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LIV Golf may have entered bankruptcy, but does that automatically make it a failure? In this special StreamTime Sports deep dive, Chris Stone and Nick Meacham unpack one of the most controversial and consequential stories in modern sport. From Greg Norman's decades-long ambition to challenge golf’s status quo to Saudi Arabia's multi-billion-dollar investment through PIF, the episode explores how LIV Golf emerged, why elite players joined, and what happened when the challenger league collided with the PGA Tour. The discussion covers antitrust lawsuits, sportswashing debates, media rights struggles, player economics, franchise ownership models and the future of LIV 2.0. Most importantly, it asks whether LIV Golf should be judged purely as a business venture or whether its lasting impact will be the changes it forced upon the wider golf industry. Key Topics: Did LIV Golf fail as a business, but succeed as a disruption?Why did LIV Golf ultimately fall short of its expectations?How did the PGA Tour have to adapt and change in response?What lessons does LIV Golf provide for other emerging sports leagues?

A week of major developments across the Premier League, media and streaming has raised important questions about the future of sports business. This episode explores the potential consequences of Manchester City's ongoing regulatory battle and what it could mean for the finances and global appeal of the Premier League. Nick and Chris also unpack the completion of Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, examining the impact on sports rights, streaming platforms and competition across the media landscape. Finally, they discuss Disney+'s growing sports strategy in the Nordics, where the addition of NHL rights further strengthens their portfolio and if its a sign of the company's plans to develop their sports offering internationally.

Not every sports property can be the NFL, Premier League or NBA. But not every sport is a niche passion play either. So what happens to the vast number of organisations caught in the middle?   This episode explores the growing challenges facing sports media's "middle class" - established properties with meaningful audiences, passionate fans and commercial ambitions, but without the scale of the world's biggest leagues. Nick and Chris examine how streaming has changed the economics of sports broadcasting, why premium sports and niche sports often have clearer business models, and what middle-tier properties must do to remain competitive.   Using examples including Dyn Media, FloSports, Formula E, the EuroLeague and rugby, the discussion explores whether strategy, aggregation and audience growth can provide a sustainable path forward in an increasingly crowded marketplace.   Key Topics: Was traditional TV historically propping up sports media's middle class all along?How has streaming changed the economics and opportunities available to middle-tier sports properties? Why do niche sports often have an easier path to monetisation than larger, more established middle-tier sports?Can platforms like Dyn Media and FloSports prove that aggregation is the future for middle-tier sports?Is it possible for a sport to move from the middle tier into the top tier of the global sports ecosystem?

What happens when a football league needs to broadcast its own live games? On this episode of StreamTime Sports we bring you the latest episode of our New Economics of Fandom miniseries in partnership with Genius Sports. Co-hosts Nick Meacham and Chris Stone are joined by Cyprien Castanedo, head of media and platform innovation at LFP Media, to explore the launch and growth of Ligue1+, the league's direct to consumer streaming platform. After the LFP lost its domestic broadcast partnership, Castanedo explains how Ligue1+ was built in a matter of months, reached one million subscribers within three weeks and drove revenue through both subscriptions and major distribution partners.

Sports media leaders may compete in different corners of the industry, but many are increasingly focused on the same challenges: personalisation, production efficiency, cloud infrastructure and audience engagement.   Fresh from StreamTime Sports Live and IBC in Amsterdam, Chris and Nick unpack the biggest themes emerging from the worlds of sports media, broadcasting and technology. Drawing on conversations with speakers from organisations including the BBC, SVT, Bundesliga, Dyn Media and Dolby, they explore how the industry is approaching AI, cloud production, personalisation and fan engagement.   Key Topics: Why are broadcasters, rights holders and technology companies becoming increasingly aligned around personalisation and audience engagement? How are organisations using cloud production, automation and AI to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality? What lessons can sports media learn from the approaches being taken by the BBC, Bundesliga, SVT and Dyn Media? Is sports media entering a more mature phase, and what does that mean for future innovation and growth?

Sports organisations have spent years talking about data as the key to growth. But what if most are approaching it the wrong way?   In the latest episode of our New Economics of Fandom miniseries, Chris Stone and Nick Meacham are joined by UEFA Chief Marketing & Chief Digital Officer Roman Putsch to explore how one of the world's leading sports properties approaches fan engagement, first-party data and commercial growth.   Putsch explains why UEFA views data as "crude oil, not gold", how the organisation measures audience quality rather than simply audience size, and why creating value for fans must come before collecting information from them. The conversation also explores sponsorship activation, media rights, and the capabilities sports organisations need to build for the future.   The New Economics of Fandom is produced in partnership with Genius Sports and explores how sport's commercial future is being reshaped by technology, data and changing fan behaviour.   Key Points: How are sports organisations are thinking about data the wrong way.How fan value creates data value, not the other way around.The best metrics for evaluating audience quality.Why "owning the fan" may be the wrong objective for sports organisations.How to build the capabilities needed for sport's next commercial era.

