Richard Scudamore CBE is one of the most influential figures within English football. He is considered the driving force behind the transformation of the Premier League into the world’s most-watched annual competition.
Richard began his career at Yellow Pages then moved to information conglomerate, Thomson, heading up the UK's Group Sales and Marketing division. Richard served as Managing Director of The Scotsman and later relocated to the US, continuing his work for Thomson. Whilst in the role of Senior Vice President, he oversaw all newspaper operations in Eastern and Southern USA.
The next step in Richard’s career saw him appointed Chief Executive of the Football League, where he was responsible for all aspects of the business, including broadcast and commercial rights sales for the Football League pyramid and the Football League Cup. His success led to an approach by English football’s top division, the Premier League. Richard was installed as Chief Executive and went on to enjoy an integral twenty year association. Scudamore’s stewardship guided the Premier League to a new level, accruing broadcasting and sponsorship contracts worth in excess of £3.3 billion per season.
Responsible for all aspects of Premier League operations, he spearheaded multiple initiatives to improve club sustainability. Scudamore also played a pivotal part in the founding of the Football Foundation, an organisation that has contributed over £1.7 billion into community football through 18,000 projects. Richard also worked with clubs to create solidarity and charitable programmes, resulting in financial contributions of over £450 million per annum to organisations outside of the Premier League.
Since retiring, Scudamore's wealth of knowledge and experience has been in high demand and he has taken up advisory roles for Major League Baseball, the A-League and the Ryder Cup.
He was awarded a CBE for services to football in HM The Queen’s New Year Honours List 2019.
