Tom Burwell: How Sunderland Have Positioned Themselves for Premier League Success (Ep116)

About this episode

Tom Burwell discusses Sunderland's resurgence in the Premier League and their strategic growth under new ownership.

A huge show for you today with a Premier League club flying high in their first season back at the top. Sunderland have had a difficult and well documented 10 years, but under the ownership of Kyril Louis Dreyfus and the Bia Sports team, the good times are coming back. Tom Burwell has taken over as interim CEO as the club plan the next phase of this growth story. He delivers one of the most impressive and compelling football leadership conversations we’ve had on the show. It’s the case study every potential football investor will point to when asked where value can be found in the game. Most importantly, it’s the case study to show how you can nail your business and performance strategy. We’re delighted to welcome Tom to the Business of Sport. A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: Gemini We empower the most confident sports organisations on Earth https://geminisports.ai/ Slate The complete content creation platform for social teams https://slateteams.com/ If you’re interested in partnering with the show, please reach out to us at bos@20vc.com

People in this episode

Hosts: Charlie Stebbings, Harry Stebbings

Guest: Tom Burwell

Topics covered

• Premier League
• football leadership
• Sunderland
• business strategy
• sports investment

Keywords

• Sunderland
• Premier League
• football leadership
• business strategy
• Kyril Louis Dreyfus

Sponsors

Gemini, Slate

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sunderland, Kyril Louis Dreyfus, Bia Sports, Business of Sport

More episodes of Business of Sport

• FIFA’s Big World Cup Mistake, Horse Racing’s Civil War & England Cricket at it Again (E23) · June 12, 2026 · 1h 20m
• Jean-Éric Vergne: How To Recover From Losing Your F1 Seat (Ep123) · June 9, 2026 · 1h 8m
• THE BREAKDOWN: Should the Olympics Pay Athletes, The Problem Facing Women’s Football, & F1 Lands Another Mega Deal (E22) · June 5, 2026 · 1h 28m
• Kieran Gibbs: Arsenal’s Title Win, The Bitcoin Salary & Moving to Beckham’s Miami (Ep122) · June 2, 2026 · 1h 23m
• THE BREAKDOWN: Premier League Winners & Losers, Enhanced Games Makes Its Entrance, & The World of Rugby League (E21) · May 29, 2026 · 1h 28m
• Kyle Edmund: “When you’re 13 you DON’T really understand the call you’re making” (Ep121) · May 26, 2026 · 1h 34m