FP&A Today

Winning the Super Bowl of FP&A – with Cayla Pingel

Listen Later

Cayla Pingel has led FP&A in sports, gaming and entertainment at companies including Warner Bros, Fox Sports and most recently, 2K Games, a global video game company. At Fox Sports she financially quarterbacked the full P&L for the biggest sporting events including the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the NFL Baseball World Cup.

The senior Director, Finance at 2K describes her approach to business partnering as more like a “sports agent” (“like Jerry Maguire but more calm” says Pingel).


Pingel says “I tell my business partners to think of me as your agent. I’m going to go out and negotiate this for you from a financial perspective. Tell me what you need and let me help sell this so that we can make the case and do it.”

In this episode:

  • Being at Fox Sports when live sports came screeching to a halt during COVID
  • Show me the Money – managing the superbowl of FP&A at Fox Sports, Warner Bros and 2K and the power of ratings for finance
  • How blowouts affect financial performance
  • Uncovering the differences between Accounting vs FP&A at Fox Sports
  • Why I chose the FP&A direction rather than a COO role
  • Most important metrics in sports businesses
  • Heavy fixed costs and the challenges of live broadcasting
  • Huge tech, streaming and viewership changes in media/sports and entertainment – and how to forecast the future of the game for finance pros
  • Metrics in game playing: and finance discussions about whether to put new features in a game
  • Leading the Los Angeles chapter for women in sports and events
  • Flying out to Prague six weeks into a new job at Warner Bros to fix a mess and the strategic resolution 
  • March Madness ‘Budget Season’ Challenge at Fox Sports – and why the  loser has to do the waterfall charts

    • Follow and contact Cayla Pingel on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cayla-pingel-410a1a73/

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store
    FP&A TodayBy Glenn Hopper
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    45 ratings

    More shows like FP&A Today

    View all
    The McKinsey Podcast by McKinsey & Company

    The McKinsey Podcast

    390 Listeners

    PwC's accounting podcast by PwC

    PwC's accounting podcast

    180 Listeners

    HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

    HBR IdeaCast

    1,826 Listeners

    CFO THOUGHT LEADER by The Future of Finance is Listening

    CFO THOUGHT LEADER

    129 Listeners

    TED Business by TED

    TED Business

    1,110 Listeners

    M&A Science by Kison Patel

    M&A Science

    127 Listeners

    Wall Street Breakfast by Seeking Alpha

    Wall Street Breakfast

    1,030 Listeners

    Inside the Strategy Room by McKinsey & Company

    Inside the Strategy Room

    168 Listeners

    FT News Briefing by Financial Times

    FT News Briefing

    676 Listeners

    Making Sense by J.P. Morgan

    Making Sense

    59 Listeners

    Thoughts on the Market by Morgan Stanley

    Thoughts on the Market

    1,289 Listeners

    Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart

    Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

    804 Listeners

    WSJ's Take On the Week by The Wall Street Journal

    WSJ's Take On the Week

    145 Listeners

    FP&A Unlocked by Paul Barnhurst

    FP&A Unlocked

    24 Listeners

    Financial Modeler's Corner by Paul Barnhurst AKA The FP&A Guy

    Financial Modeler's Corner

    17 Listeners