PBE welcomes Simon Kuper to the Royal Institution

Monday 27th February 2017, 7pm

The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS

There are a limited number of free tickets for this event. Suggested donation to Pro Bono Economics is minimum £10.

We are pleased to announce that Nomura will be our headline sponsor again this year [Read more about Nomura].

With thanks to our co-sponsor, Weil, Gotshal & Manges​.

Register via Eventbrite

Every gold medal won at the Rio Olympics cost the UK an estimated £5.5 million. However, the average UK citizen in 2017 will do less than 30 minutes of exercise each week.

Every fortnight, the government sells off a school playing field to a corporate household name. Meanwhile, childhood obesity and mental illness in teenagers continue to rise with a growing burden on the public purse.

Has Britain got sport upside down?

Simon Kuper, author of "Soccernomics" and Financial Times columnist, will look at why investment in British sport has become so polarised. Drawing on Simon's extensive knowledge of the UK sports industry, the evening is set to ask some challenging questions on the link between sport, public health and the economy in 2017.

Examining Simon Kuper’s themes further, Professor Diane Coyle (University of Manchester) will host a panel discussion and invite contributions from the audience.

Simon Kuper will be joined on the panel by:

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Gold medal Paralympian, parliamentarian and television presenter.

Mark Gregory, EY's Chief Economist for the UK & Ireland; his work has quantified the economic and social impact of sport institutions, including the Rugby World Cup 2015 and English Premier League.

Will Watt, founder of Jump: expertise in policy evaluation, impact analysis and behaviour change in sport and volunteering.

The event will be followed by a drinks and canapés reception.

Pro Bono Economics is a registered charity, which relies on philanthropic donations (charity no.1130567). Learn more at: www.probonoeconomics.com/donate-now.

Register via Eventbrite


About Simon Kuper

Simon Kuper (born in Kampala, Uganda in 1969) was educated at Oxford University and Harvard. He has been working for the Financial Times since 1994, and now writes a general column for the newspaper. He is British but lives with his wife and three children in Paris.

Simon is the author of several books including Football Against the Enemy (winner of the William Hill prize for Sports Book of the Year 1994), Ajax, The Dutch, The War: Football in Europe During the Second World War (2003), and – as co-author with Stefan Szymanski - Soccernomics (2009). He also writes for magazines in Japan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and other countries.

Simon has won several awards for his journalism, ranging from the Manuel Vazquez Montalban prize for sports writing in 2008 (sponsored by FC Barcelona) to the British Society of Magazine Editors’ prize for Columnist of the Year in 2016.


Headline sponsor: Nomura

Nomura is an Asia-headquartered financial services group with an integrated global network spanning over 30 countries. By connecting markets East & West, Nomura services the needs of individuals, institutions, corporates and governments through its three business divisions: Retail, Asset Management, and Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking). Founded in 1925, the firm is built on a tradition of disciplined entrepreneurship, serving clients with creative solutions and considered thought leadership.

For further information about Nomura, visit: www.nomura.com.


Co-sponsor: Weil, Gotshal & Manges

With thanks to our co-sponsor, Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

For information about Weil, visit: www.weil.com.


Media partners

ConnectSport is a free and independent news service, which has been showcasing and sharing the best of sport CSR (corporate social responsibility), grassroots and social inclusion since April 2011 (www.connectsport.co.uk).

YouGov is a global market research and data company built on a simple idea: The more people participate in the decisions made by the institutions that serve them, the better those decisions will be. YouGov included questions on its Next Day Omnibus to provide content that will support discussions as part of PBE's “Has Britain got sport upside down?” Simon Kuper event (www.yougov.com).

SENSO, an award-winning integrated communications agency, applies strategic thinking, creativity and rigour to multi-faceted PR and marketing campaigns. Serving UK and global clients in a diversity of sectors, SENSO handles corporate, brand and commercial communications, placing an emphasis on substantial, measurable results (www.sensocommunications.com).

17th January 2017