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Next League
  • 4.4 (7)
  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

Want to learn more about the most talked about topics and trends in the sports business industry from the sports business executives who run it? Join Next League’s CEO David Nugent, a sports technology industry veteran and thought leader with over 20 years experience in the ever-changing technology services business. Tune in every week for insightful and engaging discussions on everything from artificial intelligence and fan engagement to the changing media landscape and the growth of women’s sports with the sports industry’s leading executives.   For more on Next League, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.

  1. 1h ago

    [REPLAY] The Human Side of Modern Sports Leadership with Andrew Siegel

    In an industry being reshaped by NIL, the transfer portal, and private capital, one question is becoming unavoidable: how do leaders make principled decisions when everything feels up for grabs? Investor Andrew Siegel breaks down what leaders in sports and tech often underestimate, like the emotional complexity of teams, the tension between performance and values, and how managing people becomes exponentially harder when competition, money, and public scrutiny intensify. Drawing on his experience spanning venture investing, media, hospitality, and board leadership, alongside his academic background in philosophy and religion, Andrew shares why leadership ultimately comes down to “people peopling,” how he evaluates alignment versus raw talent, and what traits he believes matter most for navigating disruption in modern sports organizations. In this episode, you’ll hear: How Andrew’s background in theology and philosophy helps executives make better “people decisions” during times of disruptionThe Trust–Loyalty–Integrity lens Andrew uses to decide which founders, boards, and companies to back What NIL and the transfer portal reveal about the end of amateur hour in college sports, and why Andrew thinks private capital and commercial incentives are reshaping the systemThe repeatable investing behavior Andrew believes operators and executives need to focus on Resources and Links: Connect with Andrew Siegel on LinkedIn. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  2. Aug 11

    The $1.3B Stadium Strategy: Personalization, Friction, and Fan Engagement

    Bank of America Stadium is undergoing a $1.3 billion renovation, but Tepper Sports & Entertainment isn’t just thinking about new seats. The bigger question is, what will get fans off the couch and into a stadium in 2030? Bryan Lodigiani, VP of Business Strategy and Analytics, talks to Dave about why personalization and creating experiences fans can’t get at home are shaping the renovation. He also shares how TSE uses data to understand the surprisingly different audiences behind the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC. Bryan breaks down where AI is already creating value across ticket sales, partnerships, and marketing, why not every business problem requires an AI solution, and how Charlotte’s rapid growth is creating new opportunities for sports and entertainment. In this episode, you’ll hear: Why some “AI problems” are actually process or automation problems in disguiseHow TSE is designing stadium products specifically to create an entry point for younger fansWhat Bryan learned trying to break into sports after a career in banking, consulting, and retailThe new Sales Experience Center that can pull up the exact game you attended and the moment that made you a fanResources and Links: Connect with Bryan Lodigiani on LinkedIn and learn more about Tepper Sports & Entertainment on their website. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  3. Aug 4

    How a College Project Became SBJ's Sports Tech of the Year with Antyush Bollini

    A tablet that turns basketball into vibrations sounds like a novelty. Today, roughly half the NBA carries one, and Ticketmaster is footing the bill. In this conversation, OneCourt co-founder and COO Antyush Bollini explains how a college project became Sports Business Journal’s Sports Technology of the Year, and how partnerships with leagues, clubs, and brands helped the company reach the market.  Antyush also shares what OneCourt learned from its earliest pilot with the Portland Trail Blazers, how the company is approaching media and tracking-data rights, and why founders must validate not only whether a solution works, but whether customers will actually pay for it. In this episode, you’ll hear: How OneCourt moved from hand-built prototypes and 3D-printed parts to preparing a scalable consumer productThe feature that inspired a fan to check the score and game clock 700 times during one gameWhat the Portland Trail Blazers risked by becoming OneCourt’s first in-venue pilot partnerHow a viral fan video helped OneCourt move from cold outreach to inbound interest from NBA teamsThe three tests Antyush believes every startup idea must pass Resources and Links: Connect with Antyush Bollini on LinkedIn and learn more about OneCourt on their website. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  4. Jul 28

    From Game Day Utility to Lifelong Fandom: George Scott on the Future of College Sports Apps

    Sidearm Sports powers the digital experience for the vast majority of major college athletics programs, but George Scott believes the next challenge is much bigger than publishing scores, schedules, and game recaps.  With roughly 85% of Power Four schools and 90% of Division I programs in its network, Sidearm occupies a unique position in the college sports landscape. George joins Dave to trace his path from Fans Only and the NFL to YinzCam and Sidearm, and explains how those experiences shaped his view of digital fandom. George offers a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of serving major programs alongside the Division II and Division III schools, what the changing economics of football and basketball could mean for smaller sports, and why uncertainty around NIL and athlete compensation makes long-term planning difficult. In this episode, you’ll hear: Why an 18-year old will download a college app (and keeps it for life), but not an NFL team appWhat sports organizations risk getting wrong when they prioritize data collectionHow Sidearm uses Learfield for ticketing, content production, and licensing to create more revenue opportunitiesHow Sidearm's AI partner Noda turns raw game video into written stories in each school's own voiceResources and Links: Connect with George Scott on LinkedIn and learn more about Sidearm Sports on their website. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  5. Jul 21

