The NBA’s private event in London on Monday saw investors and other interested parties gather to learn more about the league’s plans for its European league; how is the project starting to come together and what happens now?

James Emmett and David Cushnan unpack the latest on a potentially game-changing project, and reflect on James’ in-depth conversation with British & Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley, touching on the upside and downside of scarcity, clarity of business models and innovation in rugby union.

There’s also a look at the trend for NFL stadiums to have roofs, changing the look and feel of the league, and what that might mean for stadium refurbishments and new builds in the Premier League.

British & Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley reflects on a record-breaking tour of Australia in 2025, and looks ahead to the inaugural women's Lions tour of New Zealand in 2027.

The Lions - one of the most idiosyncratic entities in world sport - is the organization set up to manage the occasional rugby union side of the same name. Players are drawn from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland to compete for a touring team historically every four years.

The rugby unions of those same nations co-own the Lions.

This episode may well have been subtitled 'how to turn a profit on tour', because since taking on the top job at the Lions in 2018 - first as MD, and then as CEO in 2022 - Calveley has ripped up the model that underpins the Lions and started again with a robust new framework that incentivizes the many stakeholders involved in making - or allowing - a tour to happen: from the competing unions, the host nation, the players and their agents, to the leagues and clubs that they're contracted to.

The new model ensures a balanced share in the success of any tour, and revenues have ballooned.

Calveley goes into depth on how the model works; puts his neck on the line by declaring the first women's Lions tour will be profitable; and talks leadership and life in this comprehensive episode.

Fanatics chief Michael Rubin thinks a new credit card could generate his company’s next billion dollar revenue stream, but could content and his new Fanatics Studios venture also be a contender?

James Emmett and David Cushnan delve into the new projects, and reflect on David’s conversation with Chris Bryant, MD of Euro 2028.

They also examine the raft of innovative, fan-friendly ideas the organisers of the Australian Open are serving up, and the way the Grand Slams are taking up more space in the tennis calendar.

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Euro 2028 Managing Director Chris Bryant joins the show to share how preparations for the tournament are going.

He'll share how he and his growing team are working with multiple Football Associations, governments and Uefa to bring the tournament, which will be played in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, to life - and how his experience of running the Wembley part of Euro 2020 and the whole of Women's Euro 2022 are helping.

As the World Cup approaches this summer, he also reflects on how major event organisers need to be attuned to the politics of the day, and ready to adapt accordingly. And he'll share what needs to happen in 2026 to make Euro 2028 great.

Gerrit Meier, the NFL's Managing Director and Head of International, is on the line from New York, to reflect on another season of games played around the world and the league's wider international ambitions.

He reviews games played this season in London, Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and Sao Paulo, and explains how the NFL approaches operating in new markets, from commercial activity to fanbase development, diplomacy to participation.

Meier also expands on the league's vision to ultimately play up to 16 games per season outside the US, and shares how the NFL is identifying cities and countries as potential future hosts.

Esteve Calzada, CEO of Saudi Pro League giant Al Hilal, assesses the evolution of football in the Kingdom, as he welcomes Leaders’ Content Director David Cushnan to the club’s corporate office in Riyadh. Al-Hilal SC is Saudi Arabia’s most successful football team, and has clubs in over 20 sports.

In a wide-ranging conversation, the former City Football Club executive offers his advice to sports industry leaders thinking of making a move to Saudi Arabia; what life is like working and living in fast-developing Riyadh; and the challenge of managing a team of 300 made up of a mix of international and local executive talent.

He also explains how football fandom plays out in Saudi Arabia; why he can’t go out to dinner with his counterpart at rival club Al-Nassr; the professionalisation process underway in the Saudi Pro League that saw the Public Investment Fund take majority ownership of Al-Hilal; and the private sector opportunities for sponsorship and commercial growth in the Kingdom.

IMG's VP and Co-Head of Multisport Content Sally Brown is in the Leaders studio, alongside David Cushnan, for the final part of the series that examines how to do business around the global sports industry.

With a focus on EMEA - a region of established sports markets and fast-growing emerging territories - Brown explains how IMG’s suite of production offerings are helping grow sports across the region, including Euroleague Basketball and the Esports World Cup.

Chris Guinness, EVP and Global Head of Commercial, and Roland Nikolaou, VP of Football in MENA bring two more IMG perspectives, to discuss media consolidation and its impact on rights and production across European markets; football fan culture in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East; and advice for sports organisations looking to be more active in the MENA region.

Episode 2: APAC

IMG's SVP of Strategy and Growth Josh Humbler joins James Emmett in the Leaders studio in the second of a three-part series looking at how to do business around the global sports industry.

After digging into the unique sports media market that is Australia, Brisbane native Humbler is joined by two Shanghai-based colleagues Ellein Cao, VP, Commercial, Greater China and Rufio Zhu, VP, Digital at what was until very recently the Mailman agency.

On the agenda: how to make an impact in China and unearth the real economic opportunity ; making sense of the platforms, the numbers, and the content culture in China; tennis, soccer and the sports that are breaking through.

Paulius Motiejunas, CEO of European basketball's premier club competition, Euroleague, is the guest on this week's podcast.

As the prospect of a new NBA-backed European start-up league edges closer - with suggestions recently that a competition might be ready to launch in 2027 - Motiejunas joins the podcast (interview starts at 19.58) to give his perspective on developments; from the dynamics of the multi-stakeholder discussions, to the ramifications for the sport in Europe should plans progress as the NBA indicate they will.

He also reflects on two and half years of change during his tenure at the top of Euroleague, with a commercial restructuring that has seen a new sponsorship model brought to bear; IMG's comprehensive strategic partnership renewed for a further ten years; and significant headway made in expansion to the Middle East with a new team in Dubai and a successful partnership with Abu Dhabi as the new host of the league's climactic Final Four event.

Elsewhere in the show, Henry Breckenridge reports from inside Formula 1's technical broadcast operation at Biggin Hill Airport.

Tottenham Hotspur and England footballer James Maddison joins the Leaders Worth Knowing podcast to unpack his approach to social media.

Fresh off the stage at the Summit at Leaders Week this year, Maddison was joined by fellow panelists Shaneil Patel, Head of Social Media at Spurs, and Rollo Goldstaub, TikTok's Global Head of Sports Partnerships.

The trio piece together the winning formula that has made Spurs the most successful Premier League team on TikTok - with 43 million followers - and Maddison himself one of the most resonant active athlete voices on the platform today.