The Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast by Marcus Luer
Episodes
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Terrence Burns, "Olympic Marketing Unpacked"
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Terrence Burns is best known as the “Bidding Guy” (in his own words), having supported and worked on more successful Olympic bids than anyone else in the industry. Lots of great stories and learn from his incredible experiences at Delta Airlines (which inspired several books) to working with sponsors and brands across the world. Great insights into the Olympic Games, from bidding processes and how it has changed, to branding the Games, to emotions which describes what the Rings mean to people. Enjoy the history lesson of the Games while watching the Tokyo Olympics 2020-21.
Key Highlights
Starting at the bottom of Delta Airlines fresh out of College – Maintenance Utility Employee & working his way up the ranks over a period of 15 years
Official Airline of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta – how it all started
Leading Delta’s sponsorship program of the Games, massive learning curve. Key setting clear KPI’s, to manage the board expectations
Moving from being a Client to the Agency side with Meridien Management, official marketing agency of the IOC
Joining Founders Chris Welton and Laurent Scharapan as Sn. VP Marketing – commissioned first proper research on the IOC and Olympic brand
McDonald’s five Cheeseburger Olympic story to illustrate the change in thinking
Sponsors have to tell a story to show consumers why they are involved and build the connection. The fee is just the entry ticket to the party.
Celebrate Humanity Campaign with Robin Williams
Talking numbers of Olympic programs in early 2000 – both for the TOP and LOC program
Salt Lake City crisis and how it turned around through “research lead facts” with sponsors
Losing Moscow Bid, character building and leading to the next gig – Sochi
Partnering with Frank Craighill, one of the foundering partners of ProServe (Donald Dell’s Agency) and Chris Walton to launch Helios (adding Chris Renner, Prescient later)
Success with Five Olympic bids & 2 World Cups , bringing Wrestling & Golf back into the Games, Asian Games, etc – helping to steer those bids and creating the stories around it
PyeongChang winning bidding story vs Munich’s losing story
New IOC approach to decide on future locations – no longer beauty parades, now Executive Board looks at which cities reflect the Olympic Values and best location for the movement
Emotional Senegal story – Olympics means “hope”
Asian Games gig – a balancing act – Doha 2030 and Saudi Arabia 2034
Current focus for him – working with Sponsor on the great decade of global Sports for North America, from the 2026 World Cup to the 2028 LA Olympics to potentially the Winter Olympics in 2030
Basic advice to sponsors – don’t sign the BTA (Basic Terms of Agreement) before you get advice from an expert
Latest numbers, US$ 200 million fees for TOP or LOC programs (4 year cycle) – the ratio of fees to activation investment debate
LA Bid about the next 100 years of the Olympic movement
Sochi story – the US$ 50 billion number unpacked
Tokyo 2020-21 thoughts to wrap it up – differences in sponsor mind set in Japan or China vs the US market
About Terrence Burns
I have a long history in Olympic marketing, dating from 1993. My background is unique, and includes:
A combination of sponsorship consulting/sales, Olympic and World Cup bidding, Olympic Agreement negotiation, and international sports branding and communications.
Serving "on all sides of the table" - as an Olympic sponsor, as a rights holder with the IOC/Meridian, and as a consultant to bidding cities and nations, rights holders and sponsors around the world.
Advising clients as varied as Allianz, the Australian Rugby Union, Australian Football Federation, Samsung, Petro-Canada, the City of Moscow, BHP Billiton, TNT China, Bell Canada, Dow Chemical, Nissin Foods, the International Olympic Committee, and the International Paralympic Committee to name but a few.
Directing Delta Air Lines' highly successful sponsorship of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Joined the IOC’s then-new external marketing agency, Meridian Management SA after the Atlanta Games where I served as Senior Vice President – Marketing, responsible for managing the marketing and client servicing relationships with the IOC’s global TOP Partners.
At Meridian, I helped spearhead the first-ever global assessment and positioning of the Olympic Brand, resulting in the IOC’s first brand image campaign, “Celebrate Humanity”.
Served as the lead brand and marketing consultant for the successful Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic bids, the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup & United 2026 FIFA World Cup bids, and the Doha 2030 Asian Games bid.
Served as the lead brand strategist for Golf and Wrestling’s bids to return to the Olympic Games.
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Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Patrick Mouratoglou, "The Coach"
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Patrick Mouratoglou, also known as “The Coach”, currently the most influential coach in tennis, sharing his incredible journey with us, starting with his difficulties in his childhood to overcoming them and turning his passion for Tennis first into a business (Academy) and then into a profession (Coach). Amazing stories and incredible learning on multiple levels. Best warm up story ever on the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast. I am certain you will enjoy it.