    Curling's $11.2M Bet: How Nic Sulsky Bought a Sport to Rebuild It

    What happens when an entrepreneur recognizes that one of the world’s most-watched Olympic sports has never been built to maximize its global audience? Nic Sulsky saw an established sport with elite international athletes and a premier competition that fans outside Canada could not easily watch. After acquiring the Grand Slam of Curling, his team launched Rock Channel, created the mixed-gender Rock League, built a live data infrastructure, and raised $11.2 million to begin connecting the sport’s media, events, athletes, sponsors, and fans. In this conversation, Nic explains why The Curling Group operates as a media company, how it tripled Grand Slam revenue while remaining focused primarily on Canada, and how localized broadcasts, athlete-driven storytelling, and international distribution could turn curling into a far larger global sports property. In this episode, you’ll hear: How a single Instagram data point is shaping where The Curling Group decides to expand nextWhy Rock League tested its concept with a 1 week preview season instead of launching at full scaleWhat makes curling suited to a mixed-gender league where women and men compete together How virtual in-ice advertising could allow sponsors to see market-specific broadcastsNic's "95% instinct" rule, and the chainsaw story that explains why he built a team to challenge his ideasResources and Links: Connect with Nic Sulsky on LinkedIn. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  6. Jul 14

    The 'Free Agent Fan' Strategy That Doubled the Nets' Fan Base with Darolyn Pierce

    What happens when you stop benchmarking yourself against other teams and start borrowing ideas from Apple, Google, and Netflix instead? Darolyn Pierce leads three distinct functions at Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (consumer research, advanced analytics, and sales enablement) – with her team shifting in real time between Liberty ticket performance, renewal risk, NPS feedback, arena experience, Nets fan segmentation, and next-season planning.  In this conversation, she explains how that constant overlap shapes decision-making, why her team is trying to push beyond what other clubs are already doing, and how she earned the trust to move analytics from a 3 department support function into a company-wide operating capability. In this episode, you’ll hear: How the Nets doubled their fan base and generated millions by identifying untapped "free agent" fansWhy Darolyn gives every member of her team dedicated time each quarter to build passion projectsHow a 12-person team is borrowing the personalization strategies of Apple, Google, and Netflix to reshape the fan experienceWhat Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment learned launching 47 AI initiatives across 10 business functionsHow an internal AI lab uses employee competition, hands-on experimentation, and financial incentivesResources and Links: Connect with Darolyn Pierce on LinkedIn. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  7. Jul 7

    Sports Fans Have Changed. Has Sports? with Alden Mitchell

    College athletics, media, and technology are all being forced to reinvent themselves at the same time. Alden Mitchell has spent her career navigating exactly those industry shifts at Disney, MTV, Uber, the Pac-12, Stanford Athletics, and now TrailRunner Sports. In this conversation, Alden shares why college athletics is being forced to operate more like a business, what sports still misunderstands about consumer behavior, and how technology can transform fan engagement. She also explains why strategic communications has become a business function, and why relationships are the most valuable investment you'll make in your career. In this episode, you’ll hear: How college athletics is trying to "pro up" and why every athletic department is chasing new revenueWhat sports can learn from technology companies that start every product decision with the consumerWhy Alden thinks sports venues should be designed more like airports than one-size-fits-all stadiumsWhat prediction markets reveal about the future of sports, media, and decision-makingWhy Alden thinks the "GM model" is the structural fix college sports actually needsResources and Links: Connect with Alden Mitchell on LinkedIn and learn more about TrailRunner Sports on their website. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

  8. Jun 30

    Best Of: Inside Cosm's New Category of Live Sports

    The company that invented the first VR headset in 1968 is now powering one of the most talked about venues in sports. In this Best Of episode, we’re revisiting conversations with Cosm President Jeb Terry and Chief Product & Technology Officer Devin Poolman on how a 60-year-old planetarium heritage, an LED dome bigger than anything in the market, and 425 live sports productions a year add up to a category nobody else is building. In this episode, you’ll hear: How Cosm produces more than 425 live sporting events every yearThe prototype that convinced Jeb to build Cosm, and why it rivaled walking onto an NFL fieldWhy acquiring a 60-year-old planetarium company was the foundation for everything Cosm has built What Jeb learned about entrepreneurship, and why "will to win" is different from "wanting to win"Resources and Links: Connect with Jeb Terry on LinkedIn. Connect with Devin Poolman on LinkedIn. Learn more about Cosm on their website. Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future. Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.4
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Want to learn more about the most talked about topics and trends in the sports business industry from the sports business executives who run it? Join Next League’s CEO David Nugent, a sports technology industry veteran and thought leader with over 20 years experience in the ever-changing technology services business. Tune in every week for insightful and engaging discussions on everything from artificial intelligence and fan engagement to the changing media landscape and the growth of women’s sports with the sports industry’s leading executives.   For more on Next League, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.

Information

  • Creator
    Next League
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 © Dave Nugent
  • Show Website
    Know What Is Next

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