In this episode of The Business Behind, Sport Jonny Gray is joined by “the most powerful woman in African football” Abi Ijasanmi, former Chief Operating Officer of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).  This conversation ranges over the landscape of football on the continent, looking closely at integrity and good governance as well as the improvement of infrastructure, the growth of the women’s game, and the emerging global appeal of CAF’s blue-ribbon events such as the African Cup of...

Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, with much of its growth being driven bottom-up by investors.  One of those investors, Houman Ashrafzadeh, Founder of Padium, joins Jonny Gray on this episode of #TheBusinessBehindSport to discuss the rise and growth of padel in the UK and worldwide over recent years. Together they discuss:  • What makes padel different from other racket sports  • The development of the governance of the sport  • The commercial opportunities with padel 

Sports are still a very male-dominated space, especially in the boardroom. In this episode of The Business Behind Sport, Jonathan Brown speaks to two female leaders in the sports industry, Monique Choudhuri Board Director at Women in Football and Rowena Samarasinhe, Managing Director at GENSport. During this episode, they explore the progress female sports have made over the years, the challenges they face in their careers, the role diversity, equity, and inclusion plays within the...

Snooker has always been a popular sport, particularly in the UK, but its rapid growth worldwide has led to a potential global audience of 1.8 billion viewers. In this episode of The Business Behind Sport podcast, Jonny Gray speaks to Jason Ferguson, Group Chairman & CEO of The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) and Director of the World Snooker Tour to discuss Jason’s journey from a player to running the sport worldwide, including his hopes for entry as an...

Disputes and investigations expert, Jacqui Record, construction expert, Sena Gbedemah, and cybersecurity specialist, Kajen Subramoney, are joined by Bevan Farmer, Construction and Engineering Partner at Addleshaw in this latest episode to discuss the role of AI and its impact on expert evidence, cost implications in construction disputes, and their views on future trends.

Following the previous The Business Behind Sport episode, we continue our conversation on the club acquisition process, but this month we explore the investment and legal considerations. Jonny Gray is joined by Tom Sheldon, Director at Ovation Corporate Finance, and Ben Hanglin, Partner at Onside Law to look at the deal structure, the legal contemplations throughout the process, and how to deal with any issues that may occur post-acquisition. Subscribe to 'The Business Behind Sport' Newsletter

Thinking of buying a football club? In this special edition of #TheBusinessBehindSport podcast, we are joined by Analytics FC to discuss the steps investors should consider when buying a football club. With institutional investors and individuals showing more interest in purchasing football clubs, Ankura regulatory and financial risk expert Jonathan Brown and Jeremy Steele, Managing Director of Analytics FC, share their insights into the club acquisition process with Jonny Gray, Senior...

Can sports really regulate itself? With talk of independent regulators high on the sports agenda, Jonny Gray is joined by Karena Vleck, General Counsel at World Athletics, and Lorynn Demetriades, compliance specialist and Senior Managing Director at Ankura to discuss compliance programs in sport for The Business Behind Sport.   In this frank discussion, they also touch on how organizations hit by scandal, like World Athletics, can emerge with better governance and, perhaps most...

In this episode of The Business Behind Sport podcast, Jonathan Brown, Senior Managing Director in Ankura's Sport Advisory team speaks with Richard Bush, Partner in Bird & Bird’s Media, Entertainment & Sports Group, and Charli Curran, Senior Director in Ankura’s Risk, Forensics and Compliance team to discuss investigating abuse in sport and the practical and legal considerations that need to be taken into account.

Following his keynote speech at MENA Information Security Conference 2023, Senior Managing Director and former FBI Special Agent Ted Theisen, speaks with Kajen Subramoney in the latest edition of The Cyber Series. In this episode, they discuss the development of the cybersecurity sector and the evolution of the cyber threat landscape throughout their careers. Ted shares his insights on his top three points on what people should have front of mind when considering their approach to...

The need to digitalize the infrastructure sector has been understood for some time, but progress has been slow and the gap is widening quickly. The sheer pace and accessibility of developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recent months – and the alarm that it has caused some tech executives and academics – illustrates its potential power. In this episode, we speak to Jingchao Yang, a software engineering Director in Ankura’s New York office, about:  How AI can help close the digital gap...

In this episode, Jonny Gray is joined by Mike Laflin, CEO and Founder of Global Sustainable Sport. Together they discuss: • Mike’s journey working within the sports industry and what led him to set up Global Sustainable Sport in 2022 • What exactly is "sustainable sport?"  • The seven pillars of sustainable sport that Mike and his team have established and how these can be measured  Global Sustainable Sport provides a range of products and services to help sports organizations and...

