The Sporting Blog Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Sporting Blog
On todays’s podcast, Oli talks to internet entrepreneur and strength and conditioning coach James de Lacey.
On today’s podcats they discuss
James’ career as a trainer and strength coach
The basics of strength and conditioning - why do pro’s do it, why should you do it?
S&C for kids in sport. When is the right time?
How to start a S&C programme and what it might entail
Performance-enhancing drugs and the shady side of pro sport
Check out more health and fitness-related posts here.
Check out James’ sites below;
Sweet Science of Fighting
Lift big eat big
On today’s Sporting Blog podcast Oli Harris talks with Jacob Pritchard-Webb, ex-jockey turned international bloodstock agent,
On today’s podcast they discuss
Racing in France
The life of a bloodstock agent
Differences between French and UK racing
Living with a life-changing injury
General discussion about the state of British racing
Follow Jacob on Twitter/X
Read Jacob’s guide to French Racing on The Sporting Blog
Oli talks to legendary super agent Leigh Steinberg about the possibility of an NFL franchise in London, and the chance of London hosting the Superbowl.
On today's podcast Oli & Leigh discuss;
Intro to Leigh's career
How the NFL London games have been received back in the US
The suitability of London for a full-time NFL franchise
The possibility of playing America's showpiece sports event, The Superbowl, in London
How the NFL has changed for the better and the worse over the last 40 years
About Leigh Steinberg
Premier sports agent, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment Holdings, is best known for his work building athletes into stand-alone brands.
He is often credited as the real-life inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Jerry Maguire.
Leigh has represented many of the most successful athletes and coaches in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing, and golf, including the number one overall pick in the NFL draft for an unprecedented eight times in conjunction with 62 total first-round picks.
With an unrivalled history of record-setting contracts, Leigh has secured over $4 billion for his 300+ pro-athlete clients and directed more than $750 million to various charities around the world.
Over the course of his career, Leigh has been featured on numerous national television programs, including 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The Today Show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and many more.
He has been profiled in a host of magazines, including Business Week, Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, People, Forbes, Playboy, GQ, and FHM. He currently resides in Newport Beach, CA.
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On today’s Sporting Blog Podcast, Oli chats to Rugby writer Sam Peters about his new book, Concussed.
‘Concussed’ is the culmination of over 10 years of work by Sam, studying the impact and evidence surrounding head injuries in professional Rugby Union.
On the Podcast Oli & Sam discuss:
Intro to Sam and his love for Rugby
Defining ‘concussion’
Not just a Rugby problem
Responsibility for player welfare
Risk of Doctors as employees of a club/country
Player Opinion, past and present
NFL approach to head injury
You can buy ‘Concussed’ here!
For more hard-hitting and questioning articles on sports check out The Sporting Blog - the best sports blog on the internet
Follow Sam on Twitter!
Viv Anderson played under Biran Clough for Nottingham Forest, and won the First Division and the European Cup, twice!
He also won the League Cup and was famously the first black footballer to play for England.
Viv sat down with Oli Harris to discuss the film, but also to chat about Mr Clough, tactics and whether football has really changed much apart from the commercial benefits!
On this weeks Funderbeam Podcast Oli talks to the wonderful Ali Speechly.
On this week’s Podcast they talk about;
Intro - career and life in general
Why football?
Coaching career - setting the scene
Pathways - do they exist for women in football?
What's harder to achieve - women coaching regularly at the local level or a national level?
What have you got from coaching that you bring into your everyday life?
Do you believe in/advocate for coaching outside of the sporting environment?
What do you want to see the other way around? What commonplace things in normal working life would translate well into sport?
Favourite Dog
You can also listen to the Podcast below, or wherever you listen to Podcasts!
Follow Ali on Twitter
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Connect with Oli on LinkedIn
Amy Clement updates The Sporting Blog on Her Game Too
It's been about 18 months since Caitlin, Eve and Amy joined Oli for their first appearance on the Sporting Blog Podcast, so it's about time for an update!
So we called upon the ever-ready Amy Clement to give us the lowdown on what HGT have been up to since we last spoke, and how things are going in general.
On this week's Podcast, Oli and Amy cover;
Where is Her Game Too, 18 months on?
Moving into Rugby & Cricket
The Fight continues
Effects of Lionesses and Women’s football on the whole
Trolls and why it's so boring
Being a female fan in 2023
Why the Cockapoo is Amy’s favourite dog
Follow Amy on Twitter!
