Everyone agrees the current sports ticketing market doesn't work. It rips off fans, is vulnerable to touts and is an inefficient way to manage supply and demand. But is regulation the answer? Labour will cap the resale prices of tickets and regulate resale platforms if the party wins the next general election, Sir Keir Starmer said recently. The plans will clamp down on ticket touts who rip off music and sports fans going to live events, Sir Keir said.  The party says it will address ticket touting – buying up tickets to sell on at inflated profits – by capping resale prices and giving th ..read more

What is the Invictus Games Foundation and why is it still relevant, ten years after the creation of the first event for injured servicemen and women in London in 2024? A powerful and important conversation with Dominic Reid OBE, the CEO of the Invictus Games Foundation, the international governing body for the event that promotes sport's role in recovery from traumatic physical and psychological injury.  Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our communi ..read more

In the UK 500 pubs closed in 2023. By the end of June it’s predicted 750 will have closed in 2024. It’s stark, there’s no two ways about it. We asked YouGov again to help us make sense of what’s going on. They found that one in four sports fans – equivalent to 3.4m people – are going to the pub less than they did a year ago. And more than half (55%) of sports fans (7.8m people) said at the moment, sport doesn’t form part of their pub experience at all. Shit. Maybe a partnership under strain is putting it mildly. It’s a marriage heading for divorce. Around 14,000 pubs and bars in the UK current ..read more

The Bundle is our popular long running series that unpicks the latest news to emerge from the sports media and streaming marketplace. A new feature is The Bundle Bulletin, an accompanying newsletter that goes to Unofficial Partner subscribers, featuring thought starters and strands from the conversation. Each month, before we record, Richard and co-hosts Murray Barnett and Yannick Ramcke share possible topics, random thoughts and possible storylines that make up the episode. I’ve always found this material very interesting, and have learnt loads just by being the person asking the questions. S ..read more

Football shirts are front page news in England and Germany in the last week, so this is a timely conversation about our relationship with sports jerseys, and the nature of their commercial value. Guests are Mike Fordham and Kylie Bishop. Mike has worked for IMG and the ECB and played pivotal roles in the set up of both the IPL and The Hundred, and was more recently CEO of Rajasthan Royals. Kylie is Head of Sponsorship Valuation  at Turnstile, having previously worked at The Boston Consulting Group. A new InTel report from Turnstile puts an independent dollar valuation to three of sports m ..read more

The Saudi Question permeates the global sports business conversation from top to bottom. Billions of pounds has been across multiple layers of the industry, including buying players, purchasing foreign clubs, developing domestic clubs and buying or developing tournaments at home and abroad. These deals have been pursued by the government itself, the PIF sovereign wealth fund, and Saudi Aramco, the oil firm that is the world’s most profitable company. The scope is enormous, with at least $10bn spent across half a dozen major sports. So this is the first of a series of podcasts in which we look ..read more

This a live podcast recorded at the London HQ of LiveScore, to commemorate the company's 25th anniversary. It's a conversation with Sam Sadi, CEO of LiveScore about our relationship with tech, from colour television to AI.   To mark the occasion, LiveScore has created the Evolution of Fan report which delves into the last quarter-century of football fan culture amidst the dynamic backdrop of technological progress. Download the report from the LiveScore Group website. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking con ..read more

You might know Utilita Energy from the front of Luton Town's shirt, the journey of the newly promoted club is one of the stories of the Premier League season. But there's so much more to the company than that. Luton and Utilita have partnered since 2015, back when the club was still in the fourth tier, becoming front-of-shirt sponsor in February 2022. It is just one part of a comprehensive and wide ranging sponsorship strategy that uses football to educate fans and club owners about how to tackle energy poverty. Our guest is Jem Maidment chief marketing officer of Utilita Energy . Joining Jem ..read more

More Than Equal's mission statement is to find, nurture and develop female racing drivers, while identifying and removing the systemic barriers they face. It was founded by 13-times Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and the entrepreneur and philanthropist, Karel Komarek. Their website explains why having a woman as an F1 World Champion matters. "Imagine the rewards for our sport and for women everywhere when the chequered flag comes down on that first female champion. Every girl deserves an equal opportunity to achieve her dreams: whether that is running a global company, leading a country, or ..read more

Thomas Hitlsperger is the former German international footballer who played for several leading British and European clubs during a career that took him to Aston Villa, VFB Stuttgart, Lazio, Everton and West Ham, culminating in over 100 Premier League appearances and 52 caps for Germany. He was director of football and then CEO of Stuttgart and now balances media work with a business career that combines football and food. He is part of the ownership group of Danish club Aalborg, having bought 20% of the shares via Sports Strategy Excellence 22. He's also the proprietor of one of the most stor ..read more