Sports Management Podcast

Welcome to episode 220 of Sports Management Podcast.

Today's guest helped build the Olympic business model as we know it. Michael Payne is the former marketing director of the IOC, creator of the TOP sponsorship program, and widely regarded as the architect of modern sports marketing.

In this episode, we explore 50 years of global sport power, politics, money, and what the next 50 years could look like.

Time stamps:

00:00 Intro 00:34 Why he wrote the book & invented sports marketing 03:16 FIFA had four employees 07:43 Cold War & saving the Olympics 10:17 Bernie Ecclestone vs Samaranch 13:16 Politics weaponizing sport 15:22 Sportswashing debate (China & Saudi) 23:33 Trump, the World Cup & LA28 29:38 His wild predictions for sport 31:46 Avatar stadiums 34:12 Tech vs the soul of sport 38:26 Sustainability & white elephants 48:35 Advice for young professionals 50:18 Business lesson: problems vs solutions 53:54 How great negotiators really work 59:00 Outro

Welcome to episode 219 of Sports Management Podcast.

Today's guest is Joe Foster - the founder of Reebok. At 90 years old, he's sharing the real origin story for the first time. From hand-made spiked shoes to billion-dollar global dominance, this is one of the greatest sports business journeys ever told.

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Welcome to episode 218 of Sports Management Podcast.

Today's guest is Luis Fernando Ramirez – the CEO of National Padel League (NPL)

We spoke about:

• Juggling being CEO of NFL with commercial responsibilities for Bull Padel
• Padel's potential in the US
• Challenges and opportunities for Padel
• The importance of digital broadcast and streaming

And much more!

Time stamps:

00:00 Intro 00:42 Why Luis rebuilt the NPL from scratch 02:10 The first version of the league — what was broken 04:03 How the NPL expanded to 42 cities 06:58 The business model behind the league 08:20 How Racket360 powers streaming + scoring 11:12 Creating the NPL pyramid: juniors → amateurs → pros 14:33 The partnership with USPA 16:48 Why amateurs are the key to U.S. padel's growth 18:26 Why padel is exploding in the U.S. (data + trends) 21:17 The long-term vision — becoming the MLS of padel 24:09 The future of pro padel in America 26:40 How to build sustainable leagues 29:55 Luis' advice for young sports professionals 35:00 Outro

Welcome to episode 217 of Sports Management Podcast.

Today's guest is Joe Michaels – the former Director of NBC's Today Show and a veteran television production leader.

In this episode we get to look behind the scenes of sports media productions together with an 8x Emmy winner. We spoke about:

• Why sports media is a young man's business
• Giving back through teaching and mentorship
• The future of the media industry
• If AI will take jobs from the media industry
• But also how it was like broadcasting the 9/11 tragedy in New York

This and much more, in this episode with Joe Michaels.

Time stamps:

00:01 Intro 00:44 How Joe started at NBC 03:38 What a sports director actually does behind the scenes 05:16 Turning nerves into energy during live broadcasts 08:23 Inside a live sports truck 11:07 Lessons from the man who invented baseball on TV 16:10 From gaff-taped cameras to 200-camera Super Bowls 20:22 Directing "Brain Surgery Live" for National Geographic 26:34 Why sports broadcasters must understand history 38:46 The future of sports media and technology 41:29 Can AI replace directors? 46:30 What Emmy Awards really mean 52:30 Career advice 53:00 Outro

Welcome to episode 216 of Sports Management Podcast.

Today's guest is Danny Davis, founder & CEO of Recon Sports - a platform helping college football teams use data and AI to build smarter rosters and develop elite athletes.

We spoke about:

• The use of athlete data in sports
• The risks of operating in college sports
• How military experience shaped his entrepreneurial mindset
• The mindset shift from Army officer to entrepreneur
• How he invested 10,000 hours to master his craft

And much more!

Time stamps:

00:01 Intro 00:26 What Recon Sports does - syncing athlete data 01:22 Internal vs external data and identifying future stars 02:40 The hundreds of metrics collected across programs 04:15 The original idea: from high school analytics to college innovation 05:43 First client discovery and go-to-market process 07:02 Biggest challenge - scaling himself and training others 09:03 AI, digital twins, and the next frontier of sports analytics 11:19 Why consolidating data is the foundation of AI success 12:01 The risks of operating in college sports 14:38 Expanding into aerospace and other verticals 18:27 How military experience shaped his entrepreneurial mindset 22:02 The mindset shift from Army officer to entrepreneur 26:57 How he invested 10,000 hours to master his craft 31:14 The value of mentorship and how to find great mentors 37:17 Overcoming rejection and separating vision from strategy 40:16 Advice for breaking into the sports industry 43:40 Outro