Jonathan Turner: ‘Daniel Levy is the best entrepreneur I know’: Inside Tottenham's boardroom | Ep.27

This week we welcome Jonathan Turner to the show. Jonathan is a board member at Tottenham. We’ve covered ownership, management, players, but what happens in the boardroom of football's biggest clubs? Brought in by Daniel Levy, a lifelong fan with a background in investment and technology, Jonathan brings the breadth of experience and perspective that’s increasingly valuable in football.

How much of a meeting is focused on business strategy and how much is performance? How do you measure success? These are the questions as fans I wanted to understand, and Jonathan’s role at one of the biggest clubs in the country provides a fascinating insight into the behind the scenes world of football governance.

We’re delighted to welcome Jonathan Turner to the Business of Sport.
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In Today’s Show We Discuss:

What goes on in the boardroom:
How much of the conversation in board meetings is short term performance related vs long term strategy?
A balance between good business and winning on the field can be hard to find. Why?
The new stadium was a major part of developing Spurs into a global football power. What opportunities have been created by having one of the best stadiums in the game?
Work in the community is a major part of the club’s social value. Why is this so important to teams?

Tottenham’s global brand
Value of the Premier League to an international audience and the brands it has been able to create out of its clubs
Having an international reach puts pressure on the schedule to travel and take games to places like Australia and South Korea.
It’s estimated Tottenham have over 200 million fans globally. How do clubs measure this and what do they do to maximise the experience of supporting the club for all fans?
Growth of the game in the US has provided incredible opportunity to add further value and audience to the League.

Jonathan’s role and motivations
A lifelong fan with a huge passion for football, how Daniel Levy asked him to join the board and be a part of the decision making setup.
How a background in investment and tech made him the perfect person to bring a new set of skills and perspectives to the board.
Football clubs, much like any business today, need to think like technology companies. What does this mean?
Building the right infrastructure behind the scenes is a key part of establishing success. How has the board recruited across performance and operations?
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[TottenhamAwayTV]

This is awful and further confirmation of how Levy and his cronies have destroyed our FOOTBALL club.

Terrible biased video.

[GBGOLC]

Top notch stadium, automated pitch, plush boxes, NFL media centre, pop concerts, nice toilets, reverse filling beers, increased capacity, double match day revenue. Fantastic, exceptional business acumen, and great foundations. When’s the next trophy coming?

[DuncanB]

Great video, as a Spurs fan particular interested myself but would say a great insight for whoever you support.

[TottenhamAwayTV]

“Daniel is an incredibly good listener” for shareholders, board of directors and money makers NOT fans, football managers and our best players.

Spurs win NOTHING so who is Levy listening to? 😂😂

[gregmcgrath]

So tired of Spurs fans pissing and moaning about Levy. If they didnt have Levy, theyd be pissing and moaning about being stuck in the Championship or the bottom half of the Premiership. I am one of the “New” Spurs fans- started following around 2010. Love the club. I think we will find success in the coming years. Sucks that we couldnt afford to back Poch for those two windows due to the cost of the stadium. We are in great shape. Positive days ahead. Thank you, Daniel. COYS!!

[billyandrews]

As Spurs fans we want to challenge and win trophies

[BelgianHotspur]

Interesting 🧐 interview. However the business plan can not be a success until it achieves its real goal which is to win trophies 🏆.

That’s the name of the game . I’ll call it a success when I see that.

[defendi]

Levy is a great listener is the biggest joke.. In any business.. you listen to your customers needs.. Tell me which fan does not want to see their team lift trophies.. Talking about our grankids experience.. They wont support Spurs if we do not win anything.. They rather support city etc than have a nice padded seats and the whole hospitality experience.. Levy and the board are so deluded.. Funny he keeps mentioning profit will be trown back into the team.. Thats like the board members meeting narrative.. Over 20 years and the board has neen a failure.. Just go look at Liverpool and how long their board got it right.. Muppets

[lilbaz]

Really great vid guys. Glad it came up on my feed. Shared it on a spurs fan forum so hopefully you get a boost in subscribers.

Kerp this up. So much better than a talksport or skysports clickbait article.

[cwo]

Such a great informed and educated take on the business of football and one of the best in the business. I'm now a subscriber and looking forward to future editions. Appreciate the transparency Jonathan and couldn't agree more with your sentiment about the growth potential of the Tottenham brand around the world. As a Brit living in California, I'm doing my best to spread the word. Come on you Spurs.

[joeparker]

“The most poignant one in my head I probably won’t talk about here, the most important thing about the mistakes that you make are that you are very candid about it” 😂😂

[ASWinner-hlwb]

Unless you regulate football to stop the shambolic fickle fans who need to protest against the actions of Levy’s poor pitch success on the field them I am afraid nothing will change.
This chap in the video is what the problem is with the club, great off the field with commercial success but trophless on it. Please spurs fans support the team not the regime. #tottenhamaway #steliostalkssense

[mhtbfecsq]

Good to know that my great great grandkids might get to see us lift a trophy.

[beyonddeepsoulfulhousemixes]

@5:32 and we're bantered for our longest trophy drought in 70 YEARS every 15 seconds. Cheers, Daniel. COYS

[MrSiddhant]

As a spurs fan in India, I'm grateful that they did activities last year with having ossie & ledley here, exhilarating stuff and can't wait for more

[benjaminjung]

I’d say even contents like this is what fans crave. Behind the scenes, the plans and strategies behind the business and development are also incredibly interesting to true fans.

[shahali]

Still sounds like profit over glory 🏆 to me

[rhysjaggar]

People really do need to be honest about the fact that both Emirates Stadium and THFC Stadium paid for-/are paying for themselves from day 1. Arsenal were never limited due to the stadium post 2007, they simply couldn't compete financially with Abramovitch and City Group. It's the same with Tottenham. The stadium has never been the issue. The EPL environment is far more relevant.

[andrewgregory]

Levy is the best entrepreneur, but the worst football chairman. 23 years of profit before glory.

[LUGNE-qtcm]

Football club, NOT a business. 'We make long term decisions' - ENIC are doing everything they can (go karting, skywalk, concerts, etc) to increase the value of their portfolio. The money is not amply reinvested into the football team.