Ben Calveley is the CEO of The British & Irish Lions and has been in the role since November 2018.
Immediately prior to joining Lions Rugby, Ben worked for England Rugby from 2011 where he led the corporate strategy, public affairs and business implementation teams. He also worked for UK Sport from 2007 where he advised all Olympic and Paralympic sports on how to increase their influence within the International Federations to which they affiliate, running multiple high profile election campaigns during this period. Calveley joined UK Sport from PMP, the sports consultancy firm, where he led the Football division. Ben started out in mergers & acquisitions for Arthur Andersen and holds an MBA.
In 2021 Ben lead the successful delivery of the 2021 British & Irish Lions Tour of South Africa, undoubtedly one of the most challenging tours that the Lions have ever undertaken due to the global pandemic. In 2025, he oversaw a record-breaking winning Lions Tour that included the most positive financial and fan engaged Tour to date.
In his role as CEO, Ben oversees all aspects of the organisation including the inaugural 2027 Lions Women’s Tour to New Zealand and everything happening in the period beyond. His objectives are to ensure the Lions is best prepared to be successful on the field of play, to engage Lions fans in an immersive Lions experience, to generate the commercial return necessary to fuel the growth of the brand and to ensure the organisation is successfully run and managed.