Key Highlights
Early childhood stories and challenges (from low self esteem and panic attacks) and the lessons from it
Winning the fight against his body and mind at the age of 11 – (first little victory) – lesson, we are the product of our life lessons (have a little win every day)
Started playing tennis at the age of 4, playing 8 hours per day – Court was only place where he felt safe and confident
Age 15, parents “forced” him to stop playing against his will – another turning point in his life – his dream was destroyed
Age 17, started psycho therapy for 10 years – developed tremendous skills how to read people due to his in-ability to interact with people
Working in his father’s company to learn the trade from the ground up – but wasn’t for him – pursued his passion for tennis again
Great life Lessons from his meetings with his parents
Starting his first academy – renting two Courts (for E$ 3 per court per hour) – putting flyers on cars – after one year 40 “average” players taking lessons
Next step – approached Bob Brett (at that time Boris Becker’s coach) to partner with him for the “Bob Brett Academy”
Had two months to put it all together before Bob Brett showed up. Patrick was the “manager” and running the academy, unfortunately, after six years Bob leaves.
Worst business decision to build a name for someone else and now the “brand” disappears on him – luckily his young players stayed on
He decided to put his own name on the “door”. Only problem was, he was not a Coach (yet).
From that decision onwards, it took him 10 years to win his first Grand Slam as a Coach – we unpack that incredible journey
Marcos Baghdatis, first protégé, next lesson (from bad coaching)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, just made French Open Final – 16 years old when she joined him, struggling together, great story
Serene Williams, she was going through a tough moment when they first met, hadn’t won a Grand Slam for two years and lost in first round in Paris
Called him to train in his tennis academy in Paris (at that time he was coaching Grigor Dimitrov) – “talk to me” story
He showed her what he thought she was doing wrong, working for 3 days and she loved it – next meeting in Wimbledon (which she won while Patrick coached her)
Massively successful year in 2012, winning Grand Slams, Olympic Gold, etc at the age of 30 – and 10 Grand Slams later
Patrick Mouratoglou Academy - from Nice, France to Greece & Dubai (Tennis Centers within top resorts)
Schooling and sports program – 200 students, 40 different nationalities – also for families, hotel, medical center, seminar area, etc
UTS – Ultimate Tennis Showdown – amazing new concept, shorter format, adapted rules, focused on digital audiences, players love it
Patrick talks us through his vision for UTS and what he thinks is right and wrong with tennis right now – must listen for anyone in the business of tennis
UTS formula - short, dynamic, immersive and authentic content – started in 2020 in height of pandemic – coverage across 100 countries, 20 mil viewers, 10 invited players
Raising US$ 50 million right now, to build a League, 10 events per year in amazing locations across the world – like F1 (only same 10 players)
About
Patrick Mouratoglou is a French tennis coach and sports commentator of Greek descent. He has been the coach of Serena Williams since June 2012.
He founded the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in 1996 near Paris (later relocated to the outskirts of Nice), and has coached many up-and-coming players, including Marcos Baghdatis (whom he coached to the final of the 2006 Australian Open), Julia Vakulenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Aravane Rezaï, Irena Pavlovic, Jérémy Chardy, Laura Robson, Yanina Wickmayer and Grigor Dimitrov.
Mouratoglou started coaching the ATP player Marcos Baghdatis in 1999 when Mouratoglou invited him to his Tennis Academy in October 1999, on a one-week basis. Baghdatis was, according to Mouratoglou, "not an athlete at all", however within seven years he would become a junior world No. 1, win the 2003 Australian Open boys' title, reach the final of the same tournament in 2006 and reach the world's top ten.
In July 2007, he started coaching Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Within two years, Pavlyuchenkova reached the world's top 30 and has since made two Grand Slam quarterfinals and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 13. They ended their association in August 2009, and Mouratoglou moved onto coaching both Aravane Rezaï and Yanina Wickmayer. Rezaï enjoyed a successful 2010 season, entering the world's top 20 and winning the Premier event in Madrid whilst Wickmayer reached a career-high ranking of world No. 12 in April 2010. Mouratoglou stopped working with both Rezaï and Wickmayer in August 2010 and April 2012 respectively.
In December 2010, Mouratoglou started coaching Laura Robson, who was world No. 217 at the time and still struggling to break into the senior tour. They worked together for six months before separating shortly before Wimbledon in 2011, when Robson was still struggling to make any progress on the WTA Tour, having slipped further to world No. 257. During this same period, Mouratoglou also coached Jérémy Chardy within his academy.
In March 2012, Mouratoglou started coaching Grigor Dimitrov and set about guiding him back into the world's top 100, having dropped to No. 102 by the time he started. This association ended in September that year and Mouratoglou moved on to coaching Serena Williams.
