the Qatar one. But, you know, in March, there was at least$500 million of hospitality booked. So big up Ed Horne, the aforementioned, but also Sean Doss, the top sales, top commercial guy at On Location and Paul Kane, the president of that organisation as well.

18:30David Cushnan:Great piece by Sports Business Journal's soccer beat writer Alex Silverman this week, where he's going through many of the hospitality stats, some of which he mentioned, but also critically and terrific journalist in this. He's got the private suite menu for the World Cup final. Tell me. Appetisers, Japanese scallop bowl or strawberry goat cheese salad served two hours before kickoff.

18:58James Emmett:The Americans say goat cheese, but we say goat's cheese.

19:01David Cushnan:Yes.

19:02James Emmett:Yeah.

19:03David Cushnan:You don't get that in any other podcast, do you? No, no, no. Main course, miso cod or Jersey corn rigatoni or a Wagyu New York strip. Okay. And then fruit and dessert. And I've got to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed when I read this. Not that I'll be there. Local summer berries Or the mocha Which is Ethiopian mocha coffee cream Crispy coffee and white chocolate base Or raspberry verbena square Yeah, nice What did you want? A full, a summer full Just some vanilla ice cream, please Anyway, great menu And do have a look at that piece It is on SBJ from Alex Because he's gone into some great depth And essentially making the point That FIFA pitched this whole tournament as 104 Super Bowls, everyone would be an event in its own right.

19:54David Cushnan:And you could argue whether that's actually been the case, but you sort of get the vision. In that instance, how do you then make the final, the big moment, even more elevated and even more sort of special for guests and attendees? And we're obviously going to see also on Sunday the halftime show. Nobody's quite sure how long this halftime is going to last, but it's sort of Coldplay produced. Justin Bieber, I think, the latest artist to be added. So it's going to be full razzmatazz and there'll be, you know, football matches, some hydration breaks in and around all of that. Back to the conversation in just a moment.

20:36David Cushnan:But first, some important news about Leaders Week London, the global gathering of senior decision makers in sport. Prices to attend the two-day summit taking place on the 7th and 8th of October will increase on Friday the 31st of July. So to secure your pass to the lowest price going at our early bird rate and to join the likes of Amazon, ATP Tour, Castor, eToro, FIFA, Howden, Ineos Grenadeers, Major League Soccer, San Antonio Spurs and Sky Sports who are already confirmed to attend then head to leadersinsport.com forward slash leadersweek. Do you know what?

21:16James Emmett:It has been noticeable, actually, how many, obviously, plenty of celebs in the crowd and the laughable, I would say risible sometimes, UK commentary, sort of absolutely failing to recognise most of these people and being quite dismissive about, oh, there's another someone we're supposed to recognise. um it's been noticeable how many of these folks are pictured eating like i don't think you sort of get that much in sporting events um elsewhere in the world like drinking and eating uh david beckham famously having that sort of glass of wine the stella artois ambassador david beckham uh um videoed drinking a glass of uh beautiful red wine um at one of the games um not too long ago yeah an interesting side note there um whilst all this has been happening david there has been uh other industry gathering so um you and i both went to wimbledon last week on different days i um was chin wagging with a member of the media fellow member of the media from bloomberg um who were saying that it was noticeable this year at Wimbledon that there are fewer big cheese media execs.

22:34James Emmett:And for some reason, Wimbledon's fantastic for networking and business hospitality. And for some reason, most of the bigwigs sort of opted for Sun Valley this year over Wimbledon. And a look, the Sun Valley is the annual gathering of the great and the good and the weird from across tech, AI, media, sports. And this is Allen & Co, isn't it? The private equity firm, yeah. So you had the commissioner of the NFL, MLB, Casey Wasserman, very much still on the list to this sort of thing. Michael Rapinoe, the CEO of Live Nation there. And then from the media, pretty much everyone, David Ellison, Barry Weiss, Bob Iger, Josh DiMaro, Disney Disney, uh dana walden alan bergman also from disney jimmy pitaro from disney brian roberts of comcast mike kavanagh of comcast zaslav sarindos peters um rupert murdoch lachlan murdoch neil mohan eddie q barry diller um and then tim cook jeff bezos mark zuckerberg sam altman big list of uh um gilet wearers i would suggest uh at sun and commissioners sports you know the

23:55David Cushnan:Roger Goodells of the world?