If 2025 proved anything, it is that the business of sport is no longer driven by a single narrative. Growth is fragmenting, strategies are diverging, and the people shaping the industry are increasingly willing to challenge old assumptions rather than defend them.
Insider Sport’s top interviews of the year reflect this shift. From global leagues refining their international playbooks and executives rethinking how sport is packaged, streamed and monetised, to governing bodies confronting uncomfortable questions around integrity, regulation and credibility, these conversations reveal an industry under active reconstruction.
1. Why Rubens Barrichello has swapped racing lines for iGaming boardrooms
Rubens Barrichello spent 18 years mastering Formula 1’s finest margins. Now, the Brazilian driver is applying those same instincts to a very different kind of competition: the rapidly expanding Latin American iGaming market. Speaking to Insider Sport at SBC Summit Lisbon, he drew direct lines between the precision engineering of motorsport and the technology-led world of online gaming, while emphasising the cultural intelligence needed to succeed across diverse markets.
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2. NFL’s Henry Hodgson on becoming a true global sport
From London’s Wembley Stadium to Dublin’s Croke Park and Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, the NFL’s international footprint has never been more deliberate. With five regular season games scheduled outside the United States in 2025 – a record for the league – American football’s push beyond its domestic borders is accelerating.
Henry Hodgson, NFL Head of UK and Ireland, sat down with Insider Sport fresh from Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans to outline the league’s long-term vision: becoming a truly global sport. It’s an ambition that stretches back to 2007 when the first London game tested international appetite, but the strategy has now matured into something far more sophisticated.
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3. Ricardo Fort on how football hospitality is being redesigned for high-end fans
The days of generic VIP boxes with a view and a buffet are fading fast. At the 2024 Copa América final, guests at a BEYOND Hospitality were dining at a Sexy Fish pop-up, sipping bespoke cocktails, and sharing the moment with influencers whose presence was as much part of the package as the football itself. With the global sports hospitality market forecast to hit £23.5 billion by 2030 and VIP ticketing spend up 34% in the UK since 2021, rights holders and operators are racing to meet demand from high-net-worth fans who expect far more than premium seating.
Ricardo Fort, CMO of BEYOND Hospitality, sat down with Insider Sport to discuss how the sector is being redesigned around localisation, social media, and technology – and why the next decade will be defined by access, data, and augmented reality as much as champagne and canapés.
4. WATCH: Tammy Parlour on sustainable growth, strategic visibility and what’s next for women’s sport
As co-founder and CEO of the Women’s Sport Trust, Tammy Parlour has spent more than a decade working to ensure women’s sport builds value on its own terms, rather than simply replicating the structures and pitfalls of the men’s game. Speaking to Insider Sport following viagogo’s insights event in London, she offered a candid assessment of where the sector stands – and what sports leaders must prioritise if they want short-term surges to translate into long-term stability.
5. IWF President Mohammed Jalood talks Enhanced Games and Olympic future
The Enhanced Games – a proposed Olympic-style event that actively encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs – has named weightlifting as one of its core sports. It’s a direct provocation to a federation that has spent years strengthening anti-doping protocols and rebuilding trust after past scandals.
Mohammed Jalood, President of the IWF, sat down with Insider Sport to respond. In a candid conversation, he addressed the Enhanced Games head-on, outlined his vision for weightlifting’s commercial and competitive future, and explained why the sport’s values of transparency and fair competition are non-negotiable – even as it seeks to innovate with formats like street weightlifting and two-platform competitions designed for modern audiences.
6. SBC’s Rasmus Sojmark on why the Legends Charity Game is more than football
On September 15, 60,000 fans packed into a Lisbon stadium to watch Luís Figo, Cafu, Kaka, and a roster of football royalty take to the pitch. SBC Founder and CEO Rasmus Sojmark has spent years blending football with business and is now using this iniative to raise over €1 million for communities affected by war, poverty, and crisis.
Speaking exclusively to Insider Sport, Sojmark opens up about the personal journey behind the match, from his childhood obsession with Championship Manager to convincing sponsors that this wasn’t just another CSR exercise. He walks through the star-studded lineups – Portugal’s Euro 2004 veterans facing off against a World Legends squad managed by Peter Schmeichel – and explains why the game was broadcast globally with Champions League-level production.
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7. Pavol Neruda on whether match-fixing a threat to MMA
October 2025 brought a wave of integrity crises which nobody in sport saw coming. First, US prosecutors charged three NBA figures, including an active player and coach, over gambling offences. Then the MLB and UFC were pulled into their own match-fixing controversies, and Turkish football responded by suspending over 1,000 players and halting two entire divisions for weeks. Suddenly, every result faced scrutiny online – and MMA, with its one-on-one format and growing betting market, looked particularly vulnerable.
But Pavol Neruda, Co-founder of European MMA promotion OKTAGON, isn’t convinced the panic is warranted. Speaking to Insider Sport, he made the case that MMA’s structure actually makes it more resistant to manipulation than many assume. Neruda discussed OKTAGON’s approach to fighter vetting, why he believes betting sponsorships help rather than hinder integrity, and whether the sport needs more industry-wide education or if self-regulation is already doing the job.
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8. Evergent’s Craig Ferguson on sports streaming tactics ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup
The traditional sports broadcasting model – full-season packages, fixed schedules, and linear TV dominance – is facing an existential challenge. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching and leagues like the Bundesliga already licensing content to creators, the pressure is on rights holders to adapt or risk losing entire demographics. Craig Ferguson, Director of Regional Sales, Europe at Evergent, sat down with Insider Sport to discuss the tactics being deployed across the industry.
He explains why Asia is leading the way on flexible models, how midnight kick-off times will test engagement strategies, and what lessons football can learn from combat sports’ pivot away from traditional PPV.
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9. Andrew Thompson on how SailGP shifts the model beyond the waves
Andrew Thompson, SailGP‘s managing director, sat down with Insider Sport to outline an ambitious vision which spans franchise expansion into China, Japan, Mexico, and the Middle East; a rolling transition to private team ownership that has already attracted investors like Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Kylian Mbappé, Anne Hathaway, and Sebastian Vettel; and a media strategy built on live telemetry data, YouTube growth, and in-play betting partnerships with Bet365 and DraftKings.
Thompson is clear about what sets SailGP apart: a commitment to sustainability through the Impact League, a Women’s Pathway program that has already produced the league’s first female driver in two-time Olympic champion Martine Grael, and a belief that the next generation of sailors will come through based on merit.
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10. Industry speaks on Premier League gambling shirt ban
With the Premier League’s front-of-shirt gambling ban just one season away, Insider Sport spoke to industry industry leaders warn of a looming £140m-plus hole in club revenues. In this Insider Sport interview, experts from betting, media and sponsorship agencies explain why lower-league clubs face the biggest risk, how gambling brands are pivoting beyond logos, and which sectors could step in next.
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