This week, London is the stage for the third edition of World Sevens Football, the pioneering 7-a-side women's football competition, and Co-Founders Jennifer Mackesy and Julie Uhrman broke into preparations to join David Cushnan in the studio to discuss the concept and its creation. Eight WSL clubs will compete at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium for a prize pot of $1.5 million.

Mackesy, who has led the investment in World Sevens, which launched with two events last year, is also a minority owner of Chelsea Women and NWSL club Gotham FC. Uhrman, Co-Founder and President of Angel City FC over the past few years, and now a special advisor at the NWSL club, is this week making her public debut as Co-Founder.

On the show, they assess the current health of women's football and deliver a message to sceptics who doubt its business sustainability. They also explain the entertainment-infused mission behind World Sevens; its unique format; how clubs have been convinced to participate; the player buy-in that is critical to its success; and the way the tournaments can work as part of the existing and increasingly crowded club football calendar.  

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Nominate the rising star in your organisation for this year's Leaders Under 40 class - entries close on Monday 8th June. Visit www.leadersinsport.com/lsa for more information.

India’s appetite and readiness to host major global events was one of the main topics at this week’s Indian Sports Summit in Bangalore, and James Emmett is on the ground with the mood and the colour from on and off stage.

With the IPL in full swing, there’s the latest on the league’s media rights planning and what its strategy might be in a changing domestic market, and James has the inside line on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s new ownership.

Alongside David Cushnan, dialling in this week from New York for SBJ’s Sports Business Awards and Leaders’ Attention Seekers series, there’s also time to discuss the news that Sally Bolton is standing down as CEO at Wimbledon and the expertise her successor might need as the All England Lawn Tennis Club expands in line with the other tennis Grand Slams.

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Put your best work and best people in the mix for this year’s Leaders Sports Awards, taking place in London on Tuesday 6th October. To nominate, visit https://leadersinsport.com/sport-business/leaders-events/leaders-sport-awards/

Ross Hutchins is six months into the role as CEO of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

A former player, Hutchins retired in 2014 and went on to play numerous player-focused roles at the ATP. He replaced Kelly Fairweather in the role as the top executive at the global governing body of tennis in October last year.

He joins the show this week on the back of news that Visa has renewed as a partner of the Davis Cup, the men's team tennis competition organised by the ITF and ahead of a major rebrand that will see the ITF become 'World Tennis' in June/

On the agenda: what's the point of the ITF? As well as player Grand Slam boycotts, Saudi funding, player development and more.

The quest to influence and monetise audiences is the core mission for much of the sports industry, and this week James Emmett and David Cushnan reflect on James’ podcast conversation with Liz Wynn, Chief Supporter Officer, at the Guardian - and in particular how the organisation has used newsletters to build direct, meaningful relationships with readers. It sparks a discussion about whether teams and athletes might be missing a trick.

Elsewhere, James reports back from this week’s launch of Ultimate Sevens in London, and has the inside line on the latest disruptor on the rugby union scene and yet another example of a franchise-based sports start-up. What’s really driving these new launches across sport? And there’s just time to chat through Fifa’s big decision to swap Panini - and its sticker albums - for Fanatics.

This episode is a masterclass in driving digital revenue through structured and sophisticated commercialization methods, purpose-led campaigns, and behavioural-psychology informed techniques.

Liz Wynn is the Chief Supporter Officer at the Guardian Media Group. Having had a varied career in telecoms and broadcast media - working at the likes of Orange, EE, and Sky, she joined the Guardian in 2023 to take full responsibility for digital reader revenue - ie anything that comes from subscriptions or donation.

Since that point, the Guardian's efforts to drive revenue through its digital consumers have achieved huge success. As of the last financial year, 44% of the media group's total revenue came from digital readers. Of that figure of £125 million, 60% has been driven from outside its home territory of the UK.

Liz was a speaker at the private Leaders Meet Innovation event in March, where her presentation on 'the power of direct connection in audience monetisation' won rave reviews with assembled c-suite audience from across sport.

