The Sports Business Life Podcast

Ho ho ho! On this jolly special holiday edition of the Sports Business Life Podcast, Thomas and Joel start off by welcoming Mitch back to the show. The boys then dive into the controversial end to the F1 season, the sport's rapid growth in Canada,  Forbes' recent NHL valuations and the league's opening for private equity investments. They also give a special shoutout to Fred VanVleet and his newly created scholarship...

Would you want to know what it is like to start your own sports agency and oversee the personal branding for NHL stars like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Josh Morrissey, and Colton Parayko? Well, that is a reality for Laurenne Mercier who joined us this week. During our conversation, we discussed her motivation behind starting Treadstone Sports Agency, how she earned an internship with the Nashville Predators, and the emergence of NFT'...

Do The Leafs, TFC and Team Canada Soccer excite you? Well if you are anything like us you would be thrilled to hear we were joined by Joshua Kloke from The Athletic this week. During our conversation, we talked about how covering the Toronto Maple Leafs has been different this season, the TFC's hiring of Bob Bradley, what it means for the future of the franchise, the rise of the Canadian Soccer team and much more (10:08 - 34:1...

This week we were fortunate enough to have the CEBL's own, Josh Knoester, join us on the show. Josh started in the CEBL as an intern for the Niagara River Lions and has since worked his way up to Vice President of the league. During our conversation, we touched on how the CEBL has evolved over the past four seasons, how he earned and grew his career in the CEBL, and its affiliation with Drake and OVO (18:25 - 48:05).

It is not every day we get a Super Bowl champion on the podcast who brings as much insight and energy as Armaan does.  When we last chatted, Armaan was a key member of the Business Analytics team for the Kansas City Chiefs. He now has a new role as the Senior Manager of Partnerships and Insights at BSE Global! The boys discuss Armaan's transition into his new role, his work partnering with Webull for the new jersey patch and t...

Have you ever dreamed of working with Kia Nurse or for brands like Red Bull? Well, it's a reality for Adam Ward, as the VP of CIMORONI.

Today he joins the show to discuss the importance of diverse skill sets and backgrounds in the sports industry, how finding the best career path is finding the one that works for you and what being a Professor has taught him.

The boys and Adam also dive into a new segment c...

In this episode, the boys welcome back Brian Collins from Molson Coors for the first-ever "Touchback" segment where they learn about Molson's new and exciting Hall of Fan contest! (Details about the contest can be found here https://woobox.com/txyga6)

Beyond that, the guys dive into Halloween stories, NBA 75th anniversary jerseys and life as a sports marketing student. They also get into another new segment...

As the new NBA and NHL seasons start so does a new season of The Sports Business Life Podcast. Catch up on what has been going on for Joel & Mitch since the end of season 1, including how their teams have performed thus far. They dive into: 

• A BIG announcement for the podcast!
• Live sports returning to Toronto and what's changed.
• Key learnings with the Blue Jays' return to the 6ix and Canucks' helmet decal. 

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To close out the year, it's only fitting that Joel and Mitch takeover the episode today to tackle a myriad of sports business topics, including:

• waving goodbye to Joel's Maple Leafs, as well as our ability to predict playoff winners
• the love/hate relationship with a certain NHL TV Analyst
• professional team names, especially if it's Elk or Elks?
• the recent string of 'legendary' wrestling documentaries

Th...

Every now and then, we are fortunate to cross paths with a sports business veteran who has seen a lot. But today we were joined by someone who may have seen it all!

Pat McEleney brought his 25+ years of experience in the sports, music and event industries onto the show today. This Executive Vice President is a 'Swiss Army Knife' of experiences and skill sets, especially when it comes to strategy, negotiation and...

Another NHL post-season is underway, but the in-game fan experience is still non-existent in the 'Great White North' and we all know how important it is in sports business. But who are the faces behind this vital cog in the wheel of any successful sports property?

Today, we are fortunate to be joined by Steinunn Parsons and her two decades of venue operations experience. This VP of Guest Experience gives us a mu...

As we're well into the MLB season, it is a great time for us to check-in with Mark Palmer of the Toronto Blue Jays to see how life for Canada's baseball team is going as they continue to call the USA home for 2021.

On top of the adjustments his team has had to make with the Blue Jays playing on international soil, we hear about the implications video calls have had on his day-to-day. This native of Woodstock, ON...

It's not often we come across one of the "Top 100 Canadian Professionals", but we did today with Rishi Lal of the CHL.

Rishi is a man of inspiration, humility, and integrity, who shared his wealth of sports business experience that spans across media with TSN and sponsorships with the University of Virginia and MKTG. This alum of York University, Humber College and Ohio University, filled us in on how his d...

We've had a lot of dream jobs on the pod, but Nicole Lee's with the NHL may be right up at the top! This Wilfred Laurier and Ohio University Alum works with some of the league's biggest partners and has been an integral part of a plethora of championship, all-star and outdoor games.

Prior to working for the NHL, she spent time with the Walt Disney Company and Anheuser-Busch. So all of this big brand experie...

Based on previous episodes, it should be more clear now that you don't have to work for a big sports property or brand to get that essential sports business experience. But how do you transfer skills from an atypical part of the industry to excel your sports career?

To answer that question, we welcomed Jana Masiewich of Publicis Sport & Entertainment to chat how she's navigated sports business over the last ...

Imagine your job involves working directly with the likes of Connor McDavid, Bianca Andreescu, John Tavares, Milos Raonic and Mark Messier. Sounds like a fantasy right?

Well not for Andrew Cuch, who joined us on today's show to highlight what the sports partnerships life is like these days at Rogers Communications. Throughout this Brock University Alum's stellar 11+ year career at one of Canada's telecom giants, Andre...

One of the best feel-good stories in sports so far this year is the success we've witnessed with the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). After wrapping up their season this past weekend, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the NWHL's accomplishments with their Communications Lead, Paul Krotz.

Paul is a sports business veteran of close to 15 years, with stops including Hockey Canada, the Ontario Hockey Leag...

In a saturated sports media market, how do you create a unique voice that satisfies ALL sports fans when you possess zero sports business background?

To answer that question on today's episode, there's no one better than Jacie deHoop, who joins us to share how she and her fellow co-founders left the corporate world to take on this challenge after originally launching The GIST back in 2017. In just under four yea...

By now, it's clear we love to check in with fellow Canadians doing big things on international soil. On today's episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Amy Wesson of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Newmarket, ON native first detailed how her sports business journey started off with the Anaheim Ducks after getting her MBA from San Diego State. Then we learn how persistence and solid networking skills allowed her to...