GEMS of Asia

Nandan Kamath captained Karnataka at under-16 level with future India greats in the squad, then walked into law school and was told he could be a cricketer or a lawyer, but not both.

In this episode, I sit down with Nandan to trace one of the most unlikely second innings in Indian sport. We go from street cricket and Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar to Harvard Law, Silicon Valley and a one-man practice in Bangalore, long before anyone believed sports law was a real thing.

We talk about how the IPL gave Indian sport its first serious contracts, how Law NK and Copyright Integrity International helped protect the IPL brand from season one, and why the law responded to the money of sport before it responded to governance. Nandan calls it Maslow's hierarchy of needs, backwards.

He also tells the story behind the GoSports Foundation, the "Change the Script" campaign, and what it felt like to be told that Indians don't have talent and that sport was a waste of his skills.

We also get into why India has solved for its top hundred athletes but not for the pyramid beneath them, why "if you come fourth, it doesn't matter" might be the healthiest line in Indian sport, and what the road to the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the 2036 Olympics really needs. Hint: a wedding is the easy part.

If there's one thing Nandan proves, it's that runs always count for more in the second innings.

In This Episode

00:00 Precap

01:00 Meet Nandan Kamath

02:10 The Boy Who Slept With His Cricket Bat

03:45 Playing Alongside Dravid, Kumble & Srinath

04:50 Cricketer or Lawyer? The Choice

08:20 Oxford, Rhodes & What Cricket Looks Like Elsewhere 09:55 Harvard, Silicon Valley & Law as a Blunt Tool

12:20 Why He Left Silicon Valley for India

13:45 Building Law NK With a Team of One

17:15 How the IPL Created Indian Sports Law

18:50 Fighting Piracy & Protecting the IPL Brand

21:50 Why Sport Can Never Be "Solved"

23:25 The GoSports Foundation Story

25:00 Changing the Script on Indian Sport

27:50 Why India's Sports Pyramid Is Upside Down

30:40 Building a Real Sporting Culture

35:30 Road to 2030 & 2036: Wedding or Marriage?

37:45 Rapid Fire & Final Take

About Our Guest

Nandan Kamath is one of India's leading sports lawyers and institution builders. A former Karnataka junior captain who attended national camps with the top young cricketers in the country, he chose law over cricket at the National Law School in Bangalore. He went on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, then Harvard Law, and worked for three years at a US law firm in Silicon Valley before returning to India.

Back home, he set up his own practice, Law NK, and was one of the first to build a serious sports law practice in the country. He co-founded the GoSports Foundation, which supports Olympic athletes. He also co-founded Copyright Integrity International, the anti-piracy and brand protection company that helped set up the IPL's content and brand protection from season one. More recently, he has worked on sports policy and research, and helped frame the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.

Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandankamath 

About Our Host

Unmish Parthasarathi is a global sports industry leader, strategist and founder of Picture Board Partners, advising organisations across sport, media, technology and investment. His career spans leadership roles with IMG, BBC Technology, ESPN Star Sports, News Corp and the International Cricket Council, alongside work with some of the world's leading sports rights holders, platforms and investors. He is also Chairman of the GoSports Foundation and founder of the STF Asia Leadership Dialogue. Based in Singapore, Unmish brings decades of experience at the intersection of sport, business, technology and finance.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/unmish/

#NandanKamath #SportsLaw #IndianSports #IPL #GoSportsFoundation #LawNK #SportsGovernance #Olympics2036 #CommonwealthGames2030 #GemsOfAsia

He won Olympic gold at 22. He won the America's Cup five times, three as skipper and two as CEO. Then he decided he'd rather own the game than play it.

In this episode of Gems of Asia, I sit down with Sir Russell Coutts, the boy from Otago who left New Zealand for Switzerland, took the America's Cup to Europe for the first time, and then teamed up with Larry Ellison to build SailGP.

Russell and I first met two decades ago, when he had just stepped off a dinghy and we were sketching out a world sailing league, so this one was personal for me.

We get into the real business of sailing. Why the sport was too fragmented to grow. Why white triangles on a blue background never worked on TV. How hydrofoiling boats, augmented reality graphics and a centralised data system changed that. And why SailGP races are built around nine minutes, an idea borrowed from the NBA.

We also look at the economics. Teams that once sold for $5 to 10 million now sell for $70 million and up, with equity trading at $120 million or more. There's a $10 million salary cap, a league generating over $200 million in revenue, and owners ranging from Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman to Kylian Mbappé and Sebastian Vettel.

