Peter Hutton joined Eurosport as CEO in 2015, shortly after the pan-European broadcaster's acquisition by Discovery.

Since that point, Hutton has overseen the continued evolution of the Eurosport brand, its transition from old world European broadcast outpost to modern, global multimedia player, its ramp-up of rights acquisitions, including a landmark deal with the International Olympic Committee, and its continued forays into cutting edge distribution methods.

A commentator and journalist in his youth, Hutton has held a variety of production and executive roles at key sports media organisations across the world, including the BBC, Sky, IMG, Ten Sports, ESPN Star Sports, Fox Sports and MP & Silva.

Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and SportsBusiness Journal Executive Editor Abe Madkour look back on the key bits of business that shaped the sporting world in 2016.

As these things so often go, they also look ahead to 2017, and what's in store for the sports industry next year.

Are the lower broadcast ratings being registered by the NFL anything to worry about?

Not according to SportsBusiness Journal Executive Editor Abe Madkour, who makes his Leaders Podcast bow direct from Charlotte, USA.

Madkour joins Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett to talk uninspiring match-ups, football fatigue, and cord-cutting, before flagging the encouraging MLB World Series ratings as an indicator that the sky is not falling in on the traditional sports broadcast model.

The pair also look forward to an exciting future for Formula One under the sports industry's finest moustache in new Chairman Chase Carey, celebrate the sweetspot that the NBA finds itself in, and re-confirm their Olympic wager in the race to host the 2024 Games.

In the second half of the podcast, KPMG's Global Head of Sport introduces his firm's new soccer clubs valuation report. The research document gives credible enterprise values to the European elite in soccer for the first time.

Sartori explains that, while Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate proceedings with respective enterprise values all hovering around the 3 billion euro mark, the overall size of the European soccer industry is actually relatively small.

He also explains the reason behind the gulf opening up between the English clubs and their Italian counterparts.

Canadian Keith Pelley was hired as CEO of the European Tour in April 2015. Replacing George O'Grady in the role, Pelley joined from Rogers Media, where he was President and acquainted with the art of the multi-billion dollar rights deal.

His media background gives him a perspective on the changing nature of the way people are consuming European Tour golf.

An advocate of change, of modernisation, Pelley intends to shake up the tour with a host of new innovations.

Those innovations were very much on the table in our discussion at Wentworth in the late English summer sunshine.

Listen to the podcast to find out:

- Keith Pelley's plans for multiple new formats across the European Tour

- His thoughts on Olympic golf, the absent 'Zika boys', and the future of the movement

- His recommendations for where and how to watch hockey in the UK, and the hottest sports industry hang-outs in Virginia Water

Elkhan Mammadov is approaching his tenth year as General Secretary of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA). Taking on the role when he was just 28, Mammadov's tenure has coincided with a concerted national push not just into football, but into the the sports industry in general.

With the European Games, the Formula One European Grand Prix in Baku, four games of Uefa's Euro 2020 tournament (not to mention the Eurovision Song Contest), Azerbaijan is using sport to cement its global perception as a European nation, and to position itself as an elite, regional sporting hub.

In the podcast, we discuss:

- Mammadov's role in Baku's unsuccessful bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games and when the city might bid again.

- The structure he has put in place at the AFFA and the focus on youth and women's soccer that has seen the number of registered female players in the country rise from just 25 in 2010, to over 6,000 today. Azerbaijan's successful hosting of the 2012 Fifa Women's Under-17 World Cup was the first time a Muslim nation has hosted a Fifa women's tournament, and the step change inside the country is now evident.

- Euro 2020; the bidding process that saw Baku given its chance to host; the unique atmosphere that can be expected; and the prospect of unruly visiting fans.

- New Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin; the role the AFFA played in his election victory; and what we can expect from him in the future.

IMG Media Head of North America runs a conversational gamut with Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett.

"This was way too much fun," said Hillary Mandel, politely, as the recording of this podcast drew to a close. And she was right. Mandel is one of the most engaging agency figures in the game.

As Head of North America for IMG Media, Mandel is tasked with the marketing and distribution tens of thousands of hours of sports content every year. Our conversation took place in IMG's Hell's Kitchen office, soon to be vacated for new, combined digs in Flatiron, at the end of May this year, on the eve of the Copa America Centenario, for which IMG had distributed media rights internationally.

Her landmark deals include Wimbledon's move to ESPN in the US, and the Open Championship's tie-up with NBC.

The wide-ranging discussion covers the impact of these deals, plus:

- IMG as a content business

- The new WME ownership era

- Scandal and how to guard against malpractice

- The NHL's opportunity to catch up with its international ambitions

- Gender equality in the sports industry and the responsibility to create balanced working cultures

- The nuts and bolts of deal-making, and how to keep people onside

- New York, New York- where to go, what to eat, and who to see

Leaders Week takes place this year from 4th to 7th October at Stamford Bridge in London. The Leaders Sport Business Summit will run from 5th to 6th October, and Leaders Meet: the Game Changers takes place on 7th October. www.leadersinsport.com

From the Leaders Sport Business Summit in New York this March, former Coca-Cola marketer Scott McCune helms a discussion on the merits, measurements and impacts that come with an official Olympic association.

On the panel:

On the agenda:

Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett sits down with Richard Lewis, Chief Executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the Wimbledon Championships, to discuss the club's first ever integrated global marketing campaign: In pursuit of greatness.

The former player and RFL chairman also discusses:

- How he translated a career in sport to a career in sport business

- The AELTC's relationship with the LTA

- Why Rod Laver owes him his money back

- The famous Wimbledon queue and why it's one of the best marketing tools in world sport