Sharpening Fencing's Business Edge: Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Fencing

A hockey player who leads a fencing organization. An Englishman who manages a US team national governing body. A goalie who took on weight lifting and then sword fighting. Look, we get it. There’s a lot of incongruities in that opening. But when you sit down to talk to Phil Andrews, you realize how essential those seemingly disparate parts were to creating the man who’s currently leading USA Fencing. Phil clearly loves an underdog story, which probably makes sense given his background playing ice hockey in the UK, which is NOT exactly the most popular sport there. (It’s actually the 34th most popular sport in terms of participation. I looked it up…) But helping run an English hockey club gave him his start in sports business. And after a successful role with the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Phil was hired to help turn around USA Weightlifting, an organization that had fallen on hard times. He was so successful there, that another troubled governing body came knocking. So began his tenure with USA Fencing. Three years into the job, revenue is up, membership is growing, and eyes are firmly planted on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In our conversation, Phil and I talk about his path to leading USA Fencing. We cover what goes into leading a national governing body, how he prioritized the many challenges he was confronted with, how he plans to take full advantage of a US based Olympic games, and much more. ABOUT THIS PODCAST The Sports Business Conversations podcast is a production of ADC Partners (https://ADCPartners.com) , a sports marketing agency that specializes in creating, managing, and evaluating effective partnerships between brands and sports. All rights reserved. YOUR HOST Dave Almy (  / davealmy  ) brings over 30 years of sports marketing and sports business experience to his role as host of the "1-on-1: Sports Business Conversations" podcast. Dave is the co-Founder of ADC Partners (https://ADCPartners.com) . FOLLOW US Here's where you can find us: • LinkedIn: adc-partners (  / adc-partners  ) • Instagram: adc_partners_podcast (  / adc_partners_podcast  ) • Threads: adc_partners_podcast (https://www.threads.net/@adc_partners...) • Youtube: @adcpartners (   / @adcpartners  ) • Homepage: adcpartners.com/podcast (https://adcpartners.com/podcast) Mentioned in this episode: Good Sports (https://1-on-1-sports-business.captiv...)