There's a race on to define the next era of the sports business. The winners will reap enormous financial returns. The losers will likely disappear from view.  Sports media and gambling have always been bedfellows.  But what comes next is a complete convergence of the two, a seamless offer that puts betting at the very centre of the business model.   The appeal is obvious: Gambling companies gain access to valuable new customers; sports teams and leagues gain new licensing opportunities and fan engagement channels; and media companies retain and increase viewer interest, driving ..read more

Everything you need to know about ambush marketing, the dark art of associating with a major event without paying to be an official sponsor.  We've gathered a posse of the smartest experts in fields such as brand marketing, sponsorship, sports law, creative and sales promotions agencies.  Together we pick apart the idea of official partnership, that underpins the commercial model of FIFA and other sports governing bodies. Official partners buy category exclusivity and have contracted rights to the imagery and marques, protecting their investment from rival brands trying to leverage t ..read more

FTX, the second biggest cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy in the US, and the company's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, previously referred to as the King of Crypto, stepped down as chief executive.  In the filing, FTX estimated that it had between $10bn and $50bn in assets and liabilities and more than 100,000 creditors, including some of the biggest names in sport, from the Miami Heat to Tom Brady, Mercedes Formula One team and the MLB. The FTX brand has become a familiar presence over the past two years, signing a series of high value sport sponsorships.  So what happens now ..read more

Today’s guests are Mo Bobat, Performance Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Omar Chauduri, Chief Intelligence Officer of Twenty First Group. The topic is high performance and its fundamental link to the commercial success of sport.  Mo and Omar’s teams worked extensively together on the ECB’s new High Performance Review, chaired by former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss.  This aims to improve the quality of both the domestic structure and the men's national side, aided by an advisory board including Sir Dave Brailsford and Dan Ashworth, former FA Performance Dire ..read more

When they retire, some professional footballers train to become coaches, and a few rise to become the team manager or director of football. But very, very few players do what Maheta Molango has done, and cross the divide between the playing side and the C-suite, to become the CEO of a top club.  It’s a massive Church and State divide, a journey that reveals much about the person who is now in charge of the PFA, The Professional Footballers' Association,  the union for all current and former footballers in the Premier League, the FA Women’s Super League and the English Football League ..read more

The Bundle is our regular series looking deep in to the sports broadcast, streaming and media rights market in the company of Yannick Ramcke, Murray Barnett and Charlie Boss. Today's headline topics are: DAZN acquires Eleven Sport; NBA's latest D2C play; World Rugby acquires Rugby Pass; Potential Saudi (PIF) investment into BeIN sport.  For previous episodes of the series, search 'The Bundle' on Unofficial Partner/podcast To get the best analysis of the sports business in your inbox every week, sign up to the Unofficial Partner Newsletter, via substack.  ..read more

This is episode 3 of For What It's Worth our regular series in collaboration with Turnstile, the sponsorship valuation service.  Today's special guest is Danny Townsend, the CEO of The Australian Professional Leagues, aka the A-Leagues, home of professional soccer, comprising men's, women's, youth and esports competitions.  Townsend formerly held global leadership roles at Repucom and Nielsen Sport before becoming chief executive of Sydney FC, and then moving to head up the league. In December 2021, the APL announced that Silver Lake, the private equity firm, had made a significant m ..read more

This podcast is a recording of the Unofficial Partner Web3 brainstorm which took place at Emirates Stadium in London, the home of Arsenal Football Club, who were our collaborators on the project. The subject matter covered NFTs, blockchain, crypto and DAOs. To make things interesting, we gave a group of experts a problem to solve over the course of the evening. The conceit of the brainstorm was this: UP FC is a middling Premier League club with ambitions to ‘enhance fan engagement via web3, NFTs and blockchain’. What are the opportunities and problems we'll face? What are the mistakes that ar ..read more

Ed Smith is one of the most innovative thinkers in sport. The former test cricketer turned author and broadcaster co-created the Institute of Sports Humanities, and in 2018 was made chief selector for England men's cricket. His new book is called Making Decisions: Putting the Human Back in the Machine, in which he asks some very important questions facing sport and business today, offering a framework for identifying and maximising talent, spotting team weaknesses and communicating ideas that lead to stronger leadership, clear judgments and ultimately, improved performances. The conversation ..read more

Kara Nortman is one of the three founders of Angel City Football Club, along with Julie Uhrman and the actor Natalie Portman, and it’s the first women’s professional soccer team in Los Angeles for over ten years. But the story has been about far more than football.  A host of famous people have come on board, Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian, Mia Hamm, Eva Longoria and Jessica Chastain to name just a few of the club’s investors, who are buying in to one of the sports business’s most intriguing case studies.  Nortman brings financial expertise from her role as managing partner of Upfro ..read more