Luke Sutton: Mental health, elite athletes and finding a 'new balance'

Luke Sutton: Mental health, elite athletes and finding a 'new balance'

Rich Clarke
podcast

Luke Sutton is trying to change the narrative around mental health and elite athletes, using lessons from his own story.

At the end of a long career in county cricket, team-mates staged an intervention over his alcohol-consumption and self-destructive behaviour.

On retirement, Sutton became an agent for one of those concerned friends, record-breaking England Test bowler Jimmy Anderson. Since then the agency has expanded, taking on footballers, boxers and Olympians.

At the end of 2019, Sutton released a book called Back from the Edge, which recounts the mental descent during his time as a wicketkeeper-batsman and how he turned his life around.

Sutton has vowed to run his agency with his clients' long-term well-being in mind, even if that leaves 'money on the table'. He also has strong views on the way elite athletes are perceived and how they are handled by the press, public and the sporting authorities.

Nicola Palios: How to create a community football club

Nicola Palios: How to create a community football club

Rich Clarke
podcast

Tranmere Rovers have been a true footballing success story in the last five years. The other team from Liverpool had just slipped out of the Football League when Mark and Nicola Palios bought the club. There was even a danger they might case to exist.

Since then they have had trips to Wembley, a couple of promotion but, just as importantly, built a solid football business with a positive impact on its local community.

The Palios’ have just finished their first five-year plan. It concluded with this husband and wife team taking on investment from Indonesia, a place close to my heart.

Vice-chair Nicola talked to me about Tranmere’s turnaround, the crucial revenue-raising community schemes, the importance of pro-active communication and what their next five-year plan may bring

Steve Bunce: The 'sweet science' of storytelling

Steve Bunce: The 'sweet science' of storytelling

Rich Clarke
podcast

Steve Bunce is the most influential journalist in British boxing today.

He is also a collector of sporting tales, master storyteller and someone who revers the fight writers of yesteryear. I firmly believe that boxing has a special narrative. It creates stories like no other sport, therefore 'Buncey' was the perfect guest to discuss the topic.

Expect tall-tales and tangents

Mads Davidsen: How to create sustainable success at a football club

Mads Davidsen: How to create sustainable success at a football club

Rich Clarke
podcast

Mads Davidsen is an experienced football consultant and title-winning Technical Director.

He is working with clubs to maximize their 20% - the proportion of an organization’s potential not pre-determined by economics or luck.

The football industry is famously fickle and short-term, with owners often throwing around desperate money in order to gain success.

Davidsen argues this must change.

Mario Leo: Football Digital Media predictions 2020

Mario Leo: Football Digital Media predictions 2020

Rich Clarke
podcast

It is now a tradition for Mario Leo and I to discuss digital sports trends at the start of each year. Mario runs RESULT Sports, a global digital sports media platform enabling mobile, social and web opportunities for rights-holders all over the world. Therefore his opinions are worth listening to.

This is the 50th edition of Sports Content Strategy and, quite fittingly, it is a long, deep conversation looking at all aspects of the business. We look at broadcasting, social media, sports business models, globalisation, streaming, data, the role of politics and much much more

Jon Lansdown: How to rebrand a football club

Rich Clarke
podcast

Successfully rebranding their image is among the hardest tasks a sports organisation will ever seek to accomplish Fans, especially in football, are tribal, resistant change and lack a clear vision of what they want. But they will tell you, often straight in your face, what they don’t want. Bristol City seemed to have made a success of change in March 2019. So I travelled down to Ashton Gate to speak to chairman Jon Lansdown about the reinvention of the Robins.

Matthew Porter: How we learned to 'love the darts'

Matthew Porter: How we learned to 'love the darts'

Rich Clarke
podcast

These days, darts is now a sport of millionaires. It is well-marketed and winning top industry awards for the quality of its events. There are academies and challenger tours as the organisation builds for the future and competitions across the globe as it attempts to reach new markets.