And Follow Her Game Too
and The Sporting Blog!
On this week’s Sporting Blog Podcast, we talk to Stuntpegg about her life as a Youtube content creator!
Specifically, Oli talks to Nieve about;
Her life so far and how she goes about things
Creator Journey - how long did it take to get out of the 'sandbox'
What were the biggest challenges to her motivation to grow her audience? - What got her down and what picked her up
Dealing with being a female creator in Football
What can channels and mediums do to help creators.
Check out more football content on our dedicated football blog.
Dr Tom Bason is an Assistant Professor in Sports Management at Coventry University and an expert in football financing. Oli dialled him in for a chat on the recent takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF.
In this week’s Podcast we discuss;
Was the £310 million the PIF paid for Newcastle United a good deal?
The implications of financial fair play as to what we can expect from PIF and Newcastle going forward.
Why do people want to buy football clubs?
Is the timing right for the deal?
What impact would relegation have on the club and its new owners?
Where might they look to spend their money - Infrastructure or on the pitch?
Click here for more Football content! and read a bit more about Newcastle United, and where it all went wrong for Mike Ashley.
On today’s podcast we talk to David about;
How he navigated writing the first 6 chapters of the book, dealing with Lions tours from the 19th Century and the early 20th century
The conditions the players would have been faced with on their journey to South Africa
The places they may have stayed and travelled to on their journies to all parts of South Africa
The make-up of those South African sides, and the demographic that they would have belonged to
The case of Rugby forging friendships despite deep political divides and even war
How the tours have changed over the years, and how they started compared to the giant commercial operation it is today.
How covid has affected tour preparations so far and what the Lions can expect from a country badly affected by Covid-19
The book was a real pleasure to read and meticulously researched. It will be available in August and you can find out a bit more about it here. https://www.amberley-books.com/lions-in-africa.html
Check out the podcast below, and wherever you get your podcasts from.
Mystic Zach - We talk to Zach Hirsch about his meteoric rise and the future of the fight game
About Zach Hirsch
Zach Hirsch, 19, widely known as Mystic Zach, is the most popular and most accurate young sports analyst and handicapper in the world. At only seventeen years old, Zach picked over 90% of all football, basketball and combat sports correctly in 2019.
Amazingly he picked 21 straight college football games correctly including the SEC Championship, the College Semi-Finals and the National Championship Game. He has predicted hundreds of boxing, MMA and most recently BKFC Bareknuckle bouts correctly in addition to accurately calling the last four NFL Super Bowls. Zach, who has interviewed some of the top combat sports stars and influencers in the world including Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Rashad Evans, Shannon Briggs, Logan Paul, Jake Paul and more, has quickly become one of the hottest influencers in the sports analytics world.
He has 500,000 followers on his iPickWins Instagram account and thousands of visitors to his website www.ipickwins.com.
In Today’s Podcast, Oli and Zach talk about…
How Zach got into picking winners, and why he loves all sports
How studying lots and lots of games is key to his strategy
Appealing to the Gen Z fan
Boxing and the future of PPV
Some of his favourite interviews like Canelo, Fury and more
Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Uysk - The heavyweight merry go round
What he has coming up!
It was great talking to Zach, who amazingly makes all this happen whilst having just aced his first year at college as well. Incredible!
Be sure to check out our boxing content which is growing every week!
Her Game Too is the initiative of 12 like minded women, who are putting the message out there that football is not just a game to be enjoyed by men. Tackling sexist comments and online abuse is something that the social networks themselves seem uninterested in, so the #HerGameToo team are tackling it themselves.
Oli talks to Caitlin Bennet, Amy Clement and Eve Ralph from #HerGameToo about a variety of topics under the broad umbrella of sexism in Football.
In today’s podcast we talk about;
Team intro’s from Amy, Caitlin and Eve
Examples of sexist behaviour in football - In the workplace, in the pub and on the terraces?
Why women shouldn’t have to prove their interest in football
Educating young people about what is appropriate behaviour
What can the sport itself do
Responsibility of social platforms
Find out more about #HerGameToo at https://www.hergametoo.co.uk/
Follow Eve, Amy and Caitlin on social
Eve - https://twitter.com/everalphx
Amy - https://twitter.com/amyclement94
Caitlin - https://twitter.com/CaitBennett_
If you follow Football (or soccer) closely on Twitter, you are bound to have come across Harry Brooks. Well known for his genuine insight, and detail orientated analysis, he is the mould of what a football coach might look like over the next decade.
