Nic Coward
Expert Partner
Nic is an Expert Partner at Portas, bringing 30 years of unique senior leadership experience and insight to our work for clients across our offices and teams. He has been involved directly in all aspects of sports, including as chair or chief executive of governing bodies in football, golf, horseracing and athletics, as well as significant involvement in particular in kabaddi and cricket, and Wembley stadium. Originally a lawyer, in addition to his advisory work Nic is also chair, director and investor at sports related businesses from tracking and data, to hardware.
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Nic joined the Football Association shortly before hosting EURO '96 as its first general counsel, and over 8 years served twice as acting CEO for 2 years. He tool the lead on a diverse portfolio from the Wembley purchase and redevelopment, to all commercial regulatory and corporate legal, refereeing, football administration and discipline, governance, competitions and matches (the FA Cup and England), government affairs, and safeguarding. He subsequently built a sports focused government affairs business, as well as chairing the Premier League Media and IP Working Group, and becoming first chair of the global Sports Rights Owners Coalition.
He was appointed the first Chief Executive of the new British Horseracing Authority, leading significant change across the sport, and building a unique insight into all aspects of sports and betting, from policy to anti-corruption to commercials.
He then joined the global leading Premier League in a new role of General Secretary, responsible for all aspects of competition delivery operations and administration, governance legal and regulation, stakeholder relations and youth development, which included the design and implementation of the groundbreaking Elite Player Performance Plan. He was on the board of European Leagues, and a member of the UEFA Professional Strategy Council, and established what has now become the World Leagues Association. He has since taken on a portfolio of consultancies and business interests, which has included significant work with the Pro Kabaddi League (India's second biggest sports league), with FIFA as a professional football adviser particularly working in India and China, in motorsport in the UK, and with Octagon Media Rights.
He also served the maximum two terms as the first independent chair of England Golf, and was asked to step in as Chief Executive and then Chair to stabilize and reset UK Athletics after a period of turmoil, which included the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Nic is now the chair of the independent Regulatory Board for English and Welsh cricket. He is a regular contributor to the FIFA Master and Cambridge Judge MBA, and chairs a number of businesses, including Sportable Technologies, a ball tracking, data and analytics business working across soccer and American football, AFL and rugby union and rugby league. He has been involved as an independent advisory member of the UK Olympic and Paralympic system redesign led by UK Sport, and chairs the UK Major Events Organization.