Sports In The Making

Dennis Spencer - VP Media, Lagardere Sports & Entertainment

Episode Summary

Dennis Spencer is Senior Vice President of Media with Lagardere Sports. He is responsible for negotiating media rights for sports properties such as the French Open Tennis Tournament, Chicago and Boston Marathons and other sports around the world. In this episode we talk about what is involved in securing rights and how it affects sports fans around the world.

Episode Notes

• 2:31 - Dennis explains what Lagardere company is.
• 5:32 - What sports/media events and shows he works on with Lagardere.
• 7:27 - How the sports arbitrage business works in representing a sports property and how Lagardere helped the NBA with their international business.
• 9:09 - The competitiveness for sports media rights.
• 10:13 - The daunting task of securing rights and how individual sports properties have different goals in partnering with an agency.
• 11:30 - How tricky or complex it is to monetize a property.
• 13:05 - How Dennis got into the rights side of sports media.
• 14:32 - What some of the most interesting sports he’s been a part of.
• 15:33 - What he loves about it and what are some of the challenges with what he does.
• 17:02 - How he balances dealing with multi million dollar contracts and still being a part of the production environment plus how specialization for young people can limit their growth.
• 18:03 - What goes into producing the Boston Marathon for domestic and international viewers.
• 20:25 - How viewers outside the United States digest the sports they watch.
• 22:25 - Productions for sports are shrinking with on-site presence depending on the event.
• 23:00 - Where Dennis was during the Boston Marathon bombing and how the Boston Athletic Association has adjusted to making the event a special one.
• 25:47 - The most special event he’s been a part of.
• 27:30 - What the biggest challenges are for many of the sporting events around the world.
• 29:15 - Dennis explains what the SPORTEL convention is about.
• 30:10 - What makes a sports property have value.
• 30:38 - What makes a sports property valuable?
• 31:30 - What Dennis would like sports fans to know about the international landscape and how it impacts the sporting world.
• 33:00 - Importing & exporting sports media properties
• 33:37 - What the toughest event he’s ever been a part of.
• 35:10 - How much time he spends on the airplane.
• 35:34 - Best piece of advise he’s gotten working in the sports industry.