UP556 'Serviette Maths': Sky Sports Boss On The Premflix Threat

Jonathan Licht, Chief Sports Officer at Sky Sports, discusses Sky's dominant position in UK sports broadcasting, strategic partnerships, and the future of sports media.Key topics:Sky's portfolio dominance: 225 Premier League matches, 1,000+ EFL games, 118 WSL matches, Formula 1, cricket, golf, NFL, tennis, darts, netballThe growth paradox: How building sports audiences creates competitive tension at rights renewal timeSky Labs & The Hundred: Co-creation process that helped develop franchise cricket format and broaden appealMoney & certainty: Why "our money is good" matters to rights holders vs. global streamersNational champion positioning: Local expertise, bespoke market strategies, and talent relationships as competitive advantagesOn-air talent strategy: Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, and the blurring lines between Sky platforms and independent creator channels like The OverlapYouTube & highlights distribution: Free-to-view content as funnel vs. risk of training audiences not to pay; cricket highlights on YouTubeWomen's sport investment: Business rationale + "higher purpose"; WSL growth (20% audience increase), ICC T20 World Cup, position as UK's biggest investor in women's sportsStreaming vs. linear: Resilience of traditional broadcasters; Sky Sports+ adoption; why global scale doesn't equal market-specific valueCompetitive landscape: Paramount (Champions League), Netflix, Amazon, DAZN; lessons from Ligue 1 direct-to-consumer failurePremier League production transition: In-housing away from IMG; operational implications for Sky's hosting roleThis podcast is sponsored by The Institute of Sports Humanities (ISH) ISH educates sport’s current and future leaders around the world, as the leading independent provider of sports leadership education and insight.Their Strategic Sport Leadership Masters (MA) is for sports industry executives to study alongside their careers – designed for professionals who want to build on their experience, strengthen strategic thinking, and connect with a global network of peers working across sport.Applications for the next intake on the 2026 Strategic Sport Leadership MA, starting September, are open.Visit sportshumanities.org for more informationUnofficial 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.