On this episode of The Pitch, Andy is joined by Edward Fitzgibbon, a cricket business consultant and Wisden writer, to explore what cricket could look like as a tourism product. Sparked by a trip to India with his dad for the 2023 World Cup - staying in Dharamshala, with the Himalayas behind the pavilion - he pitches the idea that cricket's biggest events already function as multi-destination travel experiences, from Ashes tours linking Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney to fans building whole itineraries around a day or two at the cricket.
They dig into the economics hiding behind that behaviour: the hotel nights, restaurants and activities that never show up in a sport's accounting beyond the ticket price, and what smarter people in travel could build if cricket packaged it properly. The conversation then turns to cricket's global expansion - World Cups heading to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, new venues in Japan and China, talk of a German World Cup in the 2030s, and the European T20 finishing in Edinburgh - and whether giving new audiences the chance to see, touch and feel the sport is the real growth lever.
Finally, they take on cricket media itself: why coverage obsesses over selection dilemmas while the business of cricket goes unreported, how simply translating crore into pounds or dollars would make Indian cricket's money stories resonate, the case for alt streams that welcome the cricket-curious, and what the sport could borrow from UFC's Ultimate Fighter playbook - reality-style formats and creator-led content, perhaps starting with the associate nations.
Timestamps
02:30 - Why Cricket Needs Change
05:00 - Taking Inspiration from the FIFA World Cup in the U.S.
09:00 - Developing a Personalised Itinerary App
18:00 - Global Expansion New Markets
20:00 - Como 1907 and Destination Calcio Inspiration
24:00 - Creators Content Discovery
26:00 - Alt Cricket Media Opportunities
35:00 - Reality Storytelling Angle
About The Show
The Pitch is the conversational show from the Sports Pundit Podcast Network, hosted by Andy Marston, Drew Rauso and Dom Collingwood.
It's a play on words, with each host bringing an idea, theme, or provocation that they pitch to the other. Together they react, debate, and explore what's really happening across the sports industry, from shifting media models to the next wave of innovation.
Each episode mixes perspective with practicality, with occasional appearances from other Sports Pundit hosts from across the Network.
About The Hosts
The Pitch typically brings together three hosts - Andy Marston, Drew Rauso and Dom Collingwood. This week it's just Andy, joined by special guest Edward Fitzgibbon, pitching and debating business ideas within cricket.
Edward Fitzgibbon (Guest) is the Managing Director at NYZ Consulting, Strategic Advisor at Profluence Capital, and a Board Member at Wisden, the most recognised brand in world cricket. His advisory work spans deal sourcing, due diligence, and growth strategy for sports technology and cricket-adjacent assets across North America, Australia, the Middle East, India, and APAC.He is also the writer of "The Future of Cricket," a long-form series co-published with Wisden that maps where the sport is headed and, critically, where the capital opportunities sit. The series covers everything from calendar reform and venue economics to growth markets like Nepal and the emerging cricket tech stack.
Andy Marston is the founder of Sports Pundit, a community and media platform for sports and technology executives. Through a weekly newsletter, podcast network, lively group chat, and regular social events, he shares industry analysis and connects leaders across the sector. Alongside Sports Pundit, Andy leads Corporate Venture at athlete-backed venture firm, The Players Fund, where he works with high-profile sports IP such as Como 1907, Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus to design venture strategies and drive innovation initiatives.
