The Business of Sport

With the FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico only days away, and two years beyond that, the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles, our recent guest is perfectly placed to guide us through what to expect from the marketing partners of these global events, the biggest in the world, and with a focus on the fan experience. Sergey Krasotin is a proud-based design director with 12 years' experience shaping products, brands, and digital experiences that people genuinely enjoy using. He mentors founders and has led design for start-ups that have collectively raised over $1 billion.

Imagine being a student at one of the best sporting universities in your country. An opportunity to learn from the best and to play in the greatest facilities available. Well, for Steven Ball, that dream not only became a reality, but almost 30 years later, he is still there, as CEO of The High Performance Centre (hpc) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. HPC is a partner organisation of the ISC, offering some of the best facilities for national teams, professional clubs, universities and colleges to enjoy over 72 hectares of training and recreational facilities.

Michael D'hulst is a man on a mission. Driven by a passion for triathlon, the Belgian entrepreneur and former Ironman World Championship athlete, is currently seeking funding to take his Supertri business to the next level. After helping Volkswagen set up a new plant in China, D'hulst turned his entrepreneurial skills to his love of Triathlon. Along with business partner and four-times Triathlon World Champion Chris McCormack and Russian Tech Investor Leonid Boguslavsky, D'hulst founded Supertri in 2016, with an ambition to transform Triathlon from a traditional, participant-led sport, into a dynamic spectator experience, delivering innovative race formats in a "made for TV and digital package", creating fandom with incredible destinations and corporate partners. Now, after delivering award-winning events and record-breaking view numbers, both the USA Olympic Triathlon team and Great Britain's famous triathlete Brownlee brothers are on board, alongside global broadcasting giant HBO, as Supertri powers towards the Olympic Games of 2028 in Los Angeles.

Formerly the Director of Leadership, Organizational Development, & Mental Wellness for the Texas Rangers, Baroody brings over 20 years experience in professional sports, having overseen leadership, mental wellness and organizational development programs for the Texas Rangers Baseball Operations Department. During his tenure with the Rangers, he spearheaded the revolutionary 'Rangers U Player Pathway' in partnership with ACU, creating bilingual, custom educational programs aimed at enriching players' personal development and advancing their careers. He also played an integral role in leadership programs for professional sports staff, such as the Rangers 'Leadership Academy' for players, coaches and front-office personnel. Baroody now leads the expansion and promotion of ACU's robust portfolio of sports-related academic and continuing education programmes.

Cedric VdB has been the Executive Director of AISTS, the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology, based in Lausanne, Switzerland since October 2023. Prior to that, Cedric was the head of Strategy and Education at AISTS, overseeing the development of world-leading sports and education programmes, including the Master (MAS) in Sport Administration and Technology, from which he graduated in 2009. An electronics and telecommunications engineer by training, Cedric has spent over a decade working for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on several strategic initiatives such as: - Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5 - the strategic roadmaps for the Olympic movement. - The New Norm - the in depth review of the delivery model of the Olympic Games implemented for the first time in Paris in 2024 - the IOC' strategic brand management programme. Cedric has also headed the press and media operations for Athletissima, the Lausanne Diamond League meeting. A former 400m runner, he is now active in endurance sports including triathlon and Ironman and is also a keen surfer.

Leah Davis joined the SailGP ranks in 2023 as the league's Chief Marketing Officer and is responsible for driving the league's global marketing strategy, focusing on brand development, fan engagement, and communications & PR, working closely with each of the SailGP teams in twelve international markets. Prior to SailGP, Davis led the brand transformation and marketing strategy for Team GB through the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic cycles which resulted in a 98% brand awareness in the UK. She also established a successful consulting business in 2020 with a number of high-profile retained sporting clients. Davis has also previously led the Media and Communication for Laureus World Sports Awards (+32% global audience and x7 social engagement YoY). Davis holds a degree in Business, Masters in Marketing Strategy and recently completed a Sustainable Business Strategy course at Harvard Business School, driven from a key interest in how sustainability can deliver both purpose and profit in today's world. In this episode we cover: ⛵The Evolution of SailGP: Exploring how this groundbreaking league has grown and transformed. 🌱 Sustainability in Sport: Why it matters and how SailGP is leading the charge for a greener future. 👩‍🦰 Championing Female Representation: SailGP's ambitious goals and strategies to create more opportunities for women in the sport. 🤝 Mentorship & Networking: The vital role of a good mentor and building strong connections in shaping a successful career. 💡 Career Lessons with Leah: Insightful takeaways from her journey and experiences in the industry so far.

