Are You Not Entertained?

AYNE 812 - Goal/Own Goal

Grant’s racing the clock to make a tee time at Sunningdale, but first he and Roger pull apart the future of LIV and Saudi money: Neom’s burning cash, the tallest‑building curse is flashing red, and suddenly golf’s easy money era doesn’t look so easy.  From there it’s London in flames — Clear Lake buzzword merchants, Spurs hiring a “lead psychologist” on LinkedIn, Karen Brady discovering that nobody gets out of football’s C‑suite alive, and why West Ham’s brutal honesty is buying them goodwill while Chelsea drown in management‑speak. Its Goal/Own Goal, brought to you by Lockeroom.

AYNE 811 - The Confessional: Giles Morgan

In this episode of The Confessional, Roger Mitchell sits down with Giles Morgan to explore a lifetime at the sharp end of sports sponsorship — from wielding HSBC’s global checkbook to reinventing himself as the Sponsorship Doctor. Giles reflects on how his Hong Kong glory years brought lasting regret of choosing career over time with his children, and the humbling reset that followed.  He also lays out a lifetime’s thoughts on sponsorship: why perimeter boards and AVE were always the wrong north star, how true value lies in “tribe-to-tribe” relationships between brands and fans, and why the Lions–Howden partnership should be seen as a playbook for data-led, emotionally honest activation rather than just logos on shirts.  Brought to you by Lockeroom.

AYNE 810 - Goal/Own Goal

Grant binge‑watches 24 hours of Masters coverage as Rory hangs on to claim back‑to‑back green jackets. From there he and Roger jump to Arsenal’s title nerves, German ultras nicking and burning flags, Infantino’s tone‑deaf World Cup cash‑grab, and why real, messy fan culture and lower‑league chaos still feel infinitely more honest than the leveraged “sport as asset class” fantasy. Along the way: Marie‑Louise Eta makes history as the first woman to take charge of a men’s team in any of Europe’s top five leagues, and an Italian prank call goes wrong. It’s Goal/Own Goal, brought to you by Lockeroom.

AYNE 809 - THE CAPTAINS TABLE - Alan Gilpin

In Season 3 of The Captain’s Table, the Captain is focusing on meetings the leaders of the international sports industry - to find out what their own passions for sport really are and the lessons in leadership they have learnt from working in the industry. In the first episode of the new Season, we are joined by Alan Gilpin - CEO of World Rugby. Brought to you by The Sponsorship Doctor and Fortnum & Mason.

AYNE 808 - Goal/Own Goal

Grant drags a “punchy” Roger out of bed to unpack Tiger’s latest DUI‑style crash, meme‑ified into a “Tiger Woods bull market indicator,” and the slow, brutal death of AMC’s diamond‑hand apes.  From there they rip into The Athletic’s Jimmy Savile hand‑wringing, the ignored courage of Iran’s women’s team, and the elite outrage over Nigel Farage at Ipswich and Ratcliffe at United—asking why half the country’s views are treated as obscene rather than democratic reality. Brought to you by Lockeroom

AYNE 807 - The Confessional: Tal Brown

Roger Mitchell: In this episode of The Confessional, Roger Mitchell sits down with Tal Brown — Israeli-born Silicon Valley AI entrepreneur, former army intelligence tech architect, and the man behind Zone7’s groundbreaking injury-prediction platform — for a deeply human conversation about integrity, sacrifice, and what it costs to chase your ambitions across continents. A true “third culture kid,” Tal reflects on leaving family behind to go build in the Bay Area, and the reality of being an Israeli and a Jew in 2026. Tal (and Roger) also reflect on selling B2B sportech into a sector that often doesn’t actually have the desire to change. This alone is essential listening  for all those hoping to make a career in sport innovation. Raw, honest, principled, and quietly philosophical — this one stays with you. Brought to you by Lockroom.

AYNE 806 - Goal/Own Goal

Grant and Roger christen Roger’s new den, then use Grant’s Roadrunner “Genius Act” newsletter and his eerily on‑point drones piece to link cartoons, stablecoins and modern warfare.  From NIL and the slow death of college sports to 18‑mile “marathons,” cooling breaks, Club World Cup bloat and sanitized Premier League crowds, they argue sport is being rebuilt for fair‑weather customers while Germany quietly proves there’s a better way. Brought to you by PEDL Labs.

AYNE 805 - Goal/Own Goal

Grant and Roger open with a heartfelt tribute to Matty Cutler, the quietly brilliant sports‑biz pioneer who helped spark this whole project. From there they dive into shadow banking and private equity creeping through sport’s finances, before landing on the U.S. Olympic hockey furore, media echo chambers, DEI rollbacks and a brutally honest question: has multicultural “integration” actually worked, or is sport just the latest battlefield in a culture war nobody’s winning? Brought to you by PEDL Labs.

AYNE 804 - The Confessional: Caroline Rowland

In this episode of The Confessional, Roger Mitchell sits down with Caroline Rowland – one of sport’s most decorated storytellers and the creative force behind New Moon, and now archive disruptor Egoli – for a conversation about ambition, cost, and conscience. Caroline reflects on the toll of her perfectionism on colleagues and family, why asking forgiveness of yourself can be the hardest step, and what it feels like to push a team to do “the impossible” while wondering if the price was fair. She opens up about being undermined and dismissed in the venture capital world, how much harder the game can be for female founders, and the heavy responsibility she feels to every shareholder who backed her vision. It’s a deep dive into standards, sacrifice, and what integrity looks like when the business plan doesn’t go to script. Brought to you by PEDL Labs.

AYNE 803 - Goal/Own Goal

Grant and Roger tackle declining NBA appeal and fractured sports media rights at breakneck speed. But the real meat: Why are we tanking fan engagement everywhere? VAR theatre, empty stadiums, ticket chaos, polarized discourse—all while missing the actual product. F1 drivers in revolt and Chelsea chant blowups creating the Streisand Effect. Then the Olympics hit different: women dominate (Brida, the skiers, curling drama with the Canadians), but one catastrophically unqualified Italian commentator reminds us that merit’s dead. And traffic betting—because why not? Short version: sport’s eating itself. Brought to you by PEDL Labs.