What does it take to become a top football agent in the UK? From negotiating million-pound contracts, to managing player transfers, a football agent holds the power to change the game long before players walk onto the pitch.
In this episode of The Business, we explore the high-stakes world of sports management, where agent fees topped £400 million in the Premier League last year. Jo Tongue, leading football agent and chief executive of Tongue Tied Management, joins Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times, to take us behind the scenes of commercial deal making in football.
Jo discusses managing players' careers, negotiating commercial deals, and representing some of the biggest names across British football, including the manager of Manchester United, Michael Carrick.
As a board member of Women in Football, Jo also reflects on working in a male-dominated industry and addressing the persistent inequalities facing female sports professionals.
On social media she says abuse "is rife for women, to the point where I think a lot of females just go, ‘I'm just not gonna put anything out there because it's just not worth the stress."
More from the Times:
‘It never occurred to me that I couldn’t succeed in football as a girl’
Michael Carrick hails ‘fresh start’ but one win in seven tells own story
More from the Business
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“I was ashamed”: How failure built Castore
Guests:
Jo Tongue, football agent and chief executive of Tongue Tied Management
Presenter:
Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times
Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Video Producer: Super Llama
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