The Digital Sport Insider

Benjamin is the founder of SportsTechX and recently became Head of Consulting at the LeAD Sports Accelerator based in Berlin.  He did start working within sport until last year when he decided to take a look at the startups scene within sports and very quickly found his niche. He spent several months travelling from city to city so he could speak to those involved so he could paint a picture, and build a substantial database (over 1,200 currently). We spoke about this journey, what he has found out from his research and a general look at how sports is fairing in the tech scene. Make sure you download his European Sports Tech Report now on www.sportstechx.com

As we carry on our look into the massively interesting world of esports, where better to go than one of the newly formed competitions that kicks off next month.  James Ruth has led the MLS team in working closely with EA Sports over the last 2 years, and whose work has resulted in April's eMLS being launched.  The cup competition links into the EA Sports FIFA 18 Global Series Playoff and then, they hope, have a representative at the recently rebranded FIFA eWorld Cup which takes place in August. So how did it come about? How does it work? Where will it all go? And what is EA's involvement? All things you can find out if you listen in. A great 30 minutes on all things esports, especially the sim sports side of the industry. The first eMLS Cup will take place this April at PAX East in Boston.

This month we’re taking a look into the much hyped world of esports. Something you’ve been able to hear much about over the last couple of years at conferences but this year feels like there is much more organisation and momentum behind what’s going on. To kick off our esports insights on the podcast I was delighted to welcome Joe Hills. Joe is host of the Esports Roundtable Podcast, one of the original esports recruitment pioneers and future Strategic Partnerships Director for Infinite Esports Entertainment, an esports holding company backed by the Texas Rangers. We talk about how he first got into esports, and saw an opportunity to create a career within the industry. Plus the difference between 'traditional' esports and Sim Sports, something we're seeing a gap form between. You can listen to Joe's podcast on https://audioboom.com/channel/esports-roundtable-podcast

With the ITTF World Team Cup just starting at The Copperbox in London, it's a great time to find out what is happening at the ITTF.  With table tennis maybe not one of the major sports in the UK, at an elite level anyway, it certainly is in other countries. Especially China. So how do they work with 226 countries and manage 100 tournaments a year across multiple fan touchpoints? And how could the sport gain more traction in the UK away from the creative agency table.  They may well have the answer to that in TTX, listen in to find out more about that exciting initiative.

Matt is a recent member to the Tough Mudder crew, joining the company in November last year after a period working agency side for one of their sponsors, Lucozade.  Our paths crossed a few years ago when we were both at Carat, but he stayed on until 2014 when he joined PRISM and then CSM Sport & Entertainment. Then taking the leap to rights holder side for the first time. He explains more about the Tough Mudder journey since its inception in 2010, how they've used digital platforms to become a global lifestyle brand, their deal with Facebook's new Watch platform as well as touching one our key topics of VR and esports. If you enjoy this interview then check out previous ones, subscribe so you don't miss out on future ones… and maybe even leave us a rating or review. Something that helps others find us on iTunes, etc.

James is a commercial sports rights executive with over 18 years of experience and a strong, proven track record in delivering results and growth across all sports rights sectors, including; broadcast, digital, athlete representation and live events. After working in the football industry for IMG, Puma and The FA he ended up in 2013 at the fast-growing Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as Content Director before taking over as General Manager for EMEA in 2015. In this interview we discuss the highs and lows of working within this now global sport with a huge, and passionate, fanbase. And what happened when it was sold to WME-IMG in 2016 for some $4.2bn We also covered THAT fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd 'The Money' Mayweather and if he'll ever go back to UFC. Football broadcast rights and OTT platforms, plus the role of social media companies in both live sport and its impact on us in general.  And also his thoughts on Peter Hutton's impending move from being CEO of Eurosport to heading up spor

Dan McLaren and Chris McMullan get together to discuss the upcoming 'topic of the month', which for February will be Virtual and Augmented Reality (and everything in between). To help us understand this trend in sport, we get some insights from BBC Sport's Head of Digital & Radio, Ben Gallop. And also from Founder at SportsTechX & Head of Consulting at leAD Sports, Benjamin Penkert.  Dan provides a bit of historical context to the term Virtual Reality, something that goes back a lot longer than you may have thought. And Chris takes a little look at the world of Augmented Reality, a technology that is more used than you may realise.  If you want to get involved in the discussion by giving us your insights, or even getting us immersed in the technology (!), then get in touch at daniel@digitalsport.co Our events on this topic are almost upon us. Details can be found on; 13th Feb (London) - http://bit.ly/2mQpGR9 21st Feb (Manchester) - http://bit.ly/2DCiwdL

