SPORT BIZ
The sports industry comes together in Barcelona for SPORTBIZ EUROPE
The conference in the Catalan capital brought together leading players from across the sport industry, offering panels, workshops and networking opportunities.
Around 500 attendees took part in person at SPORTBIZ EUROPE, the European Sports Business Congress, which, over four days brought together many of the leading players in the sports industry. The event started with a welcome cocktail at the Hotel Pulitzer, and developed over the next two days with panels and conferences in the Old Estrella Damm Brewery before closing on Friday with workshops and visits to the RCDE Stadium and the Euroleague headquarters.
David Escudé Rodríguez, sports councillor on Barcelona’s City Council, welcomed the attendees at the official opening of the Congress, before giving way to Mariel Koerhuis, General Manager of the Johan Cruyff Institute, who discussed the current state of the industry and the challenges to be faced in the current context.
Outstanding panels covering the sports industry
Among the outstanding panels on Day 1, Dragon Rouge presented “Lovemarks, Redifining Fan Approach”, a series of useful tips for sports brands to get closer to the younger generations. The panel was shared by TikTok, the Bundesliga and Euroleague. WSC Sports, meanwhile, introduced a panel alongside Premier League, Formula 1, the ATP Tour and the WTA to discuss how to apply innovation when it comes to collaborations between brands and competitions.
The event had a major focus on e-sports, with the Johan Cruyff Institute moderating a session on finding new sources of revenue within the sector, and SPORTFIVE, together with Riot Games, sharing success stories in activations and sponsorships.
Women’s sport was also a focus of the conference, with AS USA journalist Reem Abdalazem, who is a former artistic swimming Olympian, chairing a lively, in-depth panel on Women’s Sport Challenges, alongside Marely Flores, Senior Women’s Tournament Manager de FIFA, Richard Feus, CEO of Swiss club Servette FC 1890 and Fabían Quesada from the Spanish Sports Association.
Networking opportunities over four packed days
SPORTFIVE also took the opportunity to present its partnership with Polygon, connecting the sports industry with the development of Web3 solutions. During Day 3 of the Congress, these kind of initiatives were given particular focus, with representatives of FIBA, FIFA and Euroleague participating, as well as brands involved with projects and solutions in this ecosystem.
The entrepreneurial and sporting spirit that Barcelona is imbued with could be seen with the presentation of startups participating in the B-STEP programme of Barcelona Activa and with a session dedicated to City Sports Lab Barcelona, a project of the Barcelona Sports Hub. Bayern Munich closed the content days at the Old Estrella Damm Brewery with its Marketing Director Thomas Glas as an exhibitor.
The third European edition of the SPORTBIZ event also generated various networking opportunities for attendees to connect with speakers, event partners and each other, setting up meetings and discussing possibilities for future collaboration. All as part of the development of the SPORTBIZNER community, a collective that connects the different elements of the sports ecosystem.
Organised by Good Morning Sports, the SPORTBIZ event continues its journey to Latin America for future editions in Mexico and Argentina. But it will be back in Europe next year, returning to Barcelona in October 2023.