The SportBusiness Podcast

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry. This week, Martin Ross and Jonathan Rest join Catherine Davies to break down the latest developments, departures and disclosures at Mediapro, the Spain-based global sports media rights and production agency.Ben Cronin provides an analysis of the Chinese EV industry’s rising influence in the sports sponsorship sector, in the week that Manchester City became BYD’s latest sponsorship interest.Also, a look at TOP sponsor branding and activations at the Milano-Cortina winter Olympics, and a broadside against ‘billion-strong’ audiences for sports events on TV.You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here.Host: Catherine Davies Contributors: Martin Ross, Jonathan Rest, Ben CroninEditor: Lumi Lehmuskallio Sources: 1. NVP lays down local challenge to Mediapro2.  Heidenreich exit continues Mediapro exodus3. EXCLUSIVE: Seibert bows out in latest Mediapro exit4. Chinese EV brands search for affinity, creating big opportunity for sport5. BYD enters EPL with Man City training kit deal6. BYD joins Commonwealth Games sponsor line-up7. TCL sets out on premiumization trail at Milan Cortina 

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry.  This week, Martin Ross and Jonathan Rest join Catherine Davies to discuss Milan-Cortina 2026 - the TOP sponsor drop-off, media rights sales, OBS broadcast tech and the winter Olympics future in 2030 and beyond.Ben Cronin and Joseph Perry send in their SpoBis insights from a snowy Hamburg, plus LIV Golf changes, the coldest-ever North American football match and how to streamline your ski suit.You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.  You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here. Host: Catherine Davies Contributors: Martin Ross, Jonathan Rest, Ben Cronin, Joseph PerryEditor: Lumi Lehmuskallio  Sources: 1. TCL sets out on premiumization trail at Milan Cortina2. EBU-Warner Bros. Discovery alliance lands Olympic rights in Europe to 20323. Winter sports want IOC over programme tweaks4. IOC weighs up January winter Olympics amid climate change5. OBS ups AI usage for Milan-Cortina 20266. Hyrox not ready for media rights deals, says CMO 

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry. This week, Matthew Glendinning joins Catherine Davies to talk about the emergence of the predictive market sector as a potential game changer in sports sponsorship.Matthew Williams calls in from Mumbai to report on the latest trends in the Indian sponsorship market, while Jonathan Rest breaks down the latest developments at the Professional Fighters League as it adapts its format, calendar and ownership structure. Plus, a wearable tech spat at the Australian Open.You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here.Host: Catherine Davies Contributors: Matthew Glendinning, Matthew Williams, Jonathan RestEditor: Lumi Lehmuskallio Sources: 1. Polymarket surge continues with MLS deal2. NCAA calls out college sport prediction markets3. Kit supply deadline looms for Indian national team4. Knighthead, 885 up PFL stakes as founder Davis exits5. Oberlander takes COO role at PFL6. Tenfield strikes late to net AUF production rights7. Whoop wearable tech spat hits Australian Open 

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry.  This week, Frank Dunne joins Catherine Davies to talk about the crisis engulfing Belgian football as the Pro League’s contract dispute with DAZN leaves all parties in a Catch-22 situation.Martin Ross reveals possible tweaks to European rugby’s Champions Cup and analyses EPCR’s broadcast, event hosting and sponsorship business. Plus, the UCL league phase crescendo, OFC Pro League takes to the (damp) pitch and what sports fans watched on Netflix.You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.  Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube Enter SBPODCAST30 at the checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here.  Host: Catherine Davies Contributors: Frank Dunne, Martin Ross, Jonathan RestEditor: Lumi Lehmuskallio  Sources: 1. Catch-22 situations leave Belgian football in a bind2. DAZN ordered to continue Pro League contract3. EPCR selling rights in-house as agency deals end4. OFC appoints TGI Sport to commercial role5. Netflix ready to go all-cash to seal WBD swoop6. Matchroom takes darts to Saudi in new hosting deal 

Why is Visit Rwanda spending over $20m per year sponsoring two LA-based sports franchises?How do the recent deals with the NBA's Clippers and the NFL’s Rams fit into the country’s wider sports sponsorship strategy?Why did the Premier League’s Arsenal choose not to renew its deal with Visit Rwanda?Why are three central African countries – Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo – targeting sport to promote themselves?Matthew Glendinning, European Sponsorship Editor at SportBusiness, discusses these topics – including a full breakdown of the financials of the deals – with Frank Dunne, SportBusiness’s Editor-at-Large.You can subscribe to Inside the Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here. Host: Frank DunneContributors: Matthew GlendinningEditor: Lumi LehmuskallioSources:1 Visit Rwanda commits major spend on LA-based properties | SportBusiness Sponsorship  2 Visit Rwanda enters US with Clippers, Rams | SportBusiness Sponsorship 3 Arsenal opts against renewal with Visit Rwanda | SportBusiness Sponsorship 4 DRC follows Rwanda visibility path with AC Milan and Monaco | SportBusiness Sponsorship 5 Barcelona deal extends DR Congo’s football drive | SportBusiness Sponsorship 6 Congo enters French football with Lyon deal | SportBusiness Sponsorship 7 Tourism sector provides growth for sport in post-Covid boom | SportBusiness Sponsorship