ISC International Sports Awards Agency of the Year nominee, Think Beyond, is a leading social impact and sustainability consultancy, working in and through sport and entertainment. With offices in London, New York and Lausanne, they have an impressive portfolio of clients keen to prepare for the future, including Liverpool Football Club, World Athletics, World Rugby, FIBA, Subway, The Premier League, ESPN, SailGP and more. In this latest ISC Business of Sport podcast, Andrew James talks to Managing Partner Sam Shave and Senior Partner, Dr Susie Tomson. Sam on the changing landscape of sustainability in sport: "We talk about the shift from risk, to opportunity. This started off as CSR and sport felt it had to do something, because someone might look at us, so let's make sure we tick a couple of boxes and give some money to this charity, so nobody is going to have an argument with us now. Then it got to the point where sport realised it probably does have to do something. There's regulation coming in, fan and sponsor expectations etc. But it was still fundamentally, risk mitigation. What we try to embed with our clients, is that actually, you need to take a different mind set. Fundamentally, what does it look like if you become leaders in this space? You are no longer just reliant on the size of your perimeter advertising boards or the eyeballs on them, you now have a story to tell and that human interest is attractive to partnets. So it's not about mitigating risk, it's about maximising opportunity." Susie on the business case for sustainability in sport: "There are three angles really. One is just, fundamentally, getting your house in order. You can put a value on retaining and attracting clients, there's a lot of research done around the expectations of the next generation and you can put a value on that too. You can also start looking at what happens if you lose your licence to operate from an environmental or health and safety perspective, where there are values if you have a breach of compliance. The third aspect is commercialisation, which is part of the conversation, but becoming an increasingly critical part. Susie on the climate future: "When you talk about the climate, that really is looking to the future and making sure that your sport or your business is future-proofed and resilient to the impacts. Now, as in Spain recently, we are seeing lost days of events and damage to infrastructure. All of that has a cost. We are certainly now moving into that space where we are helping our clients just measuring their carbon and signing the Sports Climate Action Pledge and making sure they are not being damaging, to now realising that you now have to start thinking about what the risk and the impact is on you from a climate perspective. Looking at each risk, how can you flip that on it's head and turn it into an opportunity and make sure that from grassroots through to the professional level, you are ready for what is going to come down the track. We are starting to put numbers on 'what is the cost of adaptation' and 'what is the cost of inaction'." Sam on the American focus of the next four years, with both the world's biggest sporting events heading to the USA. "We are looking quite carefully at the US. Whatever happens over there will be interesting to watch and we hope to be an integral part of that. We already have an office in New York and interesting clients there. NASCAR is an absolutely fascinating piece to work on. A traditional sport with a really traditional fanbase. In terms of the US political situation their fanbase will have a view on sustainability, but actually, they have got an incredible leadership team that are saying, 'we want to look at how NASCAR develops and changes into the future". It is easy to get into some kind of rabbit hole, looking at what needs to be done with sustainability. But actually, you just want to think 'what is the kind of sport you want to be delivering in 20 years time and how do you get to that point. There's going to be a huge amount of change and sustainability is going to be one of that pieces of change."

Mya Doelling is the Senior Partnership Manager at the International Olympic Committee – IOC and leads on their Purpose Partnerships Strategy. She previously directed Sports Strategy for the United Entertainment Group and is a graduate of Harvard University and NYU Stern School of Business. Many of the programmes Mya has spent the last five years creating, were delivered at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, including the first ever Nursery in an Olympic Village with TOP Partner P&G. Mya on Paris 2024: "It was a really important moment for us to remind the world of the power of the Olympic movement, what these amazing athletes can do and the types of purpose initiatives that athletes champion, that our partners champion and the way that sport as a platform can really make a difference. As somebody who has spent the last five years designing how our partners can really help the Olympic movement achieve greater impact and deliver on our mission, which is to build a better world through sport, this was finally a platform where we could show everyone what we could do. It was a lot of hard work come to life and it was really beautiful to see." Mya on Purpose Partnerships: "Sport and purpose is not for every single business and I think the ones that have naturally and strategically become partners with the Olympic movement, largely came to us because of the Olympic values. It is really about, how do we find those synergies of those values and ways in which we can work together and because it really is not for every single business, that is why it has been unique. The programmes that we have been able to develop have found those synergies where one organisation puts a stake in the ground and has long term commitments in areas of sustainability, or gender equality, youth empowerment, that line-up with the IOC's roadmap to deliver impact in those spaces." Mya looks ahead to LA: "In the same way that Paris was really my launching pad for what we are doing from a Purpose Partnerships perspective, and the first instance that we have been able to show the results of this strategy, Paris was the first games within the new structure of climate commitments that the IOC has made as an organisation and what we hope to do as the owner of the Olympic Games. So, as we look to LA and Brisbane after that, we have set very clear objectives for our Partners' and for organising committees' roles to address not only sustainability, but legacy, venue usage and optimisation. You will see partner initiatives continue to grow in line with these objectives."