The Business of Sport

Indy Khabra is a global ad technology executive, entrepreneur, and industry thought leader. He is the Co-Founder of Livewire, an award-winning gaming marketing company launched in 2021 that helps the world's leading brands connect with highly engaged gaming audiences at scale. With deep expertise across strategy, data, technology, and emerging media, Indy leads Livewire's global growth, working with clients including NFL, Live Nation, DAZN, Verizon, Nike, Uber, and Amazon. Prior to Livewire, Indy held senior leadership roles at Dentsu, where he led the Data, Technology, and Programmatic division, earning multiple industry accolades as part of the group's executive team.  Recognised as a Top MarComm Leader in Campaign's 40 Under 40, Indy is a regular contributor to leading industry publications and events, including Digiday, WARC, Campaign Asia, and Advertising Week, where he shares insights on the future of media, gaming, and advertisingInnovation  

Born and raised on Cape Cod, MA, Buckley was introduced to sailing by his single mother who worked multiple jobs and sports became both an outlet and a foundation for discipline, resilience, and drive. What started as an unexpected extracurricular pursuit quickly grew into a defining passion that shaped his personal and professional trajectory. From high school waters to global competition, Buckley's career ascended quickly. He went on to become a 2-time world champion sailor, competing at the highest levels of the sport and earning recognition for his strategic sharpness and relentless competitiveness. His experience across international racing circuits provided not only athletic success but also an insider's understanding of the opportunities and shortcomings of sailing as a spectator sport. In November 2023, Buckley and tech entrepreneur Ryan McKillen led the acquisition of the U.S. SailGP Team, marking a historic moment for professional sailing. As CEO, Buckley has built one of the most diverse and high-profile ownership groups in the sport's history, with investors including Issa Rae, DeAndre Hopkins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Avenue Capital Group's Marc Lasry and Carolyn Tisch Blodgett's Next 3. This groundbreaking roster underscores his vision: to align sailing with culture, entertainment, and mainstream sport in a way never done before.  

A multiple world cup medalist in the sport of Olympic Sailing, and an athlete on the Canada SailGP team, Isabella Berthold also leads a Next Gen Legacy Fund, focused on providing financial support to youth athletes in British Columbia. Isabella is also a professional cyclist, racing a European focused UCI Road Calendar. A former venture capital analyst, Isabella believes that responsible business, is good business. She believes that sport and sustainability can work side-by-side to develop innovative products and business models that drive real change, fast-tracking our journey towards a smaller carbon footprint. Working in Venture Capital around health, Isabella, who captained Canada's  Women sailing in 2024's Americas Cup in Barcelona, is passionate about sustainable cities, and the circular economy.  

From having Olympic Games accreditation at the age of just 4, to leading one of the world's biggest broadcast operations, Ursula Romero has a fantastic story to tell. The daughter of early pioneers in major event broadcasting, Ursula is the CEO of ISB, International Sports Broadcasting. With over 20 years experience providing coverage of global sporting events, Ursula and ISB are now transitioning away from mainstream sports to providing a platform for emerging sports and events.  

Michael Payne has been at the forefront of Sports Marketing for over 40 years, most of that time spent leading and advising on deals around the Olympic Games. Payne has brokered over 25 billion dollars worth of deals and sold his first sponsorship package at the age of just sixteen! He worked alongside all of the great leaders who built the industry – from two decades at the IOC with President Samaranch, and in those early days Horst Dassler of adidas, to over a decade with Bernie Ecclestone at F1 as his right hand person, to now Chairing Volleyball World - a joint venture between FIVB and the private equity group CVC.  Payne already has a Sunday Times - Best Sports Book of the Year (2022) and his latest work - Fast Tracks & Dark Deals, How Sport Became Business and Business Became Sport - is available to order now. It tells the story of how the industry started in the 1970's and looks to the future – focussing on what sport and the business of sport holds in store for the next 50 years.    

Hugo Inglis is a four-time Olympian with New Zealand. For over a decade, he scored goals at the very top of international elite Field Hockey. Nowadays, Hugo is a co-founder of High Impact Athletes (HIA), a global movement empowering athletes to fund the world's most effective climate and social solutions.  Under his leadership, HIA has grown to over 220 athletes across 48 sports and 34 countries, collectively driving almost $2 million in donations, improving almost half a million lives, protecting nearly 7 million animals and mitigating more than 600,000+ tonnes of CO₂e.  Grounded in science, technology, and storytelling, Hugo is committed to turning sport's cultural power into real-world impact.  

