“If you’re trying to make it work then make it real.”
From the kitchen
Nigel began in one of the toughest trades there is. He worked his way up through restaurants in London and Paris, and into a Michelin three star kitchen.
He then started his own catering company and found a niche in corporate events, for clients such as Pratt & Whitney and BMW. Impatient for the next thing, he sold it and built a commercial event management business.
Events put him in the room when things went wrong. Out of that came an award winning marketing and PR company that specialised in crisis management.
His first big sporting client was Peter de Savary’s challenge for the 1992 America’s Cup. De Savary went on to take a stake in the business.
Raising the game
In the early 1990s Nigel saw that the media were poorly served at major sporting events, so he founded Rushmans to fix it. At the 1991 Rugby World Cup a large Rushmans team ran media management and accreditation across five nations. In a world before the internet it was a complex logistical operation, and for some years very few others could deliver it.
Rushmans grew into one of the specialists that major tournaments turn to. Its work ran from assessing and preparing bids through to accreditation and media management, and on to security and rights brokerage.
In 2007 Nigel was Event Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. With the Rushmans and ICC teams he put in place everything from event management and security to the volunteer programme, across nine host countries in the Caribbean.
“It’s their show and we’re there to help them.”Nigel Rushman, SportsPro, September 2016
For London 2012 he ran the non accredited media centre for the City of London. He has presented his thinking on world class events to the IOC and FIFA, and spoken at SportAccord.
One hand washing the other
In the mid 1990s Nigel took a two page photocopied newsletter and turned it into SportBusiness. He installed Kevin Roberts as editor and modelled the title on PR Week. It went on to become the best known trade brand in the sports industry.
Alongside the events he built contacts across governments and commerce, and used them to put together international deals in many industries. He calls this blend of commerce and sport “one hand washing the other”.
In 2016 he took that into Cuba. Rushmans signed an agreement with RTVC, the commercial arm of Cuba’s state broadcaster, to take Cuban sport to the international market, from distribution to co-production, a deal described at the time as the first of its type. The first match on sale was Cuba against the United States in Havana.
He also co-founded Venica, with the mission of “Making Good Science Good Business”.
Making it real
Nigel is a continuous learner. He studies psychology and critical thinking, negotiation and strategy, because he sees them as the foundation of good decisions. His biggest lesson from forty years, he has said, is never to react in haste.
Most recently he created Rushmans Decision Intelligence, a proprietary system built to help clients with their most complex challenges and to uncover opportunities they cannot yet see. He writes about it on Substack, and in September 2026 he talked through his career on the Unofficial Partner podcast.
He has worked with John Caswell for years. In 2020 he told the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast how he uses Structured Visual Thinking on new projects around the world.
He is part of the Group Partners Expert Network. He brings the judgement of someone who has delivered under the hardest deadlines in sport, and helps leaders sharpen their options when the stakes are high.
The path
From a Michelin kitchen to decision intelligence.
- London and Paris
Rises through restaurant kitchens, including a Michelin three star house.
- Catering
Builds a corporate events catering company, then a commercial events business.
- PR
Founds an award winning marketing and PR company specialising in crisis management.
- 1991
Rushmans runs media management and accreditation for the Rugby World Cup across five nations.
- 1992
Peter de Savary’s America’s Cup challenge becomes his breakthrough sporting client.
- SportBusiness
Turns a photocopied newsletter into the industry’s best known journal.
- 2007
Event Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.
- 2012
Runs the non accredited media centre for the City of London.
- 2016
Rushmans partners with RTVC to take Cuban sport to the world.
- 2020
Talks Structured Visual Thinking on the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast.
- Now
Runs Rushmans Decision Intelligence.
In his own words
“If you’re trying to make it work then make it real.”
“It’s their show and we’re there to help them.”
“There’s sharper people in the negotiation at the front end than on the rights holder end.”
“One hand washing the other.”
“Courageously challenge conventional thinking.”