This week we spoke with podcast legend and co-host of the madness that is the True Geordie Podcast, Laurence McKenna. A man who best tries to sum up his role as that of Creative Director. Laurence is an experienced podcaster and YouTube creator/editor having worked on Football Ramble, The Football Republic, Copa90, The Front Three and Football Daily. Interviewing everyone from Spencer FC to Robbie Williams along the way. We chat about a host of random things as this week's podcast heads down more of the route Laurence's podcasts than our own DSI, with formality out of the window and no subject safe from our gaze. You can find the True Geordie podcast videos on http://bit.ly/2Gf56Tl The Front 3 podcast - https://www.acast.com/thefront3 Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lozcast

Sponsored by StreamAMG. Ahead of the #DSManchester event on 25th January, Digital Sports's Dan McLaren and Chris McMullan made the trip over to QPR's Loftus Road to speak to David Scriven and Matt McKiernan about our topic of the month, OTT. In this roundtable we discuss how QPR have found life outside of the EFL deal, now midway through their season of international live streaming. What they've learned and what they see as opportunities going forward. StreamAMG are QPR's partner in this live streaming deal and work with a number of other clubs and sports to enable them to maximise their opportunities. Answering what the technical aspects are to doing your own livestream and how you should be looking to start out, if you're thinking of doing so. Get your tickets for the Manchester event at http://bit.ly/2A6LWe0

Tom is currently the Senior Content Manager (basically Head of Content) at Arsenal. A team known for their great use of digital over the last few years that operates on an international level. Previous to Arsenal, Tom was part of the initial BT Sport digital team as they launched in 2013 and before that was at the RFU. With almost 10 years experience in the industry he's one of the leading lights when it comes to digital + sports content. If you enjoy this podcast then please do leave a rating or review, or let us know how we're doing on @DigitalSportUK. Or get in touch with Dan direct at @DanielMclaren. Next week Dan will be hosting a discussion on OTT with QPR's David Scriven, StreamAMG's Matt McKiernan and our own Chris McMullan. One not to be missed!

As we kick off a new year and come back from a winter break, there is much to look forward to. Digital Sport's Chris McMullan and Dan McLaren get together to welcome in 2018 and discuss what is happening at DS HQ this month and cover our 'topic of the month', which is OTT/live streaming. We also make our top 3 predictions for the year and you can find out what events are coming up to attend! Here is a link to an article on Microsoft Hololens I mention during the pod > https://digitalsport.co/why-the-future-of-sport-isnt-vr-or-ar-it-will-be-mixed-reality Digital Trends 2018 Report > https://digitalsport.co/dstrends2018 Tomorrow you can listen to listen to Dan chatting to Arsenal's Tom Hines. One not to miss!

Sean Jarvis is Commercial Director, and sits on the board, at Premier League newcomers Huddersfield Town. Sean’s career in sport has spanned over 20 years and has including everything from working with The Premier League, the launch of Super League and even owning Oldham Athletic Football Club. If you enjoy this podcast, leave a rating/review/comment as we love to hear from you on what you enjoy (and don't!). This show is sponsored by RightNow Digital. Download one of their apps at RightNowDigital.com to test it out for yourself.

This is a revisit to one of my favourite podcasts recorded near the start of this audio journey. Originally recorded in October last year thus before the purchase of 15% of the business by Turner International, owners of Bleacher Report. More recently I hosted a panel session at Soccerex 2017 that included James (one you can find on this podcast) talking about media disruption. They're doing an amazing job and now include the likes of adidas, Pepsi and Beats By Dre. My chat with James managed to cover a multitude of areas including; - Our shared education at Wolverhampton Uni (96-99) - His background in art - Starting a business in the dotcom crash with Holler - His work there and eventually selling it to Leo Burnett - Taking on a new challenge with the world's biggest football video network - Developing new revenue streams, and the brand globally - and much more You can find James on @spooneybear and on LinkedIn Thanks for listening, do leave us a comment or rating and tell your colleague

