Aug 19, 2026 · 28 min · 10 segments
In this special live edition of the SportsPro podcast, recorded at SportsPro Investment Summit in London, SportsPro editor Steve McCaskill is joined by Bex Smith, founder and CEO of Crux Football, and…
Bex SmithGuest
Michael BroughtonGuest
Steve McCaskillHost
Does it matter what the sport is? I'd ask first, are you backing a sports property or an entertainment property? And both are backable, but they're different.

Baller League, Kings League, to me, those are entertainment products that have sport.

But that is a different business model in how you make it work, which it can work.

over time compared to an old school authentic sport but needs to be disrupted and challenged and done differently, which is women's football.

So I think you have to take that step back and go, what actually am I backing?

And I actually, I agree with Michael on that one, but I do think that, for example, Angel City, has anyone seen any of their games in LA? It's yeah, there you go.

You go because you get the free stuff and the cameras on all the kids the entire time and there's music and there's fireworks.

And I think they've built a fan base because they've got real integration into the community.

Does it matter what the sport is? I'd ask first, are you backing a sports property or an entertainment property? And both are backable, but they're different.

Baller League, Kings League, to me, those are entertainment products that have sport.

But that is a different business model in how you make it work, which it can work.

over time compared to an old school authentic sport but needs to be disrupted and challenged and done differently, which is women's football.

So I think you have to take that step back and go, what actually am I backing?

And I actually, I agree with Michael on that one, but I do think that, for example, Angel City, has anyone seen any of their games in LA? It's yeah, there you go.

You go because you get the free stuff and the cameras on all the kids the entire time and there's music and there's fireworks.

And I think they've built a fan base because they've got real integration into the community.
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