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Can billionaire investment turn a women’s football club into a sustainable business? London City Lionesses are taking a different approach to the Women’s Super League. With Michele Kang’s backing, the club is investing in facilities, players and performance with the ambition of becoming financially sustainable within five years. But can that model work in a league where success on the pitch is still central to commercial growth? Natalie Pirks is joined by Martin Siemmens to explore the business of women’s football, from WSL financial regulations and player investment to sponsorship, multi-club ownership and the lessons the women’s game can learn from the Premier League. As investment pours into women’s sport, they ask whether its future depends on building a business model of its own, rather than copying the men’s game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manchester City's legal battle could change English football forever. But what if the biggest revelations are still to come? This week, we're joined by Paul Gilroy KC, one of Britain's most formidable sports lawyers, who has represented footballing giants including Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola & Harry Redknapp. Having been at the centre of some of football's biggest legal disputes, Paul knows exactly how these battles are fought - and what really happens when the doors close. And when it comes to Manchester City, he believes there's far more to this story than meets the eye. Could crucial decisions already have been made behind closed doors? Is there a way out that nobody's talking about? And could the consequences stretch far beyond Manchester City? Paul also draws our attention to one extraordinary paragraph buried deep within the commission's findings - a passage he believes could prove hugely significant. With City appealing the findings and maintaining their innocence, Paul explores the possible outcomes, the extraordinary stakes and why this saga might be far from over. If you think you know where the Manchester City case is heading, this conversation might make you think again. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin and Natalie are joined by football finance expert Paul Quinn and The Blue Room's Matt Jones to tackle the big questions facing Everton. Is the new stadium a springboard for success – or is debt swallowing the extra income? Has owning Roma left The Friedkin Group with divided priorities? And do football’s financial rules stop ambitious owners from breaking into the elite? With transfer frustrations mounting, they explore what ownership limbo means on the pitch – and whether the next buyer can offer more than Premier League survival. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

English football is a £9bn industry. So why are so many clubs struggling to make money? Former Footballer & Executive Mark Palios joins Colin Murray and Natalie Pirks to examine a financial model that rewards ambition but often punishes sustainability. From spiralling wages and owners willing to gamble millions to the clubs that have already disappeared, they explore what happens when the pursuit of success puts the future of a club, and its community, at risk. With a new football regulator promising change, the question is whether it can make the game financially sustainable without driving away investment. And if money is going to flow down the pyramid, can anything change unless wages are brought under control? IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When one refereeing decision can be worth millions, what price is football really paying for VAR? Colin and Natalie examine the business behind football’s most divisive technology, from the millions riding on a single league position to the companies cashing in on the systems designed to get decisions right. But with three-quarters of surveyed fans opposing VAR, the bigger question is whether football is fixing mistakes at the cost of the matchday experience. Because in a sport chasing perfection, getting the decision right might not be the only thing that matters. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are football clubs becoming too focused on tourists at the expense of loyal fans? Colin Murray and Natalie Pirks explore the battle between football's biggest commercial opportunity and the supporters who make the matchday experience worth selling, and ask how clubs can grow globally without losing what makes them special. With international visitors generating more than £1 billion for the UK economy in 2024, the stakes are clear. But how much is a club willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of more revenue? IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the man who spent almost 20 years running the Premier League make of the biggest issues facing English football today? Richard Scudamore talks Manchester City’s long-running charges, the pressure facing current Premier League chief Richard Masters, and what happens behind the scenes when the league faces a challenge of this scale. They get into football’s new financial rules, the extraordinary sums being spent on players, and the arrival of the Independent Football Regulator. Are the rules making the game fairer, or making it harder for clubs to challenge at the top? This episode goes inside the decisions shaping the future of English football, from money and regulation to the Super League, FIFA and VAR and asks: who should really have the power to change the game? IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manchester City have reportedly been found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League. But this story is far from over. There’s no punishment yet, City maintain the process is ongoing, and an appeal is expected. So the biggest question now is: what happens next? Natalie Pirks and Colin Murray are joined by former Manchester City and FA chairman David Bernstein and football finance expert Kieran Maguire to wargame what could come next. Could Manchester City face a points deduction, relegation or even expulsion from the Premier League? Could previous titles be affected? What happens if City appeal? And what could this case mean for the Premier League and the future of how football regulates its most powerful clubs? David also reflects on the Manchester City he helped rebuild from the third tier, and what this moment means for a club he knows from the inside. This is a special Game-changer episode of High Performance Business, in proud partnership with IFS. _____ You know the score, but what happens on he pitch is only half the story . Soaring ticket prices. Endless subscription fees. Baffling rule changes. Even the most diehard fans are left wondering: why? Award-winning sports journalists Natalie Pirks & Colin Murray step back from a busy news cycle to deliver the business playbook. Armed with razor-sharp wit and genuine curiosity, they bridge the gap between the business of sport and the sport itself - unpacking the power plays shaping global games and decoding what they really mean for people in the stands. From FIFA and F1 to the Premier League and major US sports, High Performance Business delivers top-down clarity - straight from the pitchside, courtside, and paddock. Because when you understand the mechanics behind the machine, you're no longer sitting on the sidelines. No business degree required. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS-yt Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 of the 20 Premier League clubs are now majority American owned, up from five a decade ago. This episode asks why the money's coming now, why English clubs look so cheap next to the NFL, and what the new owners actually want to change: ticketing, the matchday experience, and whether promotion and relegation survive. Also a proper defence of American sport, from why closed leagues have produced seven different World Series winners in ten years to what Wrexham got right. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When an F1 car crashes, the repair bill is only the beginning. Colin Murray and Natalie Pirks explore the hidden cost of crashes in Formula 1, from lost upgrades and valuable data to the millions at stake in the Constructors’ Championship. They look at why a mistake can hit smaller teams like Haas far harder than the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull, and what happens when teammates become each other’s biggest rivals. With former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer bringing a view from inside the paddock, they reveal how crashes can affect far more than the car, costing teams time, development and potentially their position on the grid. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Premier League has just come through another record-breaking transfer window, with billions spent and some of the biggest fees football has ever seen. But who actually got it right? Natalie Perks and Colin Murray break down the winners, losers, bargains and biggest gambles of the window, from Chelsea’s profitable summer and Everton’s deadline-day panic to the growing number of £100m+ deals across the league. They’re joined by The Athletic’s David Ornstein, one of football’s leading transfer reporters, to explain why prices have exploded, how the Premier League’s new financial rules are changing the market, why clubs are trading with each other more than ever — and whether football’s spending boom can actually continue. Plus, David reveals what transfer deadline day is really like behind the scenes, Colin revisits one of football’s strangest ever signings, and the episode ends with a transfer-record pub quiz. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PSR is gone... Here comes SCR and SSR to take it's place. Colin and Nat go through what the new rules cover, what they leave untouched, and what it means for clubs already punished under the old system. Then, 14 years on from Lance Armstrong's ban, cycling writer William Fotheringham joins them on why cycling has slipped off terrestrial TV in the UK, and how a sport that can't sell tickets runs on sponsorship. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at: https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_AU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being a Lioness may make you financially comfortable.  Being anyone else in the WSL is a very different reality.  Colin and Nat pull apart the numbers behind English women's football — from minimum wage rules for 18-20-year-olds to what happens when a league's biggest stars retire in their mid-30s with no fallback plan.  They're joined by Beth Fisher, senior advisor to UEFA Vice President and Mary Earps, for an inside look at sponsorship, fandom, and why the WSL still has work to do outside its Lioness elite. Plus: with Gianni Infantino's grip on FIFA under fire, Colin and Nat pick who they'd install as the next president of world football — from real-world contenders to a full-blown fantasy draft, Star Wars comparisons included. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_YT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are brands willing to pay £60 million to put their name on a football shirt? Colin Murray and Natalie Pirks explore what makes sports sponsorship so valuable. From a financial services company using a Premier League star to reach new markets to Crystal Palace's unexpected FA Cup sponsorship return, they unpack how brands measure the value of being part of the game. They also look at the Premier League's gambling sponsorship restrictions, why basketball generates less than 1% of Europe's sports revenue, and the billions the NBA is prepared to invest in building its presence across the continent. High Performance Business are also privileged to be joined by sports journalist & special guest Stuart Hodge. IFS - award-winning Asset & Service Management software 👉 Reimagine your operations at https://highpfrmc.com/IFS_HPB_YT We'd love to answer your questions! Send them to @highperformance.business on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin Murray and Natalie Pirks are joined by football finance expert Kieran Maguire to unpack a week that shook the game. FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup to private investors has met fierce opposition from UEFA and football associations around the world. So what happens next, and what could it mean for the future of the tournament? Plus, the Premier League is quietly building its own direct-to-consumer streaming service. Colin and Natalie debate how soon it could change the way fans watch football, while Kieran breaks down the financial realities behind broadcast rights, club revenues and what's really at stake for the future of the game. We'd love to answer your questions! Send them to @highperformance.business on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.