The SportBusiness Podcast

This week on The SportBusiness Podcast, Martin Ross, Jonathan Rest, Joseph Perry and Maria Kholodova bring you the Sportel debrief from Larvotto Beach in Monaco. Industry topics from a stormy Principality include:

Netflix’s World Cup move in Spain – how much?
Surprise F1 bidding alliance in Germany
Relevent’s production move – why?
Infront betting on alleviating debt
Pitch and Qatar at a crossroads
Biennial Afcon U-turn impacts Caf’s endless ITT
Betting curbs in Brazil, Russia
Big picture market sentiment
Dolby’s sound shop-floor car

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.

Co-hosts: Jonathan Rest, Martin Ross
Contributors: Joseph Perry, Maria Kholodova
Editor: Gwen Gourvellec

Sources:
Have you heard? This year’s Sportel gossip
Ex-HBS pair to lead new Relevent production arm
Biennial Afcon U-turn set to impact Caf agency hunt
Netflix Spain in shock 2030 World Cup move
Netflix gives sports architect Bajaria the push
Shopee fills Corinthians shirt as betting ban bites
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This week on The SportBusiness Podcast, we reveal just how much the global sports media market is worth (hint... it's a lot). Plus, Uefa selects its new national teams agency, Netflix's latest football rights move and an unlikely location for cricket's latest franchise league.

THE NEWSROOM: A case of déjà vu as Relevent breaks an agency's grip on Uefa business, this time CAA Eleven and national team football. Also, Netflix's Big Event sports strategy takes it to Spain for the 2030 World Cup and commercial upheaval in Brazil amid the betting ban.
INSIDE THE DEAL: Media Editor Joseph Perry joins to talk through the SportBusiness Global Media Report 2026. We discuss the properties dominating the table, where the money is heading, a knockout top 10 entrant and which market is on the downturn.
AOB: The Rome Gladiators set to enter the arena, a cracking World Conker Championships and a temperature-raising sponsor in Swiss ice hockey.

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.

Co-hosts: Jonathan Rest, Martin Ross
Contributors: Joseph Perry
Editor: Gwen Gourvellec

Sources:
Relevent alone lands Uefa national team rights | SportBusiness
EXCLUSIVE: CAA Eleven set to lose Uefa contract | SportBusiness
Netflix Spain in shock 2030 World Cup move | SportBusiness
Netflix, IMG gear up for Women’s World Cup test | SportBusiness
Shopee fills Corinthians shirt as betting ban bites | SportBusiness
Betting firms absent from CazéTV’s WWC line-up | SportBusiness
Global sports media rights value hits record $65.8bn | SportBusiness Media
PODCAST: High hoops: Netball bids for reach, revenue and relevance | SportBusiness
PODCAST: Grand Budapest Intel | SportBusiness
PODCAST: Eleven out of Ten(der): Uefa set to move on from CAA era | SportBusiness
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This week on The SportBusiness Podcast, we tackle a bruising sport’s place in the industry, two big European football leagues going to market with domestic media rights and a review of the rage-filled book making headlines.

THE NEWSROOM: As Bare Knuckle Boxing mulls an equity sale to a rights-holding broadcaster, we analyse the emergence of the controversial combat sport, its safety and commercial appeal. Plus, different tactics for Ligue 1 and Serie A in impending domestic tenders and ice skating gets its centralised rights agency.
INSIDE THE SPIEL: Executive Editor Imran Yusuf joins to cherry pick the sports industry tales in Ari Emanuel’s recently published memoir laden with expletives and almost as many deal numbers.
AOB: Sponsorship signage confuses horses at Newbury, a ban on rhythmic jumping in Bochum and Premier Sports outs dodgy stick users.

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.

Co-hosts: Jonathan Rest, Martin Ross
Contributor: Imran Yusuf
Editor: Gwen Gourvellec
Sources:

BKB open to stake sale in next media rights deal
Ligue 1 auction ‘to include’ rights from next season
French 20% pay-TV tax ‘to weigh on sports rights’
Serie A presents regulators with gloomy domestic picture
Serie A guidelines OK’d but warning on exclusivity
Centralised ISU agency contract for Two Circles
Tennent’s Sixes tackle on Premier Sports
Roll the Calls: A Memoir by Ari Emanuel
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In the wake of that Manchester City ruling, Jonathan Rest and Martin Ross are back on The SportBusiness Podcast to discuss the industry’s headline issues and go deep on media rights in a major market.

THE NEWSROOM: SportBusiness Sponsorship Editor Ben Cronin joins to talk about the Emirati elephant in the room. Plus, Infront nets ITTF business at a testing time for table tennis and the scale of the LIV threat on DP World Tour media rights returns is revealed.
INSIDE THE DEAL: Frank Dunne is back to decipher the pay-TV sector in sub-Saharan Africa after Canal+’s Uefa club rights deal. Now the owner of MultiChoice, is it set for a market monopoly or can a mystery streamer stir new competition?
AOB: Bookmakers betting on a political Brazilian legislation U-turn, Wigan gets a deadly new sponsor and juggling AI tech to generate sold-out crowds at empty venues.

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.

Co-hosts: Jonathan Rest, Martin Ross
Contributors: Ben Cronin, Frank Dunne
Editor: Gwen Gourvellec

Sources:
City inflated sponsorship with ‘sham’ contracts
Etihad considers legal action against EPL
BeIN’s Sen succeeds Nivelle at Infront Pan-Asia
Infront nets global WTT sponsorship remit
TV rights drop swells PGA Tour’s European Tour sum
(PODCAST) In Da Red Zone: Unpacking losses at LIV, European Tour and DAZN
Canal+ power shows in sub-Saharan Uefa deal
SuperSport lands Afcon, more pay-TV deals coming
Brazilian football sets up talks on shock betting ban
One final bump on the long road to centralisation?
Q4 production tender to kick off Liga Portugal sales
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This week, Ben Cronin and the SportBusiness Sponsorship editorial team host a live recording of the podcast at L’Escargot restaurant in London to mark the launch of the European Sponsorship Report.

They discuss:

THE SIZE OF THE MARKET: How much was the European sponsorship market worth in 2025 and which two sports accounted for 67% of the overall value?
SPONSORSHIP SURVEY: The team reads the mood of the sponsorship industry and unpacks the findings from this year’s reader survey. Which sponsorship categories are expected to grow over the next 12 months and how is AI changing the way people work?
TOP PROPERTIES: Which teams and leagues came out on top in our ranking of the biggest sponsorship properties in Europe?

You can purchase your copy of the European Sponsorship Report 2026 here.

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: Ben Cronin
Contributors: Matthew Williams, Faaez Samadi, Matthew Glendinning
Editor: Gwen Gourvellec
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.