Michael Payne has been at the forefront of Sports Marketing for over 40 years, most of that time spent leading and advising on deals around the Olympic Games. Payne has brokered over 25 billion dollars worth of deals and sold his first sponsorship package at the age of just sixteen!
He worked alongside all of the great leaders who built the industry – from two decades at the IOC with President Samaranch, and in those early days Horst Dassler of adidas, to over a decade with Bernie Ecclestone at F1 as his right hand person, to now Chairing Volleyball World - a joint venture between FIVB and the private equity group CVC.
Payne already has a Sunday Times - Best Sports Book of the Year (2022) and his latest work - Fast Tracks & Dark Deals, How Sport Became Business and Business Became Sport - is available to order now.
It tells the story of how the industry started in the 1970's and looks to the future – focussing on what sport and the business of sport holds in store for the next 50 years.