We had a chat with Harry to discuss, amongst other things, the following:
Coaching outside of a club structure
Individual assessment (as opposed to assessment under the framework of the whole)
Where younger players generally need that extra bit of help/guidance, which part of their games can truly be worked on in a way that a club coach or manager can see improvement
Learned techniques that probably need to be unlearned
Social channels and appetite for actually understanding the game
If you are interested in the role that coaches play in football, especially outside of the club structure, this one is for you.
Follow Harry on Twitter!
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Oli talks to the former softball star about a whole bunch of stuff which frankly could have gone on for hours!
On today’s podcast we discuss:
An intro from Hannah and how she got into her current role in the MLB
The mental side of sport for an individual as opposed to a team
Staying present - a key factor in baseball
Compartmentalisation as a learned skill
Assessing an athlete’s mental skills based on background, culture etc.
Normalising the person in the professional environment
Putting mental skills training into practice
How we can and should always be learning
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A fascinating guy, we spoke about;
Where Joe got his inspiration from - the scouts, his travels and the desire for a brighter future
If you want something, do something about it!
His focus on the USA as a market for Reebok in the early days and how he got there
The iconic Aztec running shoe
Growth into Aerobics and then Tennis - the tipping point of going from growing, to huge
Marketing and Influencers - why things haven’t really changed, and that moment in 1991 at the NBA Slam Dunk contest
What he would do to help make Badminton more popular (his playing passion)
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Rob Fahey MBE OAM won his first Real Tennis World Championship in 1994, and aside from a brief period between 2016-18 has been the World Champion ever since.
We had Rob on the podcast to talk about the early days in his career, what it was like turning pro and travelling the world, and what it has taken to stay at the top of the game for so long.
Broadly, we discuss :
How he started playing Real Tennis
The jump to being a professional player and aiming to be a tournament winner
What it took to break through to the elite level
Forms of practice and analysing losses
The rise of professionalism in all sports
How the frequency of competition fuels competitive desire
Playing without expectations
A truly great man to chat to for 45 mins or so, it’s worth a listen to no matter what sport you are into, or even if you aren’t! Listen below or anywhere you get your podcasts.
On today’s podcast, we talk to Peter about;
The history of Rugby Bricks
Comparing training in rugby with other sports
The role of detail when listening to professional athletes
How to present that detail in a way that engages the audience without putting them off
Social media and content strategy - how Peter sets up his content so it gets watched
Instagram as a platform - why it’s a winner for Rugby Bricks
Kicking tees - How that side of the business started and why they are made in New Zealand
Why it’s “Ok to be obsessed”
Favourite Dog - Golden Retriever
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Clive Russell talks to us about his work in MLB, fandom in 2020 and his experiences in live sport both as a professional and as a fan
On today’s podcast, Oli chews the fat with Clive Russell, former Head of MLB in the UK and Europe, and long time sports business professional.
Amongst many other things we talk about:
US sport and sporting brand presence in the UK
How fans consume content and what that might look like in the future
Storytelling as a medium for connecting fans to their teams
Sporting venues - how they stack up and what are fan expectations going forward?
Supporting Liverpool Home and Away
Hugo the dog (Border Terrier)
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On today’s Podcast we are joined by Tim Crow, a world leader in sports marketing
Tim Crow has been in the sports marketing game since the 1980s, and is still at the sharp end some 30 odd years later. Oli and Tim both love talking about sport, marketing and sponsorship, so sit back and relax as we take you through it all!
If you have any interest in sports marketing, sponsorship and that world, this is a must-listen.
On this week’s Podcast
Starting in cricket, moving into the agency world
Documentary making and sports marketing
Differences between the US and UK sports sponsorship
What’s changed in sports marketing over the years - where budgets are placed
Authenticity in the sports marketplace
Nostalgia marketing and looking back at things done well
Non-league football and ownership
Women in sport
How to listen
You can click above to listen and download or listen on the following platforms:
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British Esports Association Chairman Andy Payne is today’s guest on The Sporting Blog Podcast, and it’s a cracker
Andy Payne has been in the video game industry since the 1980s, and has seen this once niche world explode over the years into the gargantuan industry it is today. We sat down to discuss the world of gaming and esports from top to bottom.