Steven joined Williams in 2014 from the now-defunct Caterham team. A career in motorsport has led to his current role as Head of Creative Services, heading up the in-house team of designers and content creators. A change from when he came in to a list of agencies delivering much of their services. With new owners Liberty Media in charge of Formula One now, the season has seen changes come about as they become a digital led sport. Something that Williams have been able to capitalise on due to their internal set up that Steven set up. We didn't get chance to dig into Steven's career as there was so much to speak about around the team and the sport more generally, so we'll definitely get him back on the show soon. Thanks to our podcast sponsor RightNow Digital, check out their apps at http://rightnowdigital.com Hopefully you enjoy this and our previous interviews. Do give us a (5 star) rating on iTunes if you get a spare moment, it all helps. Catch us on @DigitalSportUK for all the latest industry news, i

Ben is a man of many talents, currently working with a leading football agent as their Director of Global Communications. Advising the likes of Ander Herrera and Gerard Pique. He also works on the #CommonGoal charity campaign that sees players, managers and other figures within football donate a minimum of 1% of their wages to streetworldfootball. Ben oversees all the strategic communications and works closely with Juan Mata on the public face of the campaign. We sat down to discuss Common Goal and how it came about. The numerous difficulties it has faced already including convincing football agents it's the right move for their clients. But also how building the brand of players (and teams) away from the pitch is key in developing revenue post career and outside of the traditional paths. You can find Ben on @BenWSMiller. If you enjoy this podcast then do leave a rating/review/comment or get in touch with us at @DigitalSportUK. Thanks!

Lynsey and Kair started The Offside Rule (We Get It!) with Hayley McQueen back in 2012, and has been a bit hit with football fans around the world ever since. In their day jobs they are sports broadcasters primarily covering the world of football. So they live and breath football almost 24/7! We talked about how the podcast idea came about, what has kept them going for 5 years and counting, the challenges of balancing paid jobs and passion projects such as this. We also touch upon England's chances next summer in Russia, and what women's football needs to do to take that next step up. If you enjoy this pod then do subscribe and also leave a comment, rating and review. All feedback is always gratefully received!

James Dickens is a Yahoo veteran with over 12 years under his belt at the technology giant. A lot has changed in that time both internally and within the sports media landscape as a whole. Dan sat down with James to discuss those changes and we learn about how Yahoo is planning to build on their relationship with new parent company Verizon, the massive US mobile company. Yahoo is now part of Oath, the umbrella company for the multiple publishers they now own, something that's allowed them to become the 2nd biggest publisher in the world. If you enjoy this podcast do let us know by commenting/rating. Or get in touch on Twitter at @DanielMcLaren or @DigitalSportUK.

Sarah is Head of Marketing at NFL UK, coming to London 2 years ago from her emmy-winning role as VP of Marketing & Promotions at the NFL Network in California. We met at NFL UK's headquarters in London to discuss the International Series, which had reached its midpoint before heading down to Twickenham for their final two games. It's an exciting time for the sport over here as they look forward to a new home at the currently-being-rebuilt White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur. If you enjoy this podcast please leave a rating, review or comment. Or just share it with your friends and colleagues. You can follow us on @DigitalSportUK for all the latest digisport news, insights and upcoming event info.

Paul Rayner has the very understated title of Publisher at one of the newest, and biggest, sports publishers in the UK, SPORT Bible. He was brought in at the start of 2017 to lead the title and help take it to the next level as a business. Previously he'd spent over 15 years at Dennis Publishing where, amongst other notable landmarks, he launched Minecraft Magazine after seeing it's popularity during a trade show in Japan. It's a fascinating time for SPORT Bible, and its parent company LAD Bible, as they look to move away from the negative stereotypes that may have come from its start, and build upon the staggering popularity it has with modern (young) consumers of news, sport and entertainment. You can follow Paul on @PaulRayner7 and Dan on @DanielMcLaren For your fix of digital sports news, and also updates on future podcasts and events, head to @DigitalSportUK or www.DigitalSport.co

This discussion took place at Soccerex at the start of September and is a passionate discussion about influencer marketing with myself (Dan) trying to keep it on track. Will Pyne (Brave Bison) and Matt Wilson (Ball Street and previous podcast guest) get into the nitty gritty of what influencer marketing is, how some are getting it right and some not so much and how to find your way through this relatively new world. If you enjoy this podcast please leave a rating or review, or get in touch at @danielmclaren or @digitalsportuk