Business of Sport

Today we welcome a true sporting legend. Bryan Habana is a 100+ cap Springbok, a World Champion and joint highest tryscorer in Rugby World Cup history, a man who races cheetahs. As I’m sure you’ve noted this is our longest show yet. That is because it’s also one of the best. Rugby sits at the heart of it, but the personal stories bring a side to an elite athlete we rarely see. There are moments in this where we were shocked at what happened to Bryan and inspired by how he navigated the demands of his performance while experiencing immense personal turmoil. We sat down and kept the cameras rolling. 

Please excuse Harry’s dishevelled look if you’re watching; he just about made it in time out of the pouring rain, having not originally been able to make it, so we give him a pass this time. And for a bit of fun, we have a discussion debating how many global sports icons rugby has had; people that could do what Bryan did and stand alongside Thierry Henry, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a Gillette advert. We’re not talking legendary rugby players, we’re talking global superstars. Comment who you think sits in that category below and we can move the debate of the best answers to our socials. 

On today’s show we discuss: 

The Making of a World Champion:

• The discipline and sacrifice required to compete at the top for 15 years.

• Why Bryan believes greatness is built, not born, and the mindset that allowed him to sustain elite standards.

• His philosophy on resilience, humility and redefining success beyond tries, trophies and fame.

Money, Trust & the Hidden Vulnerability of Athletes:

• The psychological crash that hits athletes after retirement and why so many feel lost without structure, identity or purpose.

• The shocking story of how Bryan’s trusted advisor mismanaged and spent years of his commercial earnings.

• The lessons he believes every young professional must learn about protecting their finances and their future.

The Springboks Blueprint for Success:

• Why South Africa has become the most consistently dominant rugby nation in the modern era.

• The culture, leadership structure, and alignment that underpin the team’s identity.

• Rassie Erasmus’s role in transforming the Springboks and why empowerment and clarity are central to their success.

The Future of Rugby:

• Why rugby cannot survive without global calendar alignment, better storytelling and more connection to young fans.

• How commercial realities, travel demands and private equity influence the sport’s next decade.

• Why Habana believes rugby must modernise fast or risk losing cultural relevance.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 
Stryde

Sir Andrew Strauss is the last England Captain to win the Ashes in Australia. So what better time to get him in the hotseat. Aside from the timing being perfect, this is a show I have wanted to do from day one. That is not just because he is one of England’s greatest captains and batsmen, but he has also played an integral role in shaping the success of English cricket across formats in recent years. He transformed white ball cricket as Director of Professional Cricket at the ECB, culminating in that most incredible World Cup win in 2019. In doing so, you could say he laid the foundations for the style of test cricket the team is now playing today. 

We recorded this before the disaster (if you’re an England fan) that occurred in Perth, but that makes some of the frighteningly accurate observations made in this conversation more impressive. It is of course a reveal of how to win in Australia, but it is much more than that. From dealing with maverick talent to how to sort out domestic cricket, we’re delighted to welcome Andrew Strauss to the Business of Sport.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:40 Ashes Predictions

07:29 Parallels Between the 2010/11 Win and Today’s Team

14:46 The Most Nervous Game

17:29 Is Modern Sports Stardom Any Different Today?

24:13 Breaking Down Central Contracts & Player Income

27:08 Players Get More Exposure Than Ever

31:12 Balancing Individual Brilliance with Team Structure

34:18 How Bat Sponsorship Deals Actually Work

41:33 Resetting English Cricket

45:56 How Franchise Cricket Is Reshaping Test Player Pathways

49:32 Is County Cricket Financially Sustainable?

53:18 Why Distribution Isn’t Enough

58:20 If You Had to Choose One Sports Asset to Buy

01:00:41 How Athletes Transition Into Business Roles

01:03:28 How Captains Balance Leadership and Individual Output

01:08:00 The Ruth Strauss Foundation

01:10:16 Quick-Fire Round

On today’s show we discuss: 

Ashes Predictions and How To Win Down Under:

• The brutal realities of touring Australia. Bounce, conditions, the Kookaburra ball, and the psychological toll of playing in a “goldfish bowl.”