On this week’s Podcast
This might well be known as the ‘Oli Rant edition’ as we get onto some fairly emotive points, but as always it is very easy and great chatting to Andy. Amongst many other things we cover;
The gaming industry in the 80s and the rise of the home computer & coding at schools
The tipping points that changed the way we approached video games in the UK
The huge amount of innovation in the UK, including the invention of some of the worlds most popular games such as GTA and Red Dead Redemption
The rise of esports and the professional era
Why South Korea is ahead of the curve in esports, and why the UK is not investing enough in infrastructure (Rant 1 from Oli)
Data gathering in esports and how it protects against third party actions that have affected other sports
Comparisons with football (Rant 2 from Oli)
We could have probably talked for hours as its a super interesting topic, and esports is still in its infancy, as is the gaming industry when compared to other forms of entertainment. But it’s only going to get bigger, which means there will always be something to talk about.
Today’s podcast guest is the multi-talented journalist and broadcaster Georgie Frost
Georgie Frost is a sports and finance journalist and broadcaster. She cut her teeth at the sharp end of sports journalism as a local journalist in Newcastle, before moving South and beginning her journey on air with BBC Radio. She wears a number of hats but is currently knocking download home runs out of the park with the ThisIsMoney Podcast.
We invited George on to have a chat about her life in sport, where the future of broadcast is headed and of course, her favourite dog.
Things we talk about on today’s podcast;
Local journalism in Newcastle and interviewing Roy Keane!
Working as a woman in sport in a traditional ‘hotbed’ town like Newcastle
Coaching Football and why she decided to get coaching qualifications
Observations about barriers to entry for women coaches (TBF this was mainly Oli ranting)
Podcasting, broadcasting and why she loves radio
Previously having a Wimbledon season ticket, missing football and how sport has brought her family closer together
Favourite Dog (2 in this case)
Was great to chat with Georgie and we hope to have her back on in the future to see if the dial is moved on any issues at all.
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Nikita Buffee works for Allied Esports, looking after their BD and Partnerships. We were lucky enough to grab some time with him to have a long distance chat about all things esports and gaming.
What are you talking about?
How he got into esports and what Allied do within this vibrant industry
The early 90s, Gameboy, Playstation 1 and Halo
The live event experience - including his occiaisonal role as a caster
Marketing in esports, specifically the influencer led side of things
Gaming as home entertainment
Powerful Storytelling in games such as God of War, GTA V etc
How brands take advantage of the commercial opportunity - segmentation and value
Conventions, parties and the esports scene in general
Favourite Dog
If you want to contact Nikita to discuss esports or the industry in general, you can catch up with him on LinkedIn.
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Merrick Haydon has been in the sports marketing game for some time, so who better to talk us through living with corona, live events in 2021 and the future of fan engagement.
On this show, amongst other things, we cover:
An introduction to rEvolution and what a sports marketing agency does
The importance of measuring ROI for brands and rights holders
Coronavirus and the live sports event space
What the sports world looks like from an events perspective in 2021
How will big events deal with the possibility of no fans being in attendance?
The future of fan engagement
Merrick’s favourite dog
As ever you can find us in all the places you get your podcasts.
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Mike Harley is the owner of two F45 businesses, one in central London, and one in Milton Keynes. A former army officer, he is also an EOS implementer and management consultant.
We wanted to talk to someone in the ‘fitness industry’ who didn’t make their living through posting pictures and selling affiliate products. Someone who has been affected by Coronavirus in a very specific way, and who could tell us a bit about it. So we spoke to Mike.
In this episode we cover:
What is F45 and the brand ethos?
How F45 and Mike’s businesses have been affected by Covid-19
Where Covid leaves the fitness industry in 2020 and what lies next
How a community based approach could be the way forward
Working with influencers and marketing a group fitness product
Mike’s favourite type of dog
As ever, please subscribe to the Podcast and if you are able to, please leave a review!
As ever, check out The Sporting Blog for all sorts of stuff relating to sport, fitness and the sports industry.
A little edit to what Mike said at around 26 minutes… F45 may be merging with Crescent, not Carnival.
It’s a balmy 29 degrees, the world is emerging from lockdown and we are at the height of Summer. What better way to spend the day but in a pub garden, sipping a frosty beer or sparkling rose? Talking to Oli from your kitchen table of course.
This week we are very lucky to be joined by the multi-talented Immy Barclay. A sports presenter based in the UK but with an international outlook on life, and a colourful career story. She has worked in Moto GP, Golf, Tennis and Football with Manchester United.