Finally, we talk about where SailGP goes next: 20 teams, 20-plus events, a top 25 sports property by 2030, and five focus markets in Asia and beyond, including India, China, Japan and South Korea.

If you care about sports business, media rights, fan engagement or how a new league gets built from nothing, this one is for you.

In This Episode

00:00 Meet Russell Coutts

01:00 The Boy From Otago

01:55 Growing Up on the Water

02:35 When Sailing Had No Pay Cheque

03:20 Leaving New Zealand for Switzerland

04:35 From Skipper to CEO

06:00 Why Larry Ellison and I Built SailGP

10:00 Speed, Short Races and the NBA Playbook

12:15 13 Teams, 20 Events, One Big Goal

17:20 56 Billion Data Requests a Day

20:05 Identical Boats, Open Data

22:55 From $5 Million to $120 Million

25:10 Reynolds, Jackman and Mbappé Join the Fleet

27:25 The $10M Cap and the Road to Profit

30:05 Reading the Wind, Spotting the Gap

30:55 How AR Graphics Changed Everything

33:20 Why SailGP Controls Its Own Broadcast

35:00 The 2030 Plan and Asia's Moment

36:30 Sail Forward

About Our Guest

Sir Russell Coutts is one of the most decorated sailors in history. He won Olympic gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics at age 22, then went on to win the America's Cup five times, three as skipper and twice as CEO.

In 2003, he led the Switzerland campaign that took the Cup to Europe for the first time, a move that was controversial back home in New Zealand. He has worked with Larry Ellison since 2007, and the two went on to found SailGP, the global, franchise-based league that now features 13 independently owned teams, hydrofoiling F50 catamarans, and a broadcast reaching 212 territories.

Under Russell's leadership, SailGP has set a goal of becoming a top 25 sports property by revenue by 2030, with Asia central to its expansion plans.

About Our Host

Unmish Parthasarathi is a global sports industry leader, strategist and founder of Picture Board Partners, advising organisations across sport, media, technology and investment. His career spans leadership roles with IMG, BBC Technology, ESPN Star Sports, News Corp and the International Cricket Council, alongside work with some of the world’s leading sports rights holders, platforms and investors. He is also Chairman of the GoSports Foundation and founder of the STF Asia Leadership Dialogue. Based in Singapore, Unmish brings decades of experience at the intersection of sport, business, technology and finance.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/unmish/ 

#RussellCoutts #SailGP #SportsBusiness #AmericasCup #SailingLeague #SportsMedia #SportsBroadcasting #SportsInvestment #LarryEllison #FutureOfSports #SportsTech #SportsLeadership #SportsOwnership #GemsOfAsia

A bronze medal, a CEO seat and now a venture fund… Mustafa Ghouse has had more than one sporting life.

In this episode, I sit down with the former Indian tennis player to unpack how he moved from competing on court to building JSW Sports and eventually launching Centre Court Capital.We talk about the moment he knew it was time to retire, what elite sport taught him about leadership, and why India’s sports industry can’t be reduced to “IPL or nothing.”Mustafa also shares what he looks for in sports startups, why founders need more than passion, and how investing has forced him to think very differently from his days as an operator.

It’s a conversation about sport, identity, business, venture capital and what happens when one career ends and the next one begins.

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 The tennis obsession that started everything

01:47 What chasing a pro career really demands

03:55 The side of tour life nobody sees

06:35 Medals matter. But what comes after matters more

08:07 How do you know when it’s time?

11:02 Building a sports business before India was ready

16:00 The expansion that changed the ambition

18:32 Why sports investing suddenly made sense

21:04 Operator vs investor: the mindset shift

24:21 What raising ₹100 crore actually taught him

27:56 The lessons you only learn after deploying capital

30:31 Can sport finally become serious business in India?34:29 Why India’s sports opportunity may just be starting

38:00 What comes next for Mustafa Ghouse

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Mustafa Ghouse is the Founding General Partner of Centre Court Capital, a venture fund focused on sports, fitness, wellness and gaming. Before moving into investing, he was the founding CEO of JSW Sports, where he helped build major sports properties and the Inspire Institute of Sport, while overseeing investments across leagues including the IPL, ISL and Pro Kabaddi. A former professional tennis player, Mustafa represented India in the Davis Cup and won bronze in men’s doubles at the 2002 Asian Games. His career gives him a rare perspective spanning elite sport, sports business and venture investing.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mustafa-ghouse-2743444b 

