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Want to learn more about the most talked about topics and trends in the sports business industry from the sports business executives who run it?
Join Next League’s CEO David Nugent, a sports technology industry veteran and thought leader with over 20 years experience in the ever-changing technology services business. Tune in every week for insightful and engaging discussions on everything from artificial intelligence and fan engagement to the changing media landscape and the growth of women’s sports with the sports industry’s leading executives.
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45 Episodes
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Brian Michael Cooper has operated across nearly every corner of the sports industry: big law, player representation, G League president, XFL team president, senior college athletics administrator, head of an emerging league, and now sports M&A attorney and professor. He shares what those experiences taught him about how teams, leagues, and media partners really operate, including a sharp look at the rapid professionalization of college athletics. Brian breaks down the ripple effect...
In an industry being reshaped by NIL, the transfer portal, and private capital, one question is becoming unavoidable: how do leaders make principled decisions when everything feels up for grabs? Investor Andrew Siegel breaks down what leaders in sports and tech often underestimate, like the emotional complexity of teams, the tension between performance and values, and how managing people becomes exponentially harder when competition, money, and public scrutiny intensify. Drawing on his expe...
What REALLY makes a business worth buying, and what should founders actually optimize for? In this candid conversation, Dave sits down with longtime friend and former business partner Igor Ulis, partner at Hudson Technology Systems. Igor traces his path from “dumb kid in college” who thought writing code was enough to get rich in the dot-com boom, to building and scaling a global sports technology services company that ultimately sold to Infront. Dave and Igor get into the mecha...
Billion-dollar track upgrades and next-generation wagering are re-shaping the horse racing industry. But what does it look like when a legacy sport leans hard into tech, data, and global expansion all at once? Justin McDonald, EVP and CMO at the Breeders’ Cup, is here to break down where the money is flowing and why the sport is growing. He shares how digital ticketing with SeatGeek is creating unified fan data, why AI is becoming central to decision-making, and how new equine and jockey per...
The sports industry is entering one of its most volatile eras. Media models are breaking, new global buyers are emerging, and traditional league structures are under pressure. Few people have a clearer read on these shifts than Leaders in Sport editorial director James Emmett and content director David Cushnan, who spend their days in conversation with the executives shaping what happens next. James and David unpack why the market’s top properties continue to surge while everyone else...
Sports organizations are under pressure to deliver MORE. Deeper insights, smarter production, and personalized fan experiences. In this episode, AWS Global Head of Sports Julie Souza takes David through 3 high-impact case studies across the NFL, PGA TOUR, and NHL, revealing how each league is tackling its most pressing technology challenges. You’ll hear about the NFL’s use of data modeling and optical tracking, which has contributed to the lowest concussion rate on record and a 79% spi...
What does it take to engineer an entirely new sport that fuses live gameplay and virtual environments into a single seamless experience? That’s the challenge Andrew Macauley and the team at TMRW Sports tackled with TGL, the groundbreaking indoor golf league. In this episode, Andrew takes us behind the scenes of building one of the most technologically complex venues in the world: a 5-story, 64’x-53’ impact screen stitched together by 9 projectors, and a 500,000-pound rotating green that trans...
What does it take to turn the world’s most famous marathon into a year-round digital platform? Rob Simmelkjaer, CEO of New York Road Runners, is leading the charge, launching an app with 210K+ downloads in its first few months, building an in-house content studio, and forging global partnerships that could redefine what it means to be a “major.” Drawing on a career that’s spanned ESPN’s control rooms to NBC’s direct-to-consumer pivots, Rob shares how those lessons are shaping NYRR’s tech ro...
Fan attention is fragmented across platforms, and the race to measure it accurately has never been tougher. Nielsen Sports VP Jessica Forrest joins David to share how the industry’s most trusted data company is redefining what (and who) gets counted in the next generation of sports measurement. Jessica breaks down Nielsen’s hybrid approach to ratings and why person-level panel data still matters in a streaming world. She also explains how Nielsen’s AI technology tracks EVERY on-screen logo t...
Something big is happening in Oklahoma City. Court Jeske, President of Echo Soccer, is redefining what expansion looks like in modern sports, applying lessons from launching Nashville SC to design a new franchise model built on data-driven fan growth. Echo Soccer is developing a 50-acre stadium district with a 10–11K seat Populous-designed venue, backed by an ownership group that includes Russell Westbrook. The goal? Create the busiest outdoor stadium in the U.S., host 80–90 events a year an...