Few companies have generated as many headlines, sparked as much debate, or attracted as much attention in sports media as DAZN. Once positioned as the 'Netflix of Sports', the company has spent the last decade transforming from an ambitious streaming start-up into one of the most influential and controversial players in global sports broadcasting.   This episode traces the complete DAZN story, from its roots in Perform Group and early expansion across Europe and Japan, through its billion-dollar betting on sports rights, the challenges of COVID, and its shift towards profitability. Chris and Nick explore the key decisions, acquisitions and personalities that shaped the company, including Len Blavatnik, Simon Denyer, John Skipper and Shay Segev, before examining what DAZN has become today and what its future could look like.   Key Topics: How did DAZN evolve from a niche streaming start-up into one of the biggest sports media companies in the world? Which strategic decisions helped shape DAZN's journey, and which proved to be costly mistakes?How did COVID, changing streaming economics and the drive for profitability fundamentally transform the business?What is DAZN today, and is the company ultimately heading towards an IPO, an acquisition or something entirely different?

Sports organisations are increasingly prioritising reach over exclusivity, and the latest moves from Disney+, DAZN and Serie A show just how important audience growth has become in a fragmented media landscape.  This episode explores Formula E's new global partnership with Disney+, why DAZN continues to expand through acquisitions and new distribution deals, and how leagues such as Serie A are balancing free-to-air exposure with subscription revenue. Along the way, Chris and Nick examine what these strategies reveal about the future of sports media, international distribution and audience growth.  Key Topics: What does Formula E's Disney+ partnership reveal about the growing importance of audience reach over media rights revenue?Why is Disney expanding its sports offering globally, and what role could ESPN play in that strategy?What is DAZN actually building through its growing portfolio of acquisitions, partnerships and rights deals?Can leagues like Serie A grow international audiences by combining free-to-air visibility with premium streaming partnerships?

Pete Distad has spent much of his career at the centre of streaming’s evolution. He worked at the pioneering Hulu, spent a decade at Apple, and attempted to consolidate the world of sport DTC with Venu Sports. Now he’s leading Fox’s own digital ambitions with Fox One.   Distad sat down with Nick Meacham at SportsPro New York to unpack the thinking behind FOX One, what he has learned from launching and scaling multiple streaming products, and how those experiences are shaping Fox’s next chapter.   They discuss: The strategy behind FOX One and where it fits in thechanging US sports media landscapeWhat a decade at Apple taught Distad about building and scaling streaming productsWhy Venu Sports remains the one project he still looks back on and wonders what might have beenBuilding products consumers actually want and knowing when you’re onto somethingThe mistakes, lessons and decisions that have shaped his career across Hulu, Apple, Venu and FoxWhy the 2026 Fifa World Cup was a major test for FOX One and its streaming ambitions StreamTime Sports is thrilled to make the top 5 Sports Business podcasts. See the full list here: https://podcast.feedspot.com/sports_business_podcasts/

With Premier League kickoff just a day away, Men in Blazers pulled off something it had never done before — live-streaming a Tottenham preseason match direct to North America and pulling in over 3x the concurrent viewership it had forecast. On this episode, Nick sits down with Roger Bennett, Co-Founder and CEO of the Men in Blazers Media Network, to unpack how MiB became one of the biggest independent football media businesses in North America — and what football's rapid rise in the US means for the sport's next 50 years. How Men in Blazers built its business on two first-mover bets: spotting football's rise in the US back in the early 2010s, and timing its launch around the emergence of podcasting Inside the World Cup output that pushed MiB's streams up over 500% — 200+ podcasts plus TV shows, newsletters, alternate broadcasts and live eventsWhy NBC's 2013 Premier League deal — and its off-primetime kickoff slots — became an accidental masterstroke in growing US fandomMLS's move behind the Apple paywall, and why friction is the enemy of a fanbase that "finds football easily" America's multi-team fandom habit, and why Wrexham draws roughly seven times the average Premier League club's US following Debrief: streaming Tottenham vs Hoffenheim live to North America ~10,000 concurrent viewers against an internal forecast of 2,800–3,200 — and what it signals for the next wave of club-direct broadcasts StreamTime Sports is thrilled to make the top 5 Sports Business podcasts. See the full list here: https://podcast.feedspot.com/sports_business_podcasts/

