The Business of Sport

ISC International Sports Awards Agency of the Year nominee, Think Beyond, is a leading social impact and sustainability consultancy, working in and through sport and entertainment.      

With offices in London, New York and Lausanne, they have an impressive portfolio of clients keen to prepare for the future, including Liverpool Football Club, World Athletics, World Rugby, FIBA, Subway, The Premier League, ESPN, SailGP and more.

In this latest ISC Business of Sport podcast, Andrew James talks to Managing Partner Sam Shave and Senior Partner, Dr Susie Tomson.

Sam on the changing landscape of sustainability in sport:

“We talk about the shift from risk, to opportunity. This started off as CSR and sport felt it had to do something, because someone might look at us, so let’s make sure we tick a couple of boxes and give some money to this charity, so nobody is going to have an argument with us now.

Then it got to the point where sport realised it probably does have to do something. There’s regulation coming in, fan and sponsor expectations etc. But it was still fundamentally, risk mitigation.

What we try to embed with our clients, is that actually, you need to take a different mind set. Fundamentally, what does it look like if you become leaders in this space? You are no longer just reliant on the size of your perimeter advertising boards or the eyeballs on them, you now have a story to tell and that human interest is attractive to partnets. So it’s not about mitigating risk, it’s about maximising opportunity.”

Susie on the business case for sustainability in sport:

“There are three angles really.

One is just, fundamentally, getting your house in order. You can put a value on retaining and attracting clients, there’s a lot of research done around the expectations of the next generation and you can put a value on that too.

You can also start looking at what happens if you lose your licence to operate from an environmental or health and safety perspective, where there are values if you have a breach of compliance.

The third aspect is commercialisation, which is part of the conversation, but becoming an increasingly critical part.

Susie on the climate future:

“When you talk about the climate, that really is looking to the future and making sure that your sport or your business is future-proofed and resilient to the impacts. Now, as in Spain recently, we are seeing lost days of events and damage to infrastructure. All of that has a cost.

We are certainly now moving into that space where we are helping our clients just measuring their carbon and signing the Sports Climate Action Pledge and making sure they are not being damaging, to now realising that you now have to start thinking about what the risk and the impact is on you from a climate perspective.

Looking at each risk, how can you flip that on it’s head and turn it into an opportunity and make sure that from grassroots through to the professional level, you are ready for what is going to come down the track. We are starting to put numbers on ‘what is the cost of adaptation’ and ‘what is the cost of inaction’.”

Sam on the American focus of the next four years, with both the world’s biggest sporting events heading to the USA.

“We are looking quite carefully at the US. Whatever happens over there will be interesting to watch and we hope to be an integral part of that.

We already have an office in New York and interesting clients there. NASCAR is an absolutely fascinating piece to work on. A traditional sport with a really traditional fanbase. In terms of the US political situation  their fanbase will have a view on sustainability, but actually, they have got an incredible leadership team that are saying, ‘we want to look at how NASCAR develops and changes into the future”.

It is easy to get into some kind of rabbit hole, looking at what needs to be done with sustainability. But actually, you just want to think ‘what is the kind of sport you want to be delivering in 20 years time and how do you get to that point.

There’s going to be a huge amount of change and sustainability is going to be one of that pieces of change.”

Rob Wilson is Head of Executive Recruitment and Programmes at University Campus of Football Business, which now has sites at Wembley Stadium, Manchester with a global hub in Miami. UCFB is the first Higher Education institution in the world, dedicated to the delivery of University Degrees in the football and sports industries.  

Rob on the ISC Professional Network Booster:

 “I think it’s a really good partnership, because it provides a huge amount of value for us at UCFB and I really hope that it provides a similar amount of value for ISC, by having those UCFB students around, by enabling them to access some of the parallel sessions and the speakers, I think it will really enrich the dynamics at the events and I hope, that in two or three year’s time, we find those UCFB students that are working in middle executive leadership roles in sport, and they are on the stage at the ISC delivering a talk to the rest of the members and I think that would really demonstrate the golden thread of the partnership”.

Rob on networking:

 “Networking is a crucial part of achieving in any sector. Understanding the people that work in the industries you want to access, but also the environments, the behaviours, the cultures, the mannerisms, the way you need to engage, the time of day you need to engage sometimes. How many opportunities do you have to go into a boardroom at a football club to meet a Director of Football Performance or the Finance Director? You need to take those opportunities and I think what the link up with the International Sports Convention does, is to really accentuate what UCFB are trying to achieve, ie: connecting with the sector and ISC is absolutely embedded in that sector. The speakers that are on offer, the events that are driven, are all the types of people and events that our students need to be able to access, to have those informal conversations and to make their impressions on the employers that might have an influence over them in the future”.

