Katie Sadleir’s role as World Rugby’s general manager for women’s rugby puts her at the forefront of developing the game.

I met with Ketie a few weeks before the coronavirus lockdown, because I was interested to hear what she had to say about culture change in sport.

We talk about leadership, getting buy in, driving results, building relationships, and changing decision making at a global level.

A few weeks into the lockdown I spoke with Charlie Boss. Charlie is Commercial Director for Disney's sports portfolio in Europe & Africa and runs the ESPN office in London.

We talk about how value is created, the importance of immersing yourself in content to understand how a fan thinks, what makes a brilliant commercial deal, how the relationship between brands and sport is changing … and he also gives some predictions for the world beyond lockdown.

Through this podcast I’ve been exploring sport and all the sectors that surround it - looking at what success means to people in each area.

For sport to perform as a product it’s not just about what happens on the pitch, it’s also about everything that surrounds it – and the fan experience is a big part of that.

In this episode I talk to two mega football fans. Sarah Messenger, a lifetime Manchester City fan, and Ben Wright, a member of Forza Garabaldi – a fan led campaign supporting Nottingham Forrest Football Club.

We talk about emotional connection, investing in their teams, and how they are managing during the coronavirus lock-down.

Over the past decade the advances in digital have transformed the sports industry and how we consume information. How will the industry evolve in the future? How can sports benefit more from digital? And what stops them from doing that?

Today, I’m talking to Lewis Wiltshire, a consulting partner at digital agency Seven League. He’s been in the sports industry 24 years, and works with some of biggest names in global sport.

We talk about how digital is the best lever an organisation has to achieve its objectives and the importance of getting to a point where digital is in the DNA of an organisation.

I’m in Waterloo station today sitting down for coffee with Annie Vernon. Now retired from competition, Annie is an Olympic silver medallist and two-time World Champion rower.

She’s also just written a book called “Mind Games”, which is all about the psychology of elite athletes.

We talk about everything from drive and competitive instinct to finding purpose and athlete transition. She also has some interesting comments on building specific types of confidence to ensure success.

Today I travel to the Elite Performance Centre in Sheffield to talk with the CEO of GB Wheelchair Basketball – Lisa Pearce.

I really like Lisa’s ambition. When we talk about success, she says with such passion that they have the potential to be “the sport that changed the perception of para sport in the UK”

We talk about everything from her time at the London FA leading a transformational change programme which resulted in the most diverse board in grassroots football to her current role and how she’s focusing on building a Wheelchair Basketball league structure and commercialising the sport.

Today I’ve travelled south to meet Maggie Murphy – the new Women’s General Manager at Lewes Football Club. Two years ago, Lewes FC became the first football club in the world to pay their women’s team the same wages as their men’s team. I wanted to find out more about what that means to how the club is developing.

Maggie is committed, energetic, and inspiring. We talk about creating talent, engaging a community and proving the concept that equality matters

I'm in Manchester today meeting with the Chief Executive of Rugby League World Cup 2021 - Jon Dutton.

The tournament has set itself some ambitious targets so I’m intrigued to find out how Jon will deliver on those.

He has real energy, focus and drive that I find very appealing. I particularly enjoyed discussing how live sport has the challenge of creating an "intimate but mass social experience".

We talk about their bold and brave ticketing targets, how sports consumption is changing and the need to future gaze when you are preparing for something years in advance.

Andy was an MP for Loughborough for over a decade. Now running his own business, he has a wealth of experience in government relations and sports policy.

Sport and politics isn’t a subject I’ve touched on in this podcast series yet… so I thought Andy could help me begin to navigate that area.

We talk about sport policy, key issues facing the sector and the role politics plays in sport.

Today I’m delving into the multi-sports arena and have traveled to Holborn in London to meet with the Chief Exec of Commonwealth Games England, Paul Blanchard.

The Commonwealth Games England is primarily responsible for delivering Team England to the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games. 

In this interview, we talk about how he was brought on board to strengthen the commercial operation, the importance of building the Team England Brand and the opportunity that a games on home soil (Birmingham 2022) provides