• Why England have won just one Test in Australia in 14 attempts, and why preparation is everything.

• The inside story of the 2010/11 Ashes triumph and what that team got right.

• The psychological battle of opening the batting, staying calm when the ball is flying past your ears, and facing the greatest to ever do it. Including Strauss’s unforgettable encounters with Shane Warne.

Running Elite Cricket & Winning a World Cup:

• What Strauss changed after England’s 2015 World Cup disaster and how it led directly to the 2019 World Cup win.

• Why he pushed for white-ball specialists, a fearless scoring philosophy, and a total cultural reset.

• Inside the tensions between formats, franchise cricket, and player availability and the challenges of managing England cricket like a true performance organisation.

The Hundred, County Cricket & the Future of the Game:

• The truth about county cricket’s finances. £40k average salaries, 450 professionals, and no sustainability.

• Why Strauss believes English cricket needs fewer teams, fewer matches, and an elite first division to compete globally.

• The insane valuations in The Hundred, why investors bought anyway, and how private capital will reshape cricket whether counties like it or not.

• What Test cricket will look like in 20 years.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Stryde

Emily Frazer is the CEO of Matchroom Multi Sport. She's led the charge in transforming sports like 9-ball pool into fast-growing, commercially compelling global properties, building new formats, elevating athlete storytelling, and bringing fresh audiences into what we could call a challenger landscape. 

The Multi-Sport story was told to perfection in the recent Matchroom Netflix series, shining a light on the lesser known side of the organisation at the centre of the boxing world and driving the boom we’ve seen in the darts. The question for Emily is simple: can the success in these other sports be replicated in the multi-sport model?

Ahead of the Mosconi Cup next week at Ally Pally (pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup), Emily delivers a compelling reveal on life behind the Matchroom curtain and what it’s going to take to deliver an emerging sport on a global stage. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:01 What is Multi Sport?

16:31 How Early Opportunities Accelerate Learning

20:53 How Did Matchroom Become the “Owner” of the Sport?

26:35 What’s the Master Plan to Make Nine-Ball a Global Sport?

31:46 Is Narrative More Important Than Quality Now?

34:14 The Upcoming Mosconi Cup

36:33 Do Athlete Brands Matter More Than Teams Now?

40:47 Is It Truly a Viable Job for Players?

44:11 Where Matchroom’s Core Revenue in Pool Comes From

49:42 Should Matchroom Create a Unified Fan Loyalty Program?

54:41 Pressure to Match Darts’ Success

59:59 Why Pool Is More Accessible Than Snooker

01:03:09 Quick-Fire Round

On today’s show we discuss: 

From ‘Special Events’ to a Global Multisport Division:

• How a once-overlooked corner of Matchroom evolved from “the joke department” into one of the company’s fastest-growing verticals.

• The commercial blueprint Matchroom is applying, from multi-table events to digital-first broadcasting, social virality and new formats.

• The weight of carrying a whole sport on your shoulders, and why Emily believes that “80% crazy” is an essential part of the job.

• The belief that with the right innovation, risk, and relentlessness, Pool will become a global powerhouse.

Athletes, Pressure & Player Pathways:

• The human realities of managing athletes in a developing sport. Expectation, frustration, and the emotional weight of leading a tour they rely on to feed their families.
• Why Pool is one of the rare sports where amateurs can face legends, and how that creates powerful fan moments that drive new fandom.
• How the rise of local ranking events has unlocked hidden talent in Vietnam, the Philippines, the U.S. and beyond.

Commercial Strategy, Media & Monetisation:

• The economics of Pool today: ticketing, sponsorship, WNT TV, and the importance of viewership for long-term sustainability.
• Why Pool cannot rely on tradition or federation structures, and must innovate faster and more aggressively than snooker or darts ever did.
• The long-term vision: a profitable global tour, star-driven marketing, and a world where Pool sits alongside darts and snooker in Matchroom’s “big three.”

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

David