Lindsey Eckhouse is the Chief Revenue Officer at Mercury 13, a multi-club ownership group focussed on acquiring controlling stakes in professional women's teams in Europe and Latin America. Lindsey has previous experience in sport with the NFL and Maclaren Racing.  

With the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 in full swing, the RFU's Head of Consumer Engagement, Sally Sheppard, joined our Her Business of Sport podcast to assess the success of the tournament so far and to reveal an insight into England Rugby's plans to harness new supporters in the future.  

After more than 15 years with Unilever and over a decade as Global Lead of their Rexona/Sure brand of deodorant, Emily has led numerous high impact global campaigns and strategic partnerships. The Sure brand, known as Rexona globally, is over a hundred years old, but Emily's focus is very much on the future, developing on-going partnerships with Manchester City FC, the reigning World Club Champions, Chelsea Football Club and the UEFA Women's Euro Tournament, recently won by England. This is part of a broader strategy to drive brand growth, global visibility and deeper consumer engagement. Her work has been instrumental in unlocking new audiences, delivering measurable commercial returns and helping to establish Rexona as the world's number one deodorant brand.  

Thayer Lavielle says she is never afraid of a blank page, something she has proven over the last 6 years, by leading the development of The Collective, a women-focussed division of Wasserman, designed to bridge gaps in gender equity in sport and music through community, insights, events, tools and services.  Since 2019, that "blank page" has grown to include The Collective Think Tank, The Goal Post and the Collective Marketplace. Thayer has negotiated over $250m worth of deals across talent, brand, property and venues and has extensive experience with leading female-focussed brands including L'Oreal and Lancome. The Collective are partners for the ISC Women's Sport Business Summit, at the National Gallery in London on September 25th 2025.  

A year out from the next FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, one man is leading the charge to create a sustainable platform for soccer in the USA. For over 50 years, American soccer has relied on importing players from around the world, mostly at the end of their careers, to play in stadiums designed for more popular American sports. Now though, a former college goalkeeper turned entrepreneur is trying to change all that. Justin Papadakis is the Chief Real Estate Officer and Deputy CEO of the USA's fastest growing pre-professional and professional soccer organisation, which is developing new talent and new stadia side by side. As young and home-grown players are secured to play in teams across the country, developers are being recruited to build stadia integral to new Real Estate Entertainment Districts, to sustain the growth of truly American soccer when the World Cup has moved on.  

Imagine being a student at one of the best sporting universities in your country. An opportunity to learn from the best and to play in the greatest facilities available. Well, for Steven Ball, that dream not only became a reality, but almost 30 years later, he is still there, as CEO of The High Performance Centre (hpc) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. HPC is a partner organisation of the ISC, offering some of the best facilities for national teams, professional clubs, universities and colleges to enjoy over 72 hectares of training and recreational facilities.  

A new organisation has been formed to offer guidance, education and legal support to those working to protect children, young adults and the vulnerable in sport. The Union of Safeguarding Officers, with a Mission Statement of "Every Child Safe, Every Voice Heard", was formed by former Manchester City and Tottenham star Paul Stewart, who has spent almost a decade raising awareness of sexual abuse in sport, following his own harrowing experiences as a young footballer.  Many ISC delegates at our event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024 witnessed Paul's story as he spoke about his mission to prevent what happened to him, ever happening again.  Paul has enlisted the help of another ex-footballer Ian Bishop, who has over 20 year's experience of the youth system in the USA after a top-level career in England with Everton, Manchester City and West Ham United. Ian is General Secretary of USO, Paul is Chair of the Board. They hope the union will provide support to both professionals and volunteers, tasked with safeguarding at their clubs and associations.  

Michael D'hulst is a man on a mission. Driven by a passion for triathlon, the Belgian entrepreneur and former Ironman World Championship athlete, is currently seeking funding to take his Supertri business to the next level.  After helping Volkswagen set up a new plant in China, D'hulst turned his entrepreneurial skills to his love of Triathlon. Along with business partner and four-times Triathlon World Champion Chris McCormack and Russian Tech Investor Leonid Boguslavsky, D'hulst founded Supertri in 2016, with an ambition to transform Triathlon from a traditional, participant-led sport, into a dynamic spectator experience, delivering innovative race formats in a "made for TV and digital package", creating fandom with incredible destinations and corporate partners.  Now, after delivering award-winning events and record-breaking view numbers, both the USA Olympic Triathlon team and Great Britain's famous triathlete Brownlee brothers are on board, alongside global broadcasting giant HBO, as Supertri powers towards the Olympic Games of 2028 in Los Angeles.  