ABOUT OUR HOST

Unmish Parthasarathi is a global sports industry leader, strategist and founder of Picture Board Partners, advising organisations across sport, media, technology and investment. His career spans leadership roles with IMG, BBC Technology, ESPN Star Sports, News Corp and the International Cricket Council, alongside work with some of the world’s leading sports rights holders, platforms and investors. He is also Chairman of the GoSports Foundation and founder of the STF Asia Leadership Dialogue. Based in Singapore, Unmish brings decades of experience at the intersection of sport, business, technology and finance.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/unmish/

#MustafaGhouse #CentreCourtCapital #SportsBusiness #SportsInvesting #SportsTech #IndianSports #VentureCapital #SportsStartups #JSWSports #TennisIndia #AthleteToEntrepreneur #SportsIndustry #StartupInvesting #IndiaStartups #GemsOfAsia

Peter Hutton moved to India for a three-month cricket gig, got ripped off, made some of the worst TV of his career… and somehow ended up helping reshape sports broadcasting in Asia.

In this episode, I sit down with Peter to trace the wonderfully unplanned journey from IMG and Indian cricket to launching Ten Sports, betting big on WWE and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and eventually joining Meta.

We talk about the risks behind building a sports media business from scratch, the decisions that looked questionable at the time but changed his career, and why luck has played a bigger role than most leaders like to admit.

Peter also shares what years inside global sports media taught him about fan engagement, social media, sports content, broadcasting, and why follower counts often mean very little.From India’s changing sports industry to Wembley Stadium and the future of sports consumption, this is a conversation about what actually makes fans care… and what keeps a sports business relevant.

And, as Peter’s career proves, sometimes the best strategy begins with having absolutely no strategy at all.

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Meet Peter Hutton

01:08 The India Move That Changed Everything

03:39 What Failure Taught Him Fast

05:16 Why He Stayed in India

06:44 The Bet That Changed Indian Football

09:07 Management Lessons He Learned Late

10:20 Building India’s Sports Business

11:52 Taking Indian Talent Global

13:23 The Crazy Ten Sports Gamble

16:24 How WWE & FIFA Saved Ten Sports

19:02 Where India Sports Goes Next

21:28 From Broadcasting to Meta

24:09 Why Followers Don’t Matter

29:17 How Sports Keep Fans Engaged

31:43 India 2030: Legacy or Hype?

33:19 Peter’s Final Take

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Peter Hutton’s career pivoted on his move to India in 1994. Previously a TV presenter and commentator in the UK, he launched IMG and TWI in Delhi with such an impact that he went onto run the biggest sports channels in the Indian sub-continent (Ten Sports), Asia (ESPN-Star Sports) and Europe (Eurosport). He then pivoted again to run sport worldwide for Meta and became a director for multiple sport and sport tech businesses.

Peter Hutton’s career pivoted on his move from London to India in 1994. Previously a TV host and commentator in the UK, he began IMG Media (or TWI as it was then called) in Delhi and was promoted soon after to be Head of Asia and relocated to Hong Kong.

In 2002, Peter moved to Dubai as a founding team member to launch Ten Sports - the challenger broadcaster brand that took on Disney, News Corp and Sony before being bought by ZEE.

Post exit, he joined Fox Sports and led its regional business based in Singapore, before moving to Paris to be the CEO of Eurosport. 

In 2018, Peter pivoted again to join Meta as Head of Sport in their California HQ. Asia featured once again with prominent partnerships with the LaLiga in India and the International Cricket Council (ICC)

A lifelong Derby County fan, Peter takes us back to the PayTV boom of India three decades ago and the current day models of fan engagement with the Gen Z’s.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-hutton-64755b3/  

ABOUT OUR HOST

Unmish Parthasarathi is a global sports industry leader, strategist and founder of Picture Board Partners, advising organisations across sport, media, technology and investment. His career spans leadership roles with IMG, BBC Technology, ESPN Star Sports, News Corp and the International Cricket Council, alongside work with some of the world’s leading sports rights holders, platforms and investors. He is also Chairman of the GoSports Foundation and founder of the STF Asia Leadership Dialogue. Based in Singapore, Unmish brings decades of experience at the intersection of sport, business, technology and finance.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/unmish/ 

#PeterHutton #SportsBusiness #SportsMedia #SportsBroadcasting #IndianSports #SportsIndustry #TenSports #FIFAWorldCup #WWEIndia #GemsOfAsia