Don't adjust your dials. This episode of StreamTime Sports features an interview by host Nick Meacham with Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke featured on t he SportsPro Pod. For decades, the sports industry has relied on broadcasters to fund growth, distribute content and monetise audiences. But what happens when that model starts to change?Locke discusses Genius Sports' evolution from its betting roots into a global technology business, the company's acquisition of Legend, the growing role of AI and data ownership, and why he believes the next generation of sports growth will come from direct relationships with fans. The conversation also examines the changing economics of media rights, the NFL partnership, gaming as a future distribution channel and what sports organisations need to do to thrive in a more personalised digital world. This is the first episode in SportsPro's New Economics of Fandom series, exploring how sport's commercial future is being rewritten. StreamTime Sports is thrilled to make the top 5 Sports Business podcasts. See the full list here: https://podcast.feedspot.com/sports_business_podcasts/

Streaming was supposed to unbundle television. Instead, the sports industry may be building a new bundle altogether. This episode explores YouTube's new partnership with NBCUniversal, which brings Peacock into the YouTube ecosystem, and DAZN's move to become the streaming home of YES Network and MSG Networks content in the United States. The discussion examines whether aggregators are becoming the new gatekeepers of sports media, how live sports continue to drive platform strategy, and why the streaming industry increasingly resembles the cable bundle it once set out to replace. The pair also discuss the Commonwealth Games' move from BBC to TNT Sports and the trade-off between audience reach and premium coverage. Key Topics: What does the YouTube-Peacock partnership reveal about YouTube's long-term ambitions in sports and streaming?Has the streaming industry come full circle and begun rebuilding the traditional television bundle?Can regional sports networks thrive by partnering with platforms like DAZN rather than operating their own streaming services?How much audience reach should rights holders sacrifice in exchange for deeper streaming coverage and higher commercial returns?

Roku just agreed to be acquired by Fox in a deal valuing the streaming giant at $22 billion — but long before the headlines, Roku had quietly built one of the most ambitious sports strategies in streaming. On this episode, Nick sits down with Joe Franzetta, Head of Sports for Roku Media, to unpack how a platform reaching 100 million households is working to make sports content frictionless to find, aggregate, and monetize in an increasingly fragmented rights landscape. How Roku's "Sports Zone" aggregates live games, clips, highlights and stats across leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NWSL and WNBA — and how that model scaled to seven territories for the World CupThe difference between Roku as a platform (distribution partner integrations) versus the Roku Channel as a first-party service (FAST channels, originals, live rights deals with MLB, Formula E, X Games and the Savannah Bananas)Why rights fragmentation isn't reversing — and how personalization, metadata and interactivity are becoming the tools to reaggregate the viewing experience without a cable-style bundleHow Roku funds its sports push through advertising and sponsorship rather than subscription or affiliate fees, and what "shared upside" partnerships look like in practiceA first take on what the pending Fox acquisition could mean for Roku's sports ambitions, and why it's "business as usual" until the deal closes Like and subcribe to receive weekly episodes from StreamTime Sports. Streamtime Sports is part of SportsPro Media Group Subscribe to StreamTime Sports on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsProNick Follow Nick Meacham on Linkedin or instagram as @sportspronick

FIFA's proposed $20 billion enterprise plan lasted less than 48 hours before facing widespread opposition, reigniting debate around private equity's role in sport and whether football's governing bodies should be selling stakes in their commercial future. The episode explores why the proposal generated such a strong reaction, how it compares to similar investments across the sports industry, and what it reveals about FIFA's long-term commercial ambitions. Chris and Nick also break down the first major audience figures from the FIFA World Cup, examining record-breaking television audiences, streaming growth, and the eye-watering social media numbers generated across platforms including TikTok and YouTube.  Key Points: Why did FIFA's proposed $20 billion enterprise plan unravel so quickly, and was the backlash justified? What do the World Cup's record television and streaming audiences tell us about the future of sports consumption? Have platforms like TikTok and YouTube become as important as broadcasters in the global sports ecosystem? How should rights holders measure success when social media engagement reaches into the trillions but audience behaviour continues to fragment?

Fresh from the SportsPro Investment Summit, Nick and Chris unpack the record-breaking $9.6 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks and what it reveals about the state of sports investment. They examine the role media rights play in franchise valuations, the growing influence of private equity, and why US sports teams continue to command premium prices. The conversation also explores the differences between North American and European sports ownership models, and whether rising media rights fees can continue to fuel the next wave of sports investment.   Key Points: Why are NFL franchises now commanding valuations approaching $10 billion? How much of modern sports team valuation is driven by media rights revenue and future broadcast growth? Will private equity become an increasingly important force in sports ownership as franchise values continue to rise? Does the structure of European sport limit franchise valuations compared to North America's closed-league model?