Matt Porter has been CEO of the Professional Darts Corporation for more than a decade. He discussed the approach that has taken darts out of the pub, promoted it an entirely new way and pushed it onto the world stage.

Stijn Francis: (How not to become) The Bankrupt Footballer

Stijn Francis: (How not to become) The Bankrupt Footballer

Rich Clarke
podcast

Stijn Francis runs one of the biggest football agencies in Belgium with a client list including international stars such as Toby Alderweireld and Dries Martens.

Player representation is known as a difficult, precarious and unscrupulous industry. Regulation has been difficult to enforce and, as a result, many have been bitten when dipping their toes into these shark-infested waters.

That includes the players themselves, who often struggle to secure their financial future despite earning vast sums during a relatively short career.

This prompted Francis to write a book called The Bankrupt Footballer, a guide to financial management that outlines the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them.

In this podcast, we discuss his fiscal philosophy and how he helps his client stay solvent and satisfied.

Tim Hinchey: Medals, membership and fast-lane change

Tim Hinchey: Medals, membership and fast-lane change

Rich Clarke

The USA swim team have one of the best records in sport – they have not lost an international meet in over 60 years.

While this success may be formidable, it does not necessarily prepare the organisation for the wider challenges of modern governance. That’s why president Tim Hinchey is putting participation, content, communication, CRM and safe sport at the top of his agenda, alongside those all-important Olympic preparations.

Meanwhile, the commercial acumen he honed at Derby County, Charlotte Hornets and Colorado Rapids is being put to good use, even at a non-profit organisation like USA Swimming, as Hinchey builds for the next three games in Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles.

Nick Callow: How to run a sports news agency

Nick Callow: How to run a sports news agency

Rich Clarke
podcast

Nick Callow is the Managing Director of HaytersTV, one of the most famous sports news agencies in the UK and breeding ground for a host of high-profile journalists.

A generation ago, they supplied ‘stringers’ and researchers, going to far-flung grounds on wet Wednesday nights to do whatever the newspapers required.

But that was when the FA Cup final was the only game on live television each season, readers poured over the reports of famous writers and the internet had not been invented. 

Now Hayters trade in video more than words and are stepping out from the shadows to develop their own brands.

This is an exploration of how the UK sports media has changed since the start of the internet generation, how Hayters have adapted and where they are moving in the future.

Mark Bradley: How to create a ‘Fan Experience' strategy

Mark Bradley: How to create a ‘Fan Experience' strategy

Rich Clarke
podcast

The phrases ‘fan engagement’ and ‘fan experience’ were rarely used in sports before the turn of the millennium. Certainly, in the UK, a winning team was considered the key to supporter satisfaction.

That has changed in recent years and the Fan Experience Company have been at the vanguard of this movement. Director Mark Bradley has wide experience in challenging environments across England and Europe. His vision is not just Family Stands and face-painting, he argues that a coherent fan engagement strategy will reap a commercial return, especially for those clubs operating outside the upper echelons of the Champions League.

Bas Schnater: Starting a CRM ecosystem at a 'smaller' sports club

Bas Schnater: Starting a CRM ecosystem at a 'smaller' sports club

Rich Clarke
podcast

If data is the new oil then Customer Relationship Management is the process of mining and refining the information for business use.

Over the last few years, major clubs have spent millions of dollars on getting the right message to the right person at the right time on the right platform. But what if money is tight, you don’t have the scale and those who run the club would rather put their resources elsewhere.?

Bas Schnater is an international fan engagement consultant. He has just left Dutch football team AZ Alkmaar after two years running the marketing department.

He built a CRM ecosystem from the bottom up. Appointing a partner, dealing with internal stakeholders and the changes they must accept, managing the messaging, commercialisation v content.

There is a lot to consider but the improvements can be significant.

Prof Simon Chadwick: How to wield soft power via sport

Rich Clarke
podcast

George Orwell once wrote that sport is “war minus the shooting”.

But that was in December 1945, just after the end of the second world war.

The use of sport as a political tool has evolved considerably since then.