How is technology reshaping where the money flows in sports? Private equity and institutional investors are rewriting the playbook, and Greg Bedrosian, Managing Partner and CEO at Drake Star, joins Dave to break down what that shift means for operations, innovation, and long-term value creation. Today’s most sophisticated investors are building value beyond media rights by strengthening data strategy, rethinking fan monetization, and turning venues into year-round revenue engines. As t...
Demonstrable, addressable fanbases are now the foundation of media value, sponsorships, and sustainable revenue. Sean Foley and Italo Zanzi are here from Hellas Verona FC to outline their competitive DNA in player development and culture designed to be “the club everyone wants to play for.” They highlight a fervent regional base and the importance of aligning the club with civic leaders and a city renowned for its arena, opera season, and visibility tied to the upcoming Olympic and Paralympi...
What does it take to grow golf from 26 million to 45 million players in just a few years while adapting to shifting fan expectations? Jeff Price, Chief Commercial Officer at the PGA of America, chats with David to explore the evolving role of technology, media, and partnerships in shaping the future of this 2 billion dollar industry. Jeff shares insights into the PGA’s massive Frisco, Texas campus and how it’s transforming player development, industry collaboration, and fan engagement...
Few sports venues get a second shot at hosting a championship, but Homestead-Miami Speedway just did. President Guillermo Santa Cruz sits down with Dave to discuss what it takes to win back NASCAR’s biggest weekend, and how Miami’s global market, fan base, and drivers themselves shaped the decision. Drawing on his experience across media and motorsports, Guillermo unpacks why Homestead’s racing quality and driver sentiment carry as much weight as market dynamics. He also shares how Miami’s ro...
Big brands aren’t buying “spots & dots” anymore. In this conversation, Nicole Jeter West traces a path from the Knicks and US Open to Legends and LA28 to show how partnerships actually create value now, beyond stacking impressions. She explains why a primetime NWSL championship mattered, what it takes to design “assets beyond the rings,” and how to frame outcomes so both the property and the partner win. Nicole is also diving into her operator’s playbook: packaging the road to LA28, sequ...
Shripal Shah is back on the show to map the maturity spectrum of AI in sports and how data governance must come first to avoid ugly surprises. Most importantly, Shripal explains why AI won’t be the great equalizer – it will be the great divider. You’ll hear a plain-English take on MCP (Model Context Protocol) as the “air traffic control” for AI across vendors, plus how AI agents can bridge legacy systems, stretch capex cycles, and free teams from grunt work so staff can focus on strategy. ...
Women’s sports are surging. Participation is climbing, purses are growing, arenas are selling out, and today, we’re spotlighting the people and ideas powering that momentum: from the LPGA and USGA, fast-rising leagues like the PWHL, tech-forward formats like TGL, and iconic brands like the Harlem Globetrotters. You’ll hear from the following guests: (0:40) Danette Leighton, Women’s Sports Foundation(5:52) Liz Moore, LPGA(13:19) Mollie Marcoux Samaan, former LPGA Commissioner(20:06) Jon...
The Cleveland Cavaliers EVP & CIO Mike Conley turned the Cavs’ digital channels from a cost center into a multimillion-dollar revenue engine. And that shift laid the groundwork for their boldest move yet: standing up a 24/7 sports network inside the organization. With RSN economics wobbling, Mike explains how the Cavs built optionality and formed a joint venture with Gray Media to launch Rock Entertainment Sports Network after a six-week sprint—so the club could produce live events, orig...
What does it take to turn the world’s most famous marathon into a year-round digital platform? Rob Simmelkjaer, CEO of New York Road Runners, is leading the charge, launching an app with 210K+ downloads in its first few months, building an in-house content studio, and forging global partnerships that could redefine what it means to be a “major.” Drawing on a career that’s spanned ESPN’s control rooms to NBC’s direct-to-consumer pivots, Rob shares how those lessons are shaping NYRR’s tech r...
Mollie Marcoux Samaan has led some of the most complex and high-stakes organizations in sports, and she’s done it with vision, grit, and results, all while challenging the status quo. As the former LPGA Commissioner, Princeton Athletic Director, and EVP at Chelsea Piers, Mollie shares how she helped grow average player earnings at the LPGA by over 100%, navigated the global logistics of women’s golf, and pushed for a more athlete-centered approach that balances performance, mental...
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