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry.Maria Kholodova and Martin Ross join Catherine Davies to serve up an Australian Open commercial overview and the innovations driving wider media value for the first grand slam of the year.Jonathan Rest and Catherine then delve into the first-ever media and sponsorship rights auction held by the AUF, Uruguay’s football association, which netted a three-fold increase in revenues, but may deal a lethal blow to the country’s cable industry - an exercise with lessons for the wider sports industry.Also, a look at Fifa World Cup betting rights, what next for Australia’s Big Bash and shopping for streaming subscriptions in the Lidl middle aisle.You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here.Host: Catherine DaviesContributors: Maria Kholodova, Martin Ross, Jonathan RestEditor: Lumi LehmuskallioSources: 1. ANZ adds naming rights in Australian Open renewal2. Broad appeal, premium feel key to tennis sponsorship growth3. Cartoon feeds, expanded coverage drive AO’s engagement push4. EXCLUSIVE: Sony to renew Australian Open in India5. Wowow nets Australian Open renewal in Japan6. AUF triples media revenue in tumultuous tender7. Stats Perform in landmark Fifa betting rights deal

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry. Martin Ross joins Catherine Davies to scrutinise the Enhanced Games’ commercial model with still no sponsors or broadcasters announced, but the sale to consumers of ‘supervised medication’ and supplements expected to outstrip revenue from both.The betting sponsorship market in Brazil also comes under the microscope as Matthew Glendinning provides an overview of a highly volatile but desirable market.Plus, a court date for ISL and World Aquatics, and sad news for fans of Mongolian yak polo as we bid a fond farewell to IMG’s Trans World Sport. You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube.Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here.Host: Catherine Davies Contributors: Martin Ross, Matthew GlendinningEditor: Lumi Lehmuskallio  Sources:1. Enhanced Games devoid of sponsors, broadcasters2. Santos cuts short 7K deal by ‘mutual agreement’3. Betano replaces Pixbet at Flamengo4. How online betting sponsors made Brazilian football the ultimate FOMO market5. World Aquatics settles with swimmers in ISL case6. ISL eyes 2026 return with revised model

Welcome to Inside the Deal, the podcast which gets under the hood of the most interesting deals taking place in the global sports industry.In 2018, the Infront agency and streamer DAZN paid €500m for the rights to European handball from 2020 to 2030. It was a deal set to transform the financial health of handball for a decade.  But in 2023, DAZN unexpectedly stepped out. Then, in December 2025, in an even more dramatic turn of events, the federation agreed with Infront that the agency would scale back its role massively from July 2026, handing back many rights to the EHF’s in-house marketing team. Jonathan Rest, Global News Reporter of SportBusiness, tells the story of what happens when one man’s vision to transform the commercial fortunes of a sport bumps up against unforeseeable market realities.  You can subscribe to Inside the Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here. Host: Frank Dunne   Contributors: Jonathan Rest  Editor: Lumi Lehmuskallio   Links: 1 EHF to take fresh approach to marketing rights | SportBusiness Media 2 EHF seeking large uplift this autumn for unified offering | SportBusiness Media 3 EHF set for tender launch under new rights strategy | SportBusiness Media 4 Infront, Perform tie up rights to European handball | SportBusiness Media 5 EHF secures 300% increase as Infront and Perform join forces | SportBusiness Media 6 EHF kicks off Infront, DAZN pact with digital overhaul | SportBusiness 7 Machineseeker extends Champions League Men title sponsorship, EHF lands MOL as new partner | SportBusiness  8 Infront negotiates revised EHF deal upon DAZN exit | SportBusiness 9 DAZN deals with Dyn after ending EHF sales role | SportBusiness Media 10 Infront’s EHF club remit ends, keeps Euros role | SportBusiness 

Welcome to The SportBusiness Podcast, getting you informed on the biggest stories in the global sports industry. This week, Martin Ross and show host Catherne Davies chew the fat over the news highlights of an eventful and often tumultuous year. Olympic esports, Uefa rights sales, a new broadcast player in Saudi Arabia, Two Circles, a football league’s D2C quandary and media deals of Paramount importance all feature.Matthew Glendinning comes aboard to flag key trends to have shaken up the sponsorship market in 2025, plus his top three sponsorship stories of the year, headlined by the WTA’s record-breaking deal with Mercedes Benz.Plus, TGL is back and the death of the international federation acronym.We’ll be back on January 9 for the 2026 series of the pod. Wishing you all the best for the holiday season and the new year! You can subscribe to The SportBusiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube Enter SBPODCAST30 at the checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here. Host: Catherine Davies Contributors: Martin Ross, Matthew GlendinningEditor: Lumi Lehmuskallio Sources: 1. 2025 Media Review: Q1 2. 2025 Media Review: Q23. 2025 Media Review: Q34. 2025 Media Review: Q45. 2026: Media Preview6. Top 10 sponsorship deals in 2025