In this episode we turn our heads East to put a spotlight on the emerging opportunities for investment in sports in Asia. Senior Managing Director, Jonny Gray speaks to Jean-Baptiste Roy, Co-Founder of Asia Sports Tech, where they discuss:   •Where are the growth areas for participation, broadcast rights, sponsorship, and more in the region  •What risks should sports and investors think about when considering the market •How can existing western sports teams and clubs maximize their brands...

As we hit the halfway point in the international cricket season for 2023 and as the Ashes series is currently underway, Jonathan Brown speaks to Simon Taufel, Former International Cricket Umpire and 5-time International Cricket Council Umpire of the year, in the latest episode of #TheBusinessBehindSport. Listen to the full episode to hear more Simon reflect on his journey in cricket and his expert insights on:  •How to achieve excellence  •Maintaining focus as an umpire and in...

In our latest episode, Jonny Gray talks to Simon Hallett, majority owner and Chair of Plymouth Argyle Football Club following their recent promotion into The Championship League. Simon openly discusses everything around owning an English Football League Club and how he and his team managed to take Plymouth Argyle from being a loss-making League 2 (4th Tier) team to one of the most-well run clubs by challenging the ‘football way’ of ownership at every turn. Jonny asks Simon about what lessons...

In this episode, Jonathan Roe speaks with Dom O'Donnell, Managing Director at Infrastructure Matters on one of the key themes in our latest report, From Pandemic to Permacrisis: Infrastructure Perspectives 2023, that was produced in collaboration with Infrastructure Matters. Together they discuss how it is taking longer for major infrastructure projects to get off the drawing board and into the ground, and more about the infrastructure sector in the UK and globally.

Brazil is a country renowned for its love of sport, in particular a love of football. In the latest episode Felix Vetter and Reecha Patel speak with Tiago Gomes, Partner at Ambiel, Belfiore, Gomes, Hanna Advogados, to discuss the impact of investment from new developments in football within the country, such as the new breakaway league, as well as initiatives to improve sports betting regulation and wider governance in sport. 

In this episode of the Ankura Cyber Series, Adam Horsman speaks with Danny Howett, a Director in the Ankura Cyber Threat Intelligence Team based in London. Danny explains what he does day to day in his role and how gathering and analyzing information for threat intelligence can benefit companies and mitigate any cyber risks. Following the Breach Forums & Genesis Market being taken down by the FBI last month, Adam and Danny share their view on how Threat Actors are adapting to stay a step...

Our guest on this episode of The Business Behind Sport podcast is Lloyd Thomas, General Counsel at Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club. In this conversation, Lloyd shares his career journey working in-house at football clubs, as well as some of the hot topics and challenges in football including; increases in sponsorships and the reputational risks associated with them, the upcoming initiative to bring in an independent regulator for football, and the idea of introducing a European...

Ankura Data & Technology expert Chris Marks joins Adam Horsman on the Cyber series to discuss Chris' career highlights from his different roles globally, current cybercrime trends that are currently being seen within the Hong Kong region where he is based, and what measures can be made to make sure you or your organization don’t fall victim to any cyber threats. Contact Chris to find out more about our capabilities and experience in the region > [email protected]

In this special episode of The Ankura Podcast, Jonny Gray speaks to Mhairi Maclennan, GB International Athlete and co-founder of the Kyniska Advocacy, which champions for new and better policies that protect, respect, and celebrate women and girls in sport. Mhairi shares her story and personal experience of abuse of power within sports and how there needs to be a bigger focus on the need for safeguarding and governance within the sporting industry. Find out more about the work that the...

In this episode of The Business Behind Sport, Jonathan Brown speaks to Ivan Miljković, former Olympic Gold Winning Serbian volleyball captain, about his professional sporting career and what he's up to now. They also discuss current sports business trends such as the use of NFTs, Web3, blockchain and private equity investment into sports just like we have recently seen in volleyball. 

In this episode of the Ankura Cyber Series, our host Adam Horsman spoke with Bex Nitert, a Senior Director in our Cybersecurity team in Australia. Together they discuss how Bex began her journey into the cyber industry, some of her biggest accomplishments in her career, and trends within the sector. 

In this episode of The Business Behind Sport, Jonny Gray talks to Duncan Fraser, Global Practice Lead for Sports & Entertainment at Howden Insurance Brokers Ltd about the international sports insurance market which is expected to continue to grow and reach $600 billion in revenues by 2025. They discuss some areas of risk to look out for in 2023 and beyond, such as events and the challenges insuring them, cyber and data and analytics around athlete injuries.  Duncan also speaks about how...