Prof Simon Chadwick has studied the way football, F1 etc have been used as part of ’soft’ power plays by nations attempting to grow their ‘brand’ and authority.

While countries like China and Qatar, as well as clubs like PSG and Man City, spring to mind, the UK and the US are also adept at utilising their stars on the field to enhance their influence overseas.

Jacqui Oatley: How women in football are raising their voice

Jacqui Oatley: How women in football are raising their voice

Rich Clarke
podcast

Match of the Day is a British institution.

The BBC’s Saturday night football show started in 1964 and still sets the weekly agenda for the sport that dominates the UK and the League that enthralls the world.

So it is incredible to think that it took until 2007 to hear the voice of a female commentator for the first time.

In this podcast, Jacqui Oatley talks to me about the attention see received on the back of that appearance. We also discussed the state of play for women sports broadcasters and journalists in the UK. What is changing, what is not and, as usual, how the social media has changed the landscape.

As you’ll hear, everyone, including me, has a lot to learn.

Egor Kretsan: Zenit St Petersburg - bold, brash and speaking 15 languages

Egor Kretsan: Zenit St Petersburg - bold, brash and speaking 15 languages

Rich Clarke
podcast

Russian football is undergoing a makeover. It has just hosted a successful World Cup and its club sides are regulars in the latter stages of European competition. The Russian League revealed a radical rebranding last year and its leading club, Zenit St Petersburg, are thinking beyond the serious stereotype into which the country’s persona sometimes falls.

They are creating high polished content, translating it into 15 languages and are not afraid to take on the world’s big teams and major media outlets on social media.

New Media Director Egor Kretsan leads the club’s content strategy. He spoke to me about their approach.

Kei Koyama: The J.League breaks out

Kei Koyama: The J.League breaks out

Rich Clarke
podcast

The emerging football leagues around the world might consider the J.League as a model.

Since starting in 1993, it has formed the foundation upon which Japanese club teams have become a force in the AFC Champions League and their national side regulars in the latter stages of major international tournaments. They even co-hosted the World Cup in 2002.

Now, the J.League is looking to expand overseas using digital as a driver.

Kei Koyama, from their international development department, spoke to me about the past, present and future, including the J.League furoshiki (translated as 'wrapping cloth'). This is a digital asset hub which allows them to create better content quickly and efficiently.

We also discuss the competition’s very different demographics and the strategic importance of the 10-year broadcasting deal with DAZN.

Ben Warren: Can digital media save County Championship cricket?

Rich Clarke
podcast

Cricket, lovely cricket.

England's national sport has been under pressure for many years, with the four-day County Championship widely perceived as the domestic competition in the most precarious position.

However, there has been genuine hope in the blossoming audience for a relatively basic video streaming service synced with the traditional radio commentary.

It is a League-Wide scheme developed by the England and Wales Cricket Board but Somerset CCC have been at the forefront. Digital marketing & communications executive Ben Warren runs the service for the club.

With a controversial new franchise-based tournament starting next season and threatening to take attention from the longer-form game, the pressure is on.

But can digital media really help save county cricket?

Julian Valentin: Rockies, social media and ballpark figures

Julian Valentin: Rockies, social media and ballpark figures

Rich Clarke
podcast

In terms of digital and social media, Major League Baseball is perhaps the most enigmatic sport in the world.

We are constantly told that America’s pastime is past its prime. It is an ‘aging sport’ that is struggling to hold on to the coat-tails of the major players, NBA and NFL whilst coming under increasing pressure from up-and-coming sports like soccer.

However, MLB Advanced Media and incarnations were at the very forefront of innovation long before other sports started to plough resources into digital and continue to be a leading light.

The Colorado Rockies are not the most fashionable team in baseball but they have built a reputation for quirky interaction and content with personality.

Julian Valentin leads the strategy at Coors Field. With the 2019 baseball season fast approaching we discussed the past, present and future for the Rockies and how the hell his team covers 162 regular seasons games!

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