Brand Beckham & Osaka's Jellyfish - has sport ever been so fashionable? - The Sports Agents

Brand Beckham & Osaka's Jellyfish - has sport ever been so fashionable? - The Sports Agents

Author: Global January 23, 2026 Duration: 21:42

Everyone’s been talking about the Beckhams and Naomi Osaka this week. Hard to believe a family feud and a jellyfish outfit at the Australian Open have anything in common - but where Sir Alex Ferguson used to fight to keep David Beckham's focus on the pitch, sport is now embracing fashion like never before...

Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams pictured at the Met Gala, Stella McCartney designing Arsenal kits, and the famous NBA Tunnel Walks.

Have we all grown up enough to appreciate that athletes having other interests doesn’t mean they aren’t distracted from getting the win? How much money does Naomi Osaka going viral as a jellyfish make for brands and athletes? And should more sports be using fashion to grow the game?

Gabby is joined by The Athletic's Tennis Correspondent, Charlie Eccleshare, and Mayowa Quadri, Football Culture Writer and Head of Brand at Versus.

Plus, we look back at the best bits of The Sports Agents this week: should managers like Oliver Glasner and clubs like Crystal Palace should accept their place in the football food chain? And is a female coach in the Premier League really the holy grail or not?

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents


Every weekday afternoon, Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall gather to make sense of the noise. Their The News Agents isn't a simple bulletin; it's a conversation between three of the UK's most experienced journalists who have seen the machinery of government and media from the inside. This daily podcast from Global focuses on the forces shaping our world, dissecting the headlines from Westminster and beyond with a sharp eye for what really matters. You'll hear them pull apart political strategies, question the official narrative, and trace the connections between today's breaking story and its deeper roots. What sets this show apart is their collective tone-a blend of genuine expertise, natural scepticism, and the occasional necessary laugh at the absurdities of the news cycle. They provide context where others just provide clips, aiming to answer the persistent "why" behind the "what." Tuning into this podcast feels like getting a direct, unfiltered briefing from colleagues who know the landscape intimately, making the complex flow of daily events not just comprehensible but genuinely engaging. It’s analysis designed for anyone who wants to move past the soundbites.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The News Agents
Podcast Episodes
Could Peter Mandelson end up in jail? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:08
Peter Mandelson has resigned from the Labour party and insists he "doesn’t recall" receiving tens of thousands of pounds from Jeffrey Epstein but has now called for "an investigation...by me“ to check.What was he doing l…
Is British politics just ungovernable? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:59
Keir Starmer is historically unpopular. When he entered Downing Street, his approval rating stood around +10%. Now? The Prime Minister languishes around -50%. It's the steepest drop in support for any governing party sti…
Is Trump about to rig the midterm elections? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:04
The election offices of Fulton County were raided by FBI agents yesterday morning. Fulton, in the state of Georgia, was at the heart of Donald Trump's claims six years ago that he’d won the 2020 election (he didn’t). Why…
Why does Kemi Badenoch want an even smaller Tory party? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:56
Kemi Badenoch has told her party not to get in her way as she steers it further to the Right. Is this the correct assessment of what the Conservatives needs to attract voters back? Or is she way off?Later, Trump has thre…
Has Trump lost the battle for Minneapolis? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:30
Donald Trump's tone on Minneapolis has changed in the last 24 hours. He’s now having conciliatory meetings and phone calls with State Governor Tim Walz and the city's Mayor Jacob Frey.And it looks like he’s removed his B…
Is Reform UK becoming a Tory party retirement home? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:35
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has renounced the party that gave her power, and defected to Reform. She's telling us today that Britain is broken and “she” (Britain, not Suella) was “suffering”.Are Reform better…
Special Report: Surveillance and snatch squads in Trump's new America [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:19
In Minneapolis right now, there are more ICE and border patrol agents than there are police officers. The national guard - the army - is on standby to deploy to the city.Everybody in the city has a story about being targ…
Dictators, Invaders and Trump's motley crew on the Board of Peace [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:37
Originally intended to be a small group overseeing a ceasefire in Gaza, Trump's Board of Peace has evolved into something much bigger. Apparently "a lot of great people" want to join, but who’s going to pay the billion d…
Trump's Greenland shakedown: 'Say no and we will remember' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:56
Donald Trump took to the stage at Davos to take the military invasion of Greenland off the table, cue sighs of relief from European leaders and NATO.But his ambitions for the US to own the territory have gone nowhere. He…