There are many transferable lessons for the sports industry.

On the eve of the Giro d’Italia, the first grand tour of the cycling year, James Emmett and David Cushnan unpack professional cycling’s business model and examine the tensions at the heart of it.

Reflecting on James’ conversation with INEOS-Grenadiers CCO Tom Hill, they discuss the dominant role of Tour de France-organiser ASO in the sport, and the efforts the UCI WorldTour teams are making to try and grow their own revenues in a sport where sponsorship is particularly critical. They also consider the challenges of building brand equity in teams when team names change so regularly, as sponsors come and go.

Elsewhere, there’s reaction as UC3, the joint venture between Uefa and European Football Clubs set up to commercialise Europe’s club competitions, confirms a raft of fresh media rights agreements for the next cycle. Plus, why the Met Gala is now firmly part of the annual sports calendar.

As of the start of the 2026 Giro d’Italia this weekend, the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team will be known as Netcompany-INEOS.

Last week, the team - one of the most successful in elite road cycling - announced a new sponsorship deal with Danish tech and AI firm Netcompany.

INEOS, team owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s giant chemicals company, had yielded the main naming position for a deal reported as worth €100m over five years.

At the centre of deal - one of the biggest in the pro peloton - is Tom Hill. He joined the team as CCO in 2024 having previously held commercial leadership positions at World Rugby and Manchester United amongst others.

Hill joins us on the podcast this week to detail the work that went into signing Netcompany; to articulate the valuable USPs - and unique challenges - that cycling has as a sponsorship proposition; and to evaluate the cycling ecosystem as a whole and ask ‘is there a better way?’

After a record-shattering London Marathon, James Emmett and David Cushnan take a look at the ways in which marathons are being packaged and commercialised - and why, after 1.1 million applications this year in London, there's such a thirst for participating.

They examine plans for next year's London Marathon to become a two-day, two-marathon affair; London Marathon Events' recent acquisition of the Frankfurt Marathon; and World Athletics' recent decision to create a standalone marathon world championships.

Elsewhere, as Turkey rejoins the F1 grid, after signing a five-year agreement for a Grand Prix, there's a look at the changing shape of the F1 calendar, and the creative ways the sport is handling demand to host races whilst keeping to a 24-race per season calendar.

Table tennis hits London and the podcast this week, as the city hosts the World Team Table Tennis Championships and Table Tennis England CEO Sally Lockyer joins the show. 

The Championships which include 64 men's and 64 women's teams are competing at two London venues, the Copper Box and Wembley's OVO Arena over the next fortnight. Lockyer has been front and centre of the preparations, heading up the joint venture that is responsible for organising and staging the tournament.

She discusses what's been keeping her up at night as the championships - the centenary edition - get underway and assesses what the legacy might be, as Table Tennis England looks to a digital transformation that aims to further engage its membership and more casual ping pong participants.

Lockyer also assesses the wider challenges smaller national governing bodies are faced with, and assesses China's role as a table tennis superpower. She also takes us behind the scenes on the trade mission to China and Japan, led by Keir Starmer and the UK government, she joined earlier this year, to showcase table tennis and its status as a soft power tool.

After a week dominated by speculation about LIV Golf’s future, amid a swirl of rumour about PIF’s continued financial support, James Emmett and David Cushnan attempt to unpick what’s happening and why.

Leaning on the conversation with R&A CEO Mark Darbon this week, they consider what the impact and legacy of LIV Golf is, as the PGA Tour, now stewarded by Brian Rolapp, proposes changes to its structure.

Outside golf, news of layoffs at Snap and Meta prompts a reflection on the relationship between sport and big tech. And there’s a call - and some suggestions - for more female leadership in the Premier League, as trailblazer Karren Brady steps down from her position as Vice Chair of West Ham United.

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The first speakers have been announced for Leaders Week London, taking place on Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th October at Stamford Bridge - for more information and to secure your place, visit leadersinsport.com/leadersweek.