Sports industry commentator and Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper spoke to SB Weekly about how moving from country to country when he was growing up gave him a different viewpoint on sport, and how he approaches his writing on sport. Drawing on themes from his best-selling book Soccernomics, he also discusses the myth of the manager, and the growing impact of statistics in sport.

Simon Kuper

SB (SportsBiz) Weekly is a must listen podcast for anyone working in the sports industry or with a keen interest in the business of sport and those who work in it. Each episode features an interview with a senior sports executive where Matt Cutler gets to know them, what makes them tick, and the reasons for their career successes to date, a little bit better.

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No Holds Barred is the podcast from SB Weekly where three leading sports executives reveal their industry bugbears, question accepted wisdom, and try to make sense of the major developments currently impacting the global business of sport.

Each guest comes armed with a view on an industry topic that’s been piquing their interest over recent weeks, and in a short and impassioned pitch will explain exactly why they feel strongly about it, who’s going wrong and where, and what the implications could be for various sectors of the business.

Nothing’s off limits, and the person who argues their case the best will be declared No Holds Barred winner and receive something far better than a trophy - industry kudos. 

In April 2017's No Holds Barred Matt Cutler is joined by Matt Rogan (Chairman of Two Circles and Executive Director at ESP Properties), Simon Banoub (Global Director of Marketing at Catapult Sports) and Richard Gillis (Founder of Unofficial Partner).

Topics discussed include:

- Why technology rarely solves rights-holder problems, and can actually cause more damage than good 
- How and why the media needs to be more responsible when building stories around data
- Why 'passion' has become the default focus for lazy sponsorship activations.

No Holds Barred - April 2017

Hussain Naqi, Senior Vice-President at NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly podcast.

Though based in Florida, the Jaguars have played one home regular season game in London every year since 2013 as part of the NFL International Series.

Based in London, Hussain heads up International Development for the team, overseeing the growth of the brand and sponsorship sales efforts in the UK.

On the podcast, Hussain discusses:

- What British Jaguars fans look like, and the growing fan demographics
- The Jaguars sponsorship sell to potential UK brand partners
- Grassroots activities to drive participation in American Football
- The benefits of working closely with the commercial team at Fulham FC
- Working closely with owner Shahid Khan, and what has made him such as successful businessman
- The content strategy to drive strong fan engagement.

Hussain Naqi

No Holds Barred is the podcast from SB Weekly where three leading sports executives reveal their industry bugbears, question accepted wisdom, and try to make sense of the major developments currently impacting the global business of sport.

Each guest comes armed with a view on an industry topic that’s been piquing their interest over recent weeks, and in a short and impassioned pitch will explain exactly why they feel strongly about it, who’s going wrong and where, and what the implications could be for various sectors of the business.

Nothing’s off limits, and the person who argues their case the best will be declared No Holds Barred winner and receive something far better than a trophy - industry kudos. 

In March 2017's No Holds Barred Matt Cutler is joined by Jim Dowling (Managing Director, Havas Sports & Entertainment Cake), Oli Slipper (Co-Founder of PERFORM) and Eoin Connolly (Editor of SportsPro).

Topics discussed include:

- The problem with the word "right", and why it is getting in the way of collaborative brand partnerships
- Where rights-holders should fit the major social media platforms into their media distribution strategy
- Why sport has some of entertainment's best storylines - but needs to start telling them better.

No Holds Barred - March 2017

Paul Samuels, Executive Vice-President at AEG Global Partnerships, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly.

Part of sports and entertainment giant AEG - which owns numerous venues and sports teams across the world - AEG Global Partnerships is responsible for creating, selling and servicing marketing and other strategic opportunities for AEG assets.

Paul manages the Global Partnerships division outside the United States and has negotiated deals with numerous blue-chip brands including O2, with whom he recently signed a 10-year naming rights extension for the AEG-run O2 Arena in London. 

On the podcast, Paul discusses:
- Why O2's naming rights partnership with AEG works, and how it very nearly didn't happen in the first place
- How rights-holders have to be hugely creative in their sponsorship proposals, just to get brand attention
- Rapid global growth for AEG and how the investment opportunities come about
- Why the ultimate success in sponsorship is renewing with a partner
- Exactly how the demands of both rights-holders and sponsor brands have changed during the last decade
- The huge opportunities presented by VR, and why AEG is perfectly positioned to capitalise on them.

Paul Samuels

Carsten Thode, Chief Strategy Officer at Synergy, is the feature interview on this week's SB Weekly.

Part of the Engine Group, Synergy positions itself as a brand-facing, creatively-driven and digitally-native sports agency that focuses on delivering business value for its array of clients, which include Standard Life Investments, Canterbury and Beko.

Carsten started out his career at management consultancy Marakon Associates - working with clients such as Diageo, Schweppes and Lloyds TSB. En route to Synergy he also had a short stint at Manchester United as Head of Strategic Relationships. 

On the podcast, Carsten discusses:

- What's exciting for sports marketing in 2017
- How Synergy is rapidly improving its offering through the Engine Group's capabilities
- Work being done to optimise the delivery of branded content
- Why there's a large disconnect between rights-holder and brand thinking
- How the Formula One 'walled garden' is going to come down - to the benefit of agencies and brands
- Why the age of the influencer is over - brands now want micro-influencers
- What annoys him about the sports marketing sector in America specifically.

Simon Kuper

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