Rob on the evolution of UCFB:

 “The sco-system is really important, so I would happily assume that ten or so years ago, when UCFB first started, people did begin to take notice of this new thing in the market place, but didn’t really know what it was or what it was offering. But the calls I now have with executives right across the sports sector, when they ask me where I’m from, they say “oh yes, we’ve got an intern from there”. Rick Parry, the CEO of the EFL did exactly that recently.

I think that demonstrates the way UCFB have begun to open up their brand awareness in terms of their students, but also, and this is where its critical, is the students that are going out into those organisations and are undertaking those roles are coming with a higher degree of professionalism and a really good reputation”.

Mya Doelling is the Senior Partnership Manager at the International Olympic Committee – IOC and leads on their Purpose Partnerships Strategy. She previously directed Sports Strategy for the United Entertainment Group and is a graduate of Harvard University and NYU Stern School of Business. Many of the programmes Mya has spent the last five years creating, were delivered at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, including the first ever Nursery in an Olympic Village with TOP Partner P&G.

Mya on Paris 2024:

 “It was a really important moment for us to remind the world of the power of the Olympic movement, what these amazing athletes can do and the types of purpose initiatives that athletes champion, that our partners champion and the way that sport as a platform can really make a difference. As somebody who has spent the last five years designing how our partners can really help the Olympic movement achieve greater impact and deliver on our mission, which is to build a better world through sport, this was finally a platform where we could show everyone what we could do. It was a lot of hard work come to life and it was really beautiful to see.”

 Mya on Purpose Partnerships:

 “Sport and purpose is not for every single business and I think the ones that have naturally and strategically become partners with the Olympic movement, largely came to us because of the Olympic values. It is really about, how do we find those synergies of those values and ways in which we can work together and because it really is not for every single business, that is why it has been unique. The programmes that we have been able to develop have found those synergies where one organisation puts a stake in the ground and has long term commitments in areas of sustainability, or gender equality, youth empowerment, that line-up with the IOC’s roadmap to deliver impact in those spaces.”

 Mya looks ahead to LA:

“In the same way that Paris was really my launching pad for what we are doing from a Purpose Partnerships perspective, and the first instance that we have been able to show the results of this strategy, Paris was the first games within the new structure of climate commitments that the IOC has made as an organisation and what we hope to do as the owner of the Olympic Games. So, as we look to LA and Brisbane after that, we have set very clear objectives for our Partners’ and for organising committees’ roles to address not only sustainability, but legacy, venue usage and optimisation. You will see partner initiatives continue to grow in line with these objectives.”

Zoe Burton is a Director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, with expertise in advising decision-makers on how best to use technology and digital to meet desired business outcomes.

She leads on Deloitte’s Sports Transformation Advisory Group, working with leading sports clubs and governing bodies to future-proof their businesses. Her expertise reaches across all aspects of sport, from strategy to planning, grassroots participation to fan engagement and data & digital transformation to culture.

 Zoe is one of the lead authors of Deloitte’s annual signpost document, the Future of Sport report, published recently.

Zoe on Deloitte’s report - “Future of Sport”:

“We went out to a group of global sports leaders beforehand, to understand their perspective of the future and one of the key things that came out was that they were a lot more optimistic about the future of sport and a lot of that stems from change, so we are seeing that sports leaders have already started to transform towards the future of sport and adapt their organisations to the trends and innovate within their organisations themselves, which I think is leading to them being positive about what change can do for their organisations, for example, the use of digital to drive commercial revenues and when you can start seeing that in action, you suddenly become more optimistic.”

Zoe on fan engagement: 

“I don’t think I fear for matchdays. If organisations really start focussing on their fan engagement strategy for Generation Z and Generation Alpha, then they will be able to get it right. There is a view at the moment that what Gen Z and Gen Alpha want is digital and content consumption. But as a collaborative view of the sport ecosystem, we need to keep on bringing those audiences into live sport and that has been a really great opportunity that Womens’ sport has done, so it is more accessible, both from a cost perspective, but also from an atmosphere perspective. It feels more family friendly and that’s where you are going to start pulling in those next generations into live sport and into matchday.“

Zoe on the demands of owners:

“The next generation is coming and it is real and that increased evolving market means that what is being demanded from new investors and new owners is a whole new level of professionalisation with things like management reports, all the way through to what they are expecting from a revenue perspective, because they haven’t all come from sport and we are seeing boards made up of people from different backgrounds to a sports organisation, which means you have just got that diversity of thought, which ultimately is going to drive growth.”

