Leaders Worth Knowing Podcast

Following Wrexham AFC's latest promotion at the weekend, CEO Michael Williamson joins Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan.He lifts the lid on a memorable day - and night - at the Racecourse Ground, as Wrexham secured its third successive promotion, as well as early planning for life in the second-tier Championship next season.Williamson also discusses the redevelopment of the Racecourse Ground, rising expectations, English football's new independent regulator and, a year into his CEO role, how he came to work for owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

LA Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker joins James Emmett and David Cushnan on the Leaders Sport Business Podcast this week. After guiding James around the Clippers' staggering new $2 billion arena, Zucker sat down to chat through the process of pioneering new tech in sports venues: the facial technology that drives new, smoother fan experiences, the halo board that delivers unprecedented AV impact inside the bowl, as well as the many challenges that come with attempting to build the best.

Snap reflections on our Leaders Meet: Innovation event this week in London, with Craig Hepburn, Art Basel's Chief Digital Officer, and former Virgin Atlantic, McLaren and Chelsea FC Chief Marketing Officer, Claire Cronin.Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are on location at 180 Studios on The Strand to reflect on two days spent with C-suite leaders from across sport, discussing the biggest global trends - artificial intelligence, the global economy and climate change - with the help of outside of sport perspectives, from the worlds of music, retail, media and technology.They're joined by a couple of experts fresh off the stage - Craig Hepburn assesses how the sports industry is tackling artificial intelligence, while Claire Cronin offers her reflections on the two days and her conversation with Waitrose Executive Director, James Bailey.

Lancashire County Cricket CEO Daniel Gidney takes us inside the Hundred auction, as Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan reflect on the beginning of a new era for English cricket.Gidney has been instrumental in the sale of a 70% stake in the Manchester Originals, part of the England & Wales Cricket Board’s process to sell shares in The Hundred franchises.He explains what it was like to be in the thick of February’s auction action; the preparatory work that went into establishing a relationship with new partner RPSG Group, owner of the IPL’s Lucknow Giants long before that; the impact on his own role as CEO; how the club intends to use the injection of funds - and what happens now, as The Hundred enters its next phase of development.And there's a preview of this week's Leaders Meet: Innovation event, in central London - on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th April. https://leadersinsport.com/sport-business/leaders-events/leaders-meet-innovation/

Philippe Moggio, Kathy Carter and Mark Bullingham are on the show this week, as Leaders duo James Emmett and David Cushnan reflect on a week of soccer activity on and off the pitch in LA last month. CONCACAF General Secretary Philippe Moggio, former LA28 CEO and Soccer United Marketing President Kathy Carter, and FA CEO Mark Bullingham joined James for a series of conversations in the corridors at the inaugural Business of Soccer event in LA a few days ago. The event - put on by Leaders and SBJ in collaboration with CONCACAF and Major League Soccer - brought together all the major powerbrokers in North American soccer ahead of a pivotal 15 months as the continent prepares to host the biggest ever Fifa World Cup. On the agenda: capitalizing on the momentum the tournament will bring; building women's soccer into a commercial behemoth; oversaturation in the market; and an MLS calendar switch that could prove transformative.

India's ambitions to stage the Olympic Games and become a sport-forward nation dominated conversation at last week's RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit, and Leaders' Content Director David Cushnan is joined by Portas Consulting's Nic Coward to reflect on a fantastic few days in Bangalore. They consider how India's plan to host the Games in 2036 are progressing, the ways in which the plan is galvanising national and state governments, corporate brands and influential and wealthy figures across the country, and how Thursday's election of Kirsty Coventry as the next IOC President might alter the bidding landscape. There's also a review of who said what on-stage at Bangalore's Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, including Virat Kohli's rare sit-down interview; husband and wife duo Vita and Jalaj Dani, who are transforming table tennis in India; Fifa's SVP, Director of Commercial Partnerships; and SURJ's new Chief Commercialization Officer, Chloe Targett-Adams.

With horse racing's annual Cheltenham Festival playing out in the background, Jockey Club Partnerships Director Carey Weeks takes Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett on a tour of the Orchard, the racecourse's buzzing sponsor village.The episode features on-the-ground conversations with sponsorship leaders from the likes of Brooklands Watch Company and Debenhams.Later on, we hear from Leaders Managing Director Laura McQueen as she helps to launch the new 'Be the lead' initiative at an International Women's Day event in the plush surrounds of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park.Liesel Jolly, women's football lead for Visa, also joins the show to talk about sustainable investment into women's sport, and to shed some light on some new thinking behind women's football as a sponsorship proposition.

With the new MLS season underway, Radhika Duggal joins Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan to discuss the marketing activity at the centre of the league’s 30th anniversary.She explains how the season-launch Game On campaign came to life, why a Super Bowl advert was just one of many touchpoints for it and why players - as creators, brands and influencers in their own right - are increasingly at the heart of how MLS markets itself.Duggal also reflects on her first 10 months in the role. The former Pfizer, JPMorgan and Super executive shares her first impressions of the sports industry and considers what the CMO role looks like in sport versus the worlds of financial services and fintech.To subscribe to Worth Knowing, the weekly sports industry newsletter from Leaders, visit: leadersinsport.com/newsletters

Behind the scenes at F1's partner day, Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan speak to senior brand executives from some of the sport's key sponsors.You'll hear from Moët Hennessy's Sport Partnership Director, Vincent Borjun-Privé, on why experiences are at the heart of LVMH's new relationship with F1; Thomas Mulders, Global Sponsorships Manager at Heineken, on ten seasons of F1 partnership; Globant's Global Sports Partnerships Head, Nicolas Rey Petit and Global SVP, Valeria Abadi on why the fastest growing IT company in the world has become an F1 partner; Amazon Web Services' (AWS) Head of Motorsport Partnerships, Mike Aghataher, on how its partnerships with F1 and Ferrari work in lockstep; and Lenovo's Global Sponsorship Director, Lara Rodini, on why the brand chose F1 to sit alongside its Fifa World Cup partnership.There’s also reflections on the highly-produced F175 show at the O2 Arena and why it’s unlikely to be a one-off, plus an analysis of F1's commercial health going into the 2025 season.To subscribe to Worth Knowing, the weekly sports industry newsletter from Leaders, visit: leadersinsport.com/newsletters

F1’s Chief Commercial Officer Emily Prazer and Director of Commercial Partnerships Jonny Haworth sit down with Leaders’ Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan, during F1’s hectic launch week in London.In a wide-ranging conversation on the commercial health and outlook for F1, they discuss the sport’s enviable global partner roster - including major new brands like LVMH, American Express, Santander and Kit Kat and, as well as new licensing partners like Lego.Prazer breaks down her dual role as CCO and President of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and explains how LVGP and F1’s teams are in the process of being integrated. They also discuss creativity in partner relationships and activations, their fresh focus on experiential and their desire to work with partners to expand F1’s footprint off track.The conversation was recorded at F1’s partner day, at London’s Ham Yard Hotel on Monday 17th February.