UP355 How ESG impacts the sports business

How will the ESG agenda impact sport?ESG is short for Environmental, Social and Governance, and is a set of standards measuring business's impact on society, the environment, and how transparent and accountable it is; an attempt to capture all the non-financial risks and opportunities inherent in a company's day to day activities. It relates to sport in a number of very significant ways. For example, some major corporations are using ESG as a framework with which to shape their sport sponsorship spend.  Is the sports team or event rights holder transparent in its governance and supply chain practices? Is its workforce and executive suitably diverse? And what is the impact of its events on the climate? But the ESG movement has also proven controversial. Elon Musk called it 'the devil' and dismissed it as 'woke', after tobacco companies scored higher in sustainability indexes than Tesla: 'How could cigarettes, which kill over eight million a year, be deemed a more ethical investment than electric cars?' wrote Musk, accusing ESG of creating unintended consequences and creating a misleading rule book that's open to being gamed by unscrupulous business owners.To help us unpick where sport plays in the ESG debate, we're joined by Nick Keller, the CEO and founder of Benchmark, and the global foundation Beyond Sport, which has been backed by global leaders including Richard Branson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.00:00 Introduction and Benchmark Overview02:50 The Role of Agencies in Sports06:55 The Importance of ESG in Sports15:51 The Challenges of ESG Investing22:53 The Future of Sponsorship in Sports32:18 Understanding the Supply Chain in Sports33:09 The Role of Sustainability 33:26 The Impact of AI on Sports33:37 The Ethics of Sports Sponsorship34:13 The Role of Brands in Sports39:14 The Power of Athlete Activism39:59 The Future of Sports Sponsorship44:12 The Challenges of Major Sports Events51:56 The Role of Sustainability in Major Sports Events57:51 The Impact of Cancer on Personal LifeUnofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.