Owen Laverty is the Chief Innovation Officer of Ear to the Ground, a creative agency that builds culturally powerful brands by co-creating with the new breed of fan, in real time.

Ear to the Ground uses a digital platform called Fan Intelligence, which houses a global network of over 11,000 of the world's most culturally connected sports fans.

With a background in Behavioural Economics, Owen plays a key role in how the Strategy and Creative team act on the insights that "Fan Intelligence" uncovers.

Ear to the Ground is helping clients to step out of the boardroom and into what is culturally relevant to a global fanbase. Their current client portfolio includes the likes of New Balance, Playstation, STATsports, FIFA and Arsenal FC.

Ear to the Ground began as a music business, but now, more than 80% of their work is in sport.

Amar is the Head of Content and Comms at @MKTG_UK and the owner and presenter of the Sports Marketeer podcast.

He has over 20 years experience in print, digital media, broadcasting and documentaries.

Amar’s previous employers include West Ham United FC, the London Evening Standard and Budweiser, where he was the Senior Brand Manager in Europe, leading on their football strategy around the English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga.

Her Business of Sport podcast shines a spotlight on women working in the world of sport who are changing the rules of the industry by carving new pathways for women in the field. Each episode interviews a woman in the sports industry about their career journey, experiences working in the field, and advice they give to future generations.

Episode 22 features Emma Murphy, Chief Commercial Officer at Dizplai

In this episode, we’ll dive into:

🔸The evolving landscape for women in sport 

🔸 Turning adversity into opportunity

🔸 The power of making your voice heard 

Jason Webber joined the Football Association of Wales almost five years ago, to lead on EDI and Sustainability, a brand new role at the time.

Prior to that, Jason worked in various Football Development roles, including coaching at the Cardiff City Academy.

On leaving University, Jason worked for Show Racism the Red Card, which was his introduction to the Equality World.

Jason on the emergence of EDI in football:

“We’ve seen quite a shift in recent years and certainly since the murder of George Floyd. There has been quite a gulf of EDI related roles, particularly in football, but in sport more broadly.

Sport is starting to  be under the microscope a little bit more and being held accountable for progress, or lack of it, which maybe other industries have gone through.

So there’s certainly more focus in this area for Chief Executives, National Governing Bodies and in clubs across the game.”

Jason on opportunity:

“Through our BE: Football programme, we do a lot of work in schools, providing playing football opportunities.

Unfortunately, there are still many schools that don’t offer football for girls and it’s very much an exclusive offer to boys.

The Be: Football programme enables skills development and opportunities for girls to be mentors themselves in their own schools and be Ambassadors for younger girls.”

Jason on Governance:

“It is so important that EDI is an explicit and visible core element in any governance.

Many National Associations are often a little bit archaic with how they are structured and set up and that’s been the case for maybe a hundred years.

WE have had a big change ourselves in terms of our own governance models and structures, but also ensuring that EDI is a core part and embedded within those changes and processes and likewise for clubs as well.

We are currently working through to make sure that every club in Wales, from our professional clubs to grassroots, all have their own strategic plans, so that they are very clear on the direction they are going.

The changes we have made ourselves, have brought about better representation and we have made huge changes to our recruitment process.”

Her Business of Sport podcast shines a spotlight on women working in the world of sport who are changing the rules of the industry by carving new pathways for women in the field. Each episode interviews a woman in the sports industry about their career journey, experiences working in the field, and advice they give to future generations.

Episode 21 features Shinead Davis, Head of Premium Services at Brentford Football Club In this episode, we’ll dive into:

• Her recent achievements 
• Her career journey so far 
• Advice for women working in the football industry 
• The importance of making your voice heard 

Her Business of Sport podcast shines a spotlight on women working in the world of sport who are changing the rules of the industry by carving new pathways for women in the field. Each episode interviews a woman in the sports industry about their career journey, experiences working in the field, and advice they give to future generations.

Episode 20 features Charlie Sizer, Head of Partnerships at Twenty3. In this episode, we’ll dive into:

-  Charlie’s career journey so far - Her personal passion projects  - Valuable lessons she’s learned along the way  - Strategies to overcome challenges