Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast

Donn Davis is a heavyweight of the sports business: an attacker in a world of defenders, and someone who, in his own words, doesn't want to be right, he wants to win. He was the youngest team attorney in Major League Baseball history, helped build AOL's internet group, co-founded Revolution with Steve Case to back DraftKings and Sportradar early. In 2017 he built the Professional Fighters League (PFL) from scratch into the clear number two in MMA. Generous with his time and his advice for fellow entrepreneurs, he shares the lessons of that journey, and the value he's hoping to unlock across the sports ecosystem in his next chapter with Legacy Sports Partners.

In this episode:

• The three reasons he stepped down from the company he built, and what he'd give up to win
• Why his partners asked, "Have you lost your mind?"
• The triangle every new league has to crack, year after year
• How PFL ended up with the four most important fighters in the world, and what happened with Jake Paul and Francis Ngannu
• The US media deal that held PFL back, in numbers
• What a challenger has to do when the giant owns the game
• Where $80bn to $90bn of value is waiting to be built in sport, and why "the water's warm"
• The three tests he puts every new league through

Stay for E1H Overtime, where producer Dawn Barnable and founders from the E1H cohort put their own questions to Donn.

Hosted by Jamie Cunningham (E1H)

Produced by Dawn Barnable (Mettleset Studios)

Production Assistant: Blake Cotterrell

E1H is an incubator for sport and entertainment startups. Through its cohort programme, founders get hands-on support, expert mentoring and access to investors, leading up to E1H's investment pitch days. E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast shares the stories and lessons of the entrepreneurs building the business of sport and entertainment.

Find our guest, and us, online:

Donn Davis: LinkedIn | Legacy Sports Partners

E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram | Online

Jamie Cunningham

Dawn Barnable

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this E1H Overtime, founders from the E1H cohort put their questions to Coventry City owner Doug King, before producer Dawn Barnable takes him through a quickfire round.

In this episode:

• Making your own opportunities, and why you need a goal
• When to take advice, and when to tune it out
• What comes after Moneyball, with E1H Cohort 2 founder Charlie Bloxham of Blastball
• Building a global fanbase beyond the Premier League, with E1H Cohort 3 founder Amr El Beheiry of Fanzword
• Building Coventry City fandom through collaborations, from F1 to music
• The documentary he turned down, and why
• The player he'd most love to see in a Coventry City shirt
• Why the stadium could be a better business than the football club
• His entrepreneurial hot take, and the founder he'd swap jobs with for a week
• The everyday brand he'd love to take on
• Why he wouldn't give his younger self any advice

Hosted by: Jamie Cunningham, E1H

Produced by: Dawn Barnable, Mettleset Studios

Production Assistant: Blake Cotterrell

E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast features inspirational conversations with the trailblazing entrepreneurs shaping global sport and entertainment. Brought to you by E1H, the Abu Dhabi ecosystem fast-tracking sports and entertainment entrepreneurs, backed by Ethara and ONETOWATCH.

Find our guest, and us, online:

Doug King: Coventry City

E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram

Charlie Bloxham: LinkedIn | Blastball

Amr El Beheiry: LinkedIn | Fanzword

Jamie Cunningham

Dawn Barnable

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 30 years trading commodities, Doug King was looking for a way to give back when the chance to buy Coventry City came up. This April, the Sky Blues returned to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years. Host Jamie Cunningham asks Doug what it really takes to buy a football club, run it properly, and leave it in a better place than he found it.

In this episode:

• The plan to give back that led him to a football club
• Why it was always Coventry or nothing
• What eight-dollar oil taught a young commodities trader
• The bright idea that reunited the club with its stadium
• The toughest call of his ownership, and why he faced the fans live
• Recruiting like a trader: chasing four-to-one odds, and why player trading is the only model that makes sense
• Building a winning culture by caring for players and their families
• Winning back three generations of missing fans
• Why he's not in it forever, and what he wants to leave behind

Stay for E1H Overtime, where founders from the E1H cohort put their questions to Doug before a quickfire round with producer Dawn Barnable.

E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast features inspirational conversations with the trailblazing entrepreneurs shaping global sport and entertainment. Brought to you by E1H, the Abu Dhabi ecosystem fast-tracking sports and entertainment entrepreneurs, backed by Ethara and ONETOWATCH.

Find our guest, and E1H, online:

Doug King: Coventry City

E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram

Jamie Cunningham

Dawn Barnable

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this E1H Overtime, producer Dawn Barnable and the E1H cohort put HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste through a quickfire Q&A.

