The Athletic.

Hello, I'm Mark Chapman.

Welcome to the Business of Sports on The Athletic.

Now, Matt Slate is away this week.

Before he went on holiday, though, we did do a couple of interviews.

So you're going to hear two of those.

First up up our conversation

with michael calt who was part of the investment group that transformed the tampa bay raise

from one of baseball's worst teams to one of the best working for the new york mayor's office

he led the development of the new yankee stadium as well and he now leads consortiums investing in football across Europe.

And then on that theme, you're going to hear Matt in conversation

with Ipswich Towns, American co-owner Brett Johnson and CEO Mark Ashton,

to hear about their plans for the club following the US-backed takeover.

This is the Business of Sport on the Athletic.

So let's start then with our interview with Michael Calt, as well as comparing financial

strategies in US and European sport.

He discusses how US investors have been seeking out bargains in football

drawn by the game's ever-increasing global reach and lower valuations. He also explains how we

could soon see less on-field decisions made by head coaches of top European football teams

with more direction from analytics departments, as we see in

North American sport. It is a fascinating insight. We began with a very simple question. Why does

he invest in sport? You know, look, I think it's like any other investment opportunity. You know,

...