4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

PEOPLE
Who do you admire most in the industry?
Lord Coe has to be right up there for what he
has achieved as an athlete and for bringing the
Olympics to London. Mark McCormack always
impressed me when he built IMG.
What have been the best moments in your career
in the sport industry?
As a player it was winning my singles match in
Christchurch in the quarter-finals of the David
Cup in 1981. I won from two sets to love down
and we went on to beat New Zealand. Having
two very successful outcomes from the TV
negotiations for the RFL and Super League rates
very highly for me as they were critical for the
future of the sport at the time.
LIFELONG ALL-ROUNDER
Rugby Football League and Sport England chairman Richard Lewis
reveals his expectations for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and
gives his view on the merger of Sport England and UK Sport.
A former Davis Cup player and international
tennis coach, Richard Lewis worked at the
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) from 1988 to
2000 and was team manager when Great Britain
won men’s doubles silver at the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics. He joined the Rugby Football League
(RFL) in 2002 as executive chairman
and became chairman seven years later
following his appointment as chairman of
Sport England. Under Lewis, the RFL saw a
174-per-cent rise in television revenue to
£27.2 million in 2009 and a substantial increase
in the number of people playing the sport -
which now stands at around 60,000.
How did you get involved in working within
the business of sport?
I first started importing tennis accessories when
I was a player and felt I had some spare time on
the tour. I loved working out profit margins and
cold-calling sports shops in the area where the
tournament was being held. After a successful
playing and coaching career I joined the LTA as a
director of junior tennis and the rest is history.
What attracted you to sport?
I have played sport all my life, captaining
(football’s) London Schoolboys on a three-week
football tour of America when I was 11 years old,
before training with Tottenham Hotspur and
then quitting football to concentrate on tennis.
At school I was an all-rounder, half-mile county
champion and district champion of high-jump as
well as doing okay at cricket and rugby union. I
just love sport, the competing, the social side, the
opportunity it gives people to excel and improve
their self worth - I could go on. I just think sport
is as good as anything society has to offer.
Who have been the biggest influences on your
career so far?
So many people I could name. The great
Australian tennis coach Harry Hopman - I
spent three weeks at his New York tennis camp
and he helped me get back from one of my
long-term injuries. I always appreciated his
help at a time when I was down.
Paul Hutchins at the LTA was another big
influence, as my Davis Cup captain and as
a successful businessman who had great
organisational skills and high personal values.
Above all though it has to be my parents, they
let me make the choice between tennis and
football and most crucially supported me when
I left grammar school at 15 just to play tennis.
It was a big risk.
And the worst?
Some people might expect me to say it was
when I left the LTA but it never was remotely
that - I had been wanting to leave for two years.
Probably the worst as a player were my serious
injuries that on two occasions sidelined me for
a year. Most recently though it was England
underperforming at the 2008 Rugby League
World Cup, it would be good to put the record
straight in 2013.
What is on the horizon for you next at the RFL and
Sport England?
The 2013 Rugby League World Cup is a huge
opportunity for the sport. I just hope the
government get behind our World Cup and
the other major events of the golden decade. It
is one thing having the events - it is another
thing altogether making them a success and the
current economic climate could make for some
very bad short term decisions if we aren’t careful.
At Sport England we have just been given
full responsibility for the community sport
legacy for the 2012 Olympics. This is great
news and allows for some very focused plans
and activity. We are going to be announcing
these at the end of the year and I am looking
forward to us playing a really positive role
around the 2012 Games.
How do you view the proposed merger of Sport
England and UK Sport?
Undoubtedly merging two organisations
with different cultures is a challenge. One is
focused on a few (sports) and making sure
they develop and deliver to their maximum in
major competitions. The other is responsible
for increasing participation, increasing
opportunities for the masses to play sport and
improving general coaching standards. And
ironically both organisations are perceived to be
really well run nowadays. Only last month the
sports minister said the current management
at Sport England had achieved a remarkable
turnaround in only two years.
90 SportBusiness International • No.160 • 09.10