Charlie spent the first decade of her career producing TV, radio and film for the biggest UK networks and companies, including the very popular radio show Fighting Talk. During this time, she worked closely with talent, where she witnessed their unfiltered, off-duty, human side and started to think about creating a world where fans could gain access to this too. Disenchanted by the unimaginative, boring, predictable events she attended, where talent was reduced to scripted conversations and stifled interactions, Charlie saw the need for something radically different. She envisioned a space where talent could show up as their authentic selves and connect with fans on a deeper, more meaningful level. Her passion for creating fresh, immersive, personality-driven experiences has pushed Underground Fan Club to break the mould of traditional fan experiences, attracting some of the biggest talent and brands to join her 'Underground' revolution.  

Formerly the Director of Leadership, Organizational Development, & Mental Wellness for the Texas Rangers, Baroody brings over 20 years experience in professional sports, having overseen leadership, mental wellness and organizational development programs for the Texas Rangers Baseball Operations Department. During his tenure with the Rangers, he spearheaded the revolutionary 'Rangers U Player Pathway' in partnership with ACU, creating bilingual, custom educational programs aimed at enriching players' personal development and advancing their careers. He also played an integral role in leadership programs for professional sports staff, such as the Rangers 'Leadership Academy' for players, coaches and front-office personnel. Baroody now leads the expansion and promotion of ACU's robust portfolio of sports-related academic and continuing education programmes.  

Josh is a digital media professional with a comprehensive understanding of the OTT ecosystem. He joined Simplestream in 2015 and has been a part of their commercial and business development team since then.  His primary responsibility is to create, launch, and manage OTT services for various broadcasters, rights holders, and publishers such as British Forces Broadcasting Service, GAAGO, PBS America, Telus, Racing UK, TVSN, and NewsCorp. Before joining Simplestream, he worked with digital rights experts at Perform Group which has since become Stats Perform and DAZN.  

Cedric VdB has been the Executive Director of AISTS, the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology, based in Lausanne, Switzerland since October 2023. Prior to that, Cedric was the head of Strategy and Education at AISTS, overseeing the development of world-leading sports and education programmes, including the Master (MAS) in Sport Administration and Technology, from which he graduated in 2009.  An electronics and telecommunications engineer by training, Cedric has spent over a decade working for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on several strategic initiatives such as: - Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5 - the strategic roadmaps for the Olympic movement. - The New Norm - the in depth review of the delivery model of the Olympic Games implemented for the first time in Paris in 2024 - the IOC' strategic brand management programme.  Cedric has also headed the press and media operations for Athletissima, the Lausanne Diamond League meeting. A former 400m runner, he is now active in endurance sports including triathlon and Ironman and is also a keen surfer.    

Elite Performance Partners are a global business, focussed on taking the best principles of elite sport performance into the boardroom.  Founded by the former Harlequins and Connacht Rugby Union full-back Dave Slemen in 2013, EPP provides recruitment, leadership and advice for professional sports, including football, rugby, cricket and tennis, as well as the GB and Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams. Managing Partner Anna Edwards brings a wealth of experience from a 12 year career with some of London's top advertising agencies, working with brands including Amazon, IKEA, Bacardi and Lego. Anna is also a leading head-hunter of talent across the media, sport and entertainment sectors.  

Leah Davis joined the SailGP ranks in 2023 as the league's Chief Marketing Officer and is responsible for driving the league's global marketing strategy, focusing on brand development, fan engagement, and communications & PR, working closely with each of the SailGP teams in twelve international markets. Prior to SailGP, Davis led the brand transformation and marketing strategy for Team GB through the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic cycles which resulted in a 98% brand awareness in the UK. She also established a successful consulting business in 2020 with a number of high-profile retained sporting clients.  Davis has also previously led the Media and Communication for Laureus World Sports Awards (+32% global audience and x7 social engagement YoY).  Davis holds a degree in Business, Masters in Marketing Strategy and recently completed a Sustainable Business Strategy course at Harvard Business School, driven from a key interest in how sustainability can deliver both purpose and profit in today's world.    In this episode we cover: ⛵The Evolution of SailGP: Exploring how this groundbreaking league has grown and transformed. 🌱 Sustainability in Sport: Why it matters and how SailGP is leading the charge for a greener future. 👩‍🦰 Championing Female Representation: SailGP's ambitious goals and strategies to create more opportunities for women in the sport. 🤝 Mentorship & Networking: The vital role of a good mentor and building strong connections in shaping a successful career. 💡 Career Lessons with Leah: Insightful takeaways from her journey and experiences in the industry so far.