By the time Mouratoglou started coaching Williams, she had just suffered her first-ever opening round defeat in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, losing in the first round of the 2012 French Open. Since then, Mouratoglou has guided Williams to her fifth, sixth and seventh Wimbledon titles, the Olympic gold medal, her fourth, fifth, and sixth US Open titles, her second and third French Open titles, three consecutive year-end championships titles, her sixth and seventh Australian Open title and lifted her back to world No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
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Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Giampiero Rinaudo, "Sports Tech, Made in Italy"
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Giampiero Rinaudo, a passionate Italian sports tech Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of Deltatre. Being the CEO for the past 35 years, managing the growth over three decades with now a team of over 1,000 technologists, designers, and innovators across the world who are driven by a passion to change the way the world consumes content.
Key Highlights
How it started, at the young age of 20 as a student, started to work part time in “timing support” with Olivetti – in Alpine Skiing and F1
In 1986, Deltatre was born, with three partners – continuing to service Olivetti in result and timing systems (manual time spotting at F1)
Olivetti starting to have financial problems, time to be a proper entrepreneur and start offering service to multiple clients
In 1995, about 40 people, growth in second decade driven by growth in media rights fees, especially Football
UEFA Champions League, big new client and opportunity, central results system operator
Staying at the cutting edge, working with top clients who push company to new heights and working globally
Internet and PC boom offering new opportunities, World Championship of Athletics, Gothenburg, 1995 – first real time results on the internet
Building websites and portals for Federations – clear focus to be a service provider, not in competition with our clients
In 2005 (second decade), 110 staff, two offices, heavily focused on 2-3 big clients, UEFA, FIFA, IAAF
His own Entrepreneurial journey and learning – software developer turned CEO. Learning on the job
Third decade, from 5 clients to 70 clients, streaming over the internet and social media, nearly 500 people
First Olympic streaming website for NBC at the Beijing Olympics 2008 – great success
London 2012 – first proper digital Olympics – again involved at a major level
Starting to develop “Products” for broader range of clients with smaller budget (changing from Service to Product culture)
New Broadcasters clients, still focused on Europe and a few around the world
Growth funded internally until 2008, looking for growth beyond organic, Italian investor came in and Deltatre saved them during the subsequent global crisis
2016 Bruins Sports Capital (BSC), buys 75%, 25% still held by management – big growth in the US through BSC strong network
First new client(s) in the US, NFL Game Pass, then MLB, MLS
OTT growth, now 50% of the business – broadcast clients
Acquisition of Massive Interactive – combining their product culture with Deltatre service culture
OTT – discussion about the evolution, the opportunities and challenge with monetization
Partnerships with Rights Holders, example with DFL (Bundesliga) and Sportec Solutions
Beyond sports, a look at entertainment, Gaming & Esports
Deltatre and Covid – effects on company & “one company” system & the “new normal” office culture
Look into the future of Deltatre – continued two digit growth, acquisition, etc
About Giampiero Rinaudo
“When I was young, I wanted to be a timekeeper for alpine skiing,” says Deltatre’s Group CEO, Giampiero. Fascinated by sports, and growing up near Turin, Italy, within easy reach of mountains, it wouldn’t have been an unrealistic goal. But Giampiero, known as Gipi, would follow a related, but different, tact.
After completing his Computer Science studies at the University of Turin, he took his career dream as a starting point and supercharged it. Setting up Deltatre with two partners in 1986, he combined his interests in technology and sport to produce better fan experiences across the world – an ambition which began with creating ways to record times and other sports data more accurately. “I was a lover of computers and data and I loved sports, so I thought ‘what better than setting up Deltatre?’ Computers and sports were my passions,” he says.
When he set up the company aged just 27, Deltatre was unsurprisingly a very different place to today. An early project involved developing software to provide more accurate timekeeping for Formula 1, with the company installing transponders within cars to ensure lap times could be measured accurately – a tactic still used to this day.
Personal computers were in their infancy, meaning heavy equipment would often be carted to games. “They did the tasks we were doing at that time like record timings and inform about results,” he says. “Now we’ve moved in a completely different direction.”
Gipi could never have foreseen the incredible growth that Deltatre would encounter. From its humble beginnings as a team of just three, to more than 1,000 technologists, designers, and thought-leaders today in 19 offices across the globe. Now a silent partner powering many of the world’s most-watched events, including FIFA World Cups, UEFA Champions Leagues, ATP Tennis Tournaments, and NFL Super Bowls – to name just a few.
Disruption has remained constant over the past three decades – and Gipi and employees have evolved with it rather than fervently clung on to techniques of the past. With the recent acquisition of software company Massive Interactive, which specialises in the entertainment OTT space, this has never been more true. “When I look back every year, the company is never the same as the year before; it’s a constant transformation,” he says.
As well as the continued growth of the company, he believes one of his biggest achievements is the culture fostered at Deltatre. “It’s a very informal environment and my door is always open,” he says. And how does he want others in the company to view him? “Honest and loyal,” he says, “which I believe are also important sport values.” Outside of work, he enjoys alpine skiing, swimming, and hiking.
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