Are You Not Entertained?

Roger Mitchell and Mark Oliver are joined by Ben Morel, former Six Nations and NBA executive, to examine whether sport is reaching the limits of commercialization. From French football’s media-rights crisis and the fight against piracy to rugby’s crowded calendar, private-equity investment and the proposed NBA Europe league, they explore whether the future lies in bigger rights deals — or in better products, smarter bundles and giving fans a reason to watch.

This wide release of last week’s special live edition of Goal Own Goal goes from the FIFA Forward enterprise plan and the sheer chaos around Infantino’s latest power play to a properly sharp discussion about what football has become, who it is really for, and what happens when the game starts treating itself like a financial product. With Charlie Methven and John Colquhoun joining Grant and Roger, the conversation cuts through the buzzwords to look at the deal itself, the commercial logic, the dodgy politics around it, and the bigger question of whether the sport still has any sense of dignity left in the room.

Roger Mitchell and Mark Oliver are joined by Davide Tesoro-Tess, the strategist who helped shape Sky Italy, to unpack the biggest media question of the moment: what happens when consolidation, separation and vertical integration all start happening at once? From Comcast and Sky to RTL, MFE and the future of free-to-air versus pay TV, they dig into why Europe’s broadcasters are rearranging themselves, whether the real prize is cost savings or advertising power, and which deals are bold strategy versus survival in a market that is changing fast. Brought to you by 54.

Brian Moore, one of the most recognised and colourful characters in English rugby over the last forty years, joins The Captain this week. A man with a wide and varied career, he was not only a formidable rugby player who represented England and the British Lions, but has also been a solicitor, broadcaster, author, and manicurist. An ardent fan of ballet and opera, he is a man you simply cannot put in a box. Brought to you by Fortnum & Mason and The Sponsorship Doctor.

This week’s Goal/Own Goal swings from the Open Championship’s pure sporting theatre to Bryson DeChambeau’s full-bore nonsense, with Grant and Roger tearing into the difference between actually winning and simply making everything about yourself. From there it’s a sharp, slightly brutal World Cup post-mortem on Messi, legacy, dignity, and the tiny human vanishing act that can sit behind genius, all wrapped in the show’s usual mix of sport, ego, and righteous irritation. It's Goal/Own Goal.