We talk a little bit about her time covering Red Bull Rookies, and how that helped shape her presenting style and use her flair for languages to really open up the athletes taking part. We also touch on her work in Golf, and how some of her favourite moments in sport have come in a golf buggy! .
We discuss how sports differ in terms of media approach and how the lockdown has led to her IGTV series #KeepTheBallRolling, where she interviews women in sport, as suggested by the previous guest! A great idea and one to watch.
We pass the summer afternoon discussing Instagram, the importance of remaining focused on the positives and how before her TV career had started, a 4 month sabbatical in Brazil led to an interview with surf legend Kelly Slater, and the drive to carve out a career in sport.
We also discover the all important ‘favourite dog’ fact, and frankly, did not see it coming.
All that was missing was that beer.
Check out more from The Sporting Blog on our website
Where else would we go this week… we had horse racing on ITV and Sky Sports every day this week with Royal Ascot.
We also had the return of the Premier League… this weeks main talking points;
Stradivarius🏇 - not the violin
Sheffield United ‘goal’ that was somehow not given
Fernandes cheating but not being punished
Guests coming up this week - Immy Barclay and Merrick Haydon.
As usual please subscribe to the Podcast and leave a review.
Many large blog networks do not pay writers for their work. Instead there is the promise of learning, sharing your name around and all sorts of other bullshit. The truth is, people should be paid for work.
Oli gets into a rant about this before calming down and introducing a piece that we published today from new writer, Charlie Rowan. Charlie is only 14 and is just embarking on his career, and we are going to support him 100%.
His article is the first part in a series about Bury Football club and their expulsion from the EFL, and what the future might hold.
The article is here and I know he would appreciate any feedback!
Stay cool, and please do subscribe and leave a review if you have the time!
We searched Google for “best sports brands”
This resulted in a huge number of results as you might imagine but the ‘snippet’ that came at the top of the results was what we used for this podcast.
We cover;
The results and who wrote the article that features in the Google Snippet.
How websites write these sorts of articles and why they are SEO magnets
Why you should not trust the first results you see if using information for a paper, research, work etc
A run down of the 10 brands that are suggested as ‘the best’
A little bit of insight into the world of content marketing
I also reference an article to Kabaddi which is here
Please follow the podcast if you like what you hear, leave a review and keep tuned into The Sporting Blog!
A must for any football fans who are interested in the business side of sport, or are interested in how football works outside of the Premier League Bubble. Fascinating stuff.
In today’s episode we cover:
The economics of Russian Football and how clubs are financed
Media rights and issues with viewing figures
The product of Russian Premier League Football and competitive balance
Zenit St Petersburg and Gazprom
FC Ufa - a model for the future?
World Cup 2018, hooliganism (or lack of it) and the legacy it left
The future of Russian Football
Follow Elena on Linkedin and Instagram
Please do subscribe to the Podcast if you enjoyed this, leave a review if you have the time and check out more cool stuff at The Sporting Blog!
On today’s Sporting Blog Podcast we go back to the internet to find out what questions people are asking about the worlds most popular sport. Football
Oli looks at 80 of the worlds most common questions about football, of which there are many duplicates so don;t worry, he won’t be answering all 80 of them!
Some show notes;
The full list of questions is available here.
We reference an article about the best up and coming football talent in the UK, that is HERE.
I also reference how I picked a baseball team to support which is HERE.
Please subscribe to the podcast and follow us on all social channels PLEASE.
Also if you are looking to by anything football related for Fathers day, we have a good selection of memorabilia here
Real Tennis - Answering the Internets questions
Who invented Real Tennis
Who played Real Tennis
When did Real Tennis Start
What is Real Tennis
What are Real Tennis Shoes
Are Real Tennis balls bad for dogs
Is Real Tennis a sport
How many Real Tennis courts are there
Where to buy a Real Tennis Chain
and many more besides…
Read a long form interview about Real Tennis and shorter one with women's world champ Claire Fahey.
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In this episode we look at Padel;
- Accessibility
- Where to play
- Why build a court
- Should we try and build some courts?
Oli takes a quick look at the career stats and style of play of Rafa Nadal.
- Grand Slam record
- Playing Style
- Career Stats
Oli welcomes you to the first podcast in Sporting Blog history... No guests this week but we cover
- Return to sport in Britain
- What to expect from the podcast