”Is it different enough for people to sit up & take notice? If not, what's the point?”: Tom Tainton

This week we welcome Bristol Bears CEO Tom Tainton to the show. With a new league structure recently announced and some high profile investments across the Prem, this is a great time to talk rugby and look at one of the top clubs pushing for their first title, to take them to the next level. Now since we recorded this show last week, there has been a lot of blowback from some fans and media based on comments made by Tom at a sports industry event, most of which seems to boil down to his suggestion Bristol are a marketing business playing rugby. To those of you that listen regularly, you’ll know a huge part of our conversations with CEO’s running clubs will include our firm belief that teams are content/marketing businesses and have to think like that to continue to develop in the most competitive sports market there has ever been. On the blowback, what I can say is this. Tom is one of the most impressive CEO’s that has sat in this chair with us, across sport. He speaks like an executive that gets it. He understands the demands placed on clubs in this day and age to be more than their performance on the pitch. But, and it’s a big but, not once did I feel like he believed this was at the expense of what happens on the pitch. He clearly says the next big target is to win silverware. Win the Prem. A Bristolian running one of the city’s major sporting assets; this is what you want to see in sport. So for this conversation, think about the future of the club and the sport as a combination of striving to win on and off the pitch. It’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge all teams face to maintain relevance. From what I saw, for what it’s worth, Bristol Bears have someone in charge who is intent on driving both in equal measure. We’re delighted to welcome Tom to the Business of Sport. ---------------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:35 The Evolution Of Bristol Bears 03:21 You Have To Do Things Differently 05:06 Make People Proud To Be Bristol Fans 08:53 Make Up Of A Modern Rugby Club 11:13 The New Prem 23:35 Bristol’s Finances 30:52 The Fight For Superstars & Building Brand Of Players 37:13 The Ilona Maher Effect 39:50 The Louis Rees-Zammit Effect 47:46 The Pressure Of Being CEO ---------------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1lD0eIj... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... Follow Harry Stebbings on X:   / harrystebbings   Follow Charlie Stebbings on X:   / charliestebbs   Follow Bristol Bears on X:   / bristolbears   Follow Business of Sport on Instagram:   / bizofsport   Follow Business of Sport on TikTok:   / bizofsport   ---------------------------------------------------- #businessofsport #charliestebbings #tomtainton #rugby #bristolbears #premrugby #bristol