In this episode:

• A question from E1H Cohort 3 founder Maria Pirela of Fit Calendar: what makes a gym partnership work or fail?
• Why Mo thinks gyms could become the new sports club
• What surprised him most about the HYROX journey
• The businesses he borrows from, and why he doesn't believe in role models
• His entrepreneurial hot take
• His daily non-negotiables
• The company he'd swap jobs with for a week
• His advice to his younger self

Hosted by: Jamie Cunningham, E1H

Produced by: Dawn Barnable, Mettleset Studios

Production Assistant: Blake Cotterrell

E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast features inspirational conversations with the trailblazing entrepreneurs shaping global sport and entertainment. Brought to you by E1H, the Abu Dhabi ecosystem fast-tracking sports and entertainment entrepreneurs, backed by Ethara and ONETOWATCH.

Find our guest, and us, online:

• Moritz Fürste: LinkedIn | Instagram | HYROX
• E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram
• Maria Pirela: LinkedIn | Fit Calendar
• Jamie Cunningham
• Dawn Barnable
• Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2017, Olympic hockey gold medallist Moritz Fürste co-founded HYROX in Hamburg, where 650 people raced the first event. Today it's a global sport with millions of participants. Host Jamie Cunningham asks Mo how a gap in the gym world became a global sport.

In this episode:

• The lawsuit behind the HYROX name, and what HYROX could have been named
• Why the gym network went from marketing cost to revenue stream
• What three Olympic Games taught him about business
• The founder partnership that works, and why
• Buying back the majority from Infront, with L Catterton and WndrCo
• Facing the backlash after the incident in China
• The road towards the Olympics

Stay for E1H Overtime, a quickfire Q&A with producer Dawn Barnable and a question from the E1H cohort.

E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast features inspirational conversations with the trailblazing entrepreneurs shaping global sport and entertainment. Brought to you by E1H, the Abu Dhabi ecosystem fast-tracking sports and entertainment entrepreneurs, backed by Ethara and ONETOWATCH.

Find our guest, and E1H, online:

• Moritz Fürste: LinkedIn | Instagram | HYROX
• E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram
• Jamie Cunningham
• Dawn Barnable
• Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this E1H Overtime, founders from the E1H cohort put their questions to Two Circles co-founder Gareth Balch, before producer Dawn Barnable takes him through a quickfire round.

In this episode:

• Keeping young talent in sport, with E1H Cohort 2 founder Leanna Newman of The People Agency
• The one trait he looks for when hiring
• Lessons from the track and advice to his younger self, with E1H Cohort 1 founder François Chabaudie of NEOMA
• What sports organisations still get wrong about fans, with E1H Cohort 3 founder Bubs Felix of ShePlayz Sport
• His dream client, and the businesses he most admires
• His entrepreneurial hot take
• The business he'd start in his next life
• The biggest opportunity in sport that not enough people are paying attention to
• The habit he wishes he'd never dropped

Hosted by: Jamie Cunningham, E1H

Produced by: Dawn Barnable, Mettleset Studios

Production Assistant: Blake Cotterrell

E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast features inspirational conversations with the trailblazing entrepreneurs shaping global sport and entertainment. Brought to you by E1H, the Abu Dhabi ecosystem fast-tracking sports and entertainment entrepreneurs, backed by Ethara and ONETOWATCH.

Find our guest, and us, online:

• Gareth Balch: LinkedIn | Two Circles
• E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram
• Leanna Newman: LinkedIn | The People Agency
• François Chabaudie: LinkedIn | NEOMA
• Bubs Felix: LinkedIn | ShePlayz Sport
• Jamie Cunningham
• Dawn Barnable
• Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fifteen years ago, former GB 800m runner Gareth Balch co-founded Two Circles around a kitchen table. Today it's a global sports marketing business with more than 1,000 people in 10 offices, working with FIFA, UEFA, the Premier League and the NFL.Host Jamie Cunningham asks Gareth how putting fans first is at the core of his mission to build the defining sports marketing business of this era.

In this episode:

• Why fandom is outgrowing the world economy
• What the track taught him about building a business
• The kitchen table where it all started, and where it is today
• The three-year plan that set the bar, and what happened next
• Two Circles' ownership chapters, and why he won't use the word “exit”
• The one rule that keeps clients coming back
• Why there's no head of AI at Two Circles
• How fast women's sport fandom can really grow

Stay for E1H Overtime, where founders from the E1H cohort put their questions to Gareth before a quickfire round with producer Dawn Barnable.

E1H: The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast features inspirational conversations with the trailblazing entrepreneurs shaping global sport and entertainment. Brought to you by E1H, the Abu Dhabi ecosystem fast-tracking sports and entertainment entrepreneurs, backed by Ethara and ONETOWATCH.

Find our guest, and E1H, online:

Gareth Balch: LinkedIn | Two Circles

The Fan Economy 2026 report

E1H: LinkedIn | Instagram

Jamie Cunningham

Dawn Barnable

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.