SOCCER
Sportbiz and the commitment to Miami and the United States in the world of sports
Ignacio Bernardo, co-founder of Laugh and part of the organizing team of Sportbiz in Miami, spoke with Diario AS about this event that is coming to the United States for the first time.
The United States is a country that has constantly shown evolution and growth in terms of the sports industry. Far beyond resting on its laurels and being satisfied with what has been achieved so far, the desire to continue with this development and show it to the world is something that is already part of the daily life of this country.
Capitalizing on this commitment to sport that the United States has, SPORTBIZ has organized its famous congress in the city of Miami on the same dates as the final of the Copa America, which returns to the country, after three editions in South America.
As part of this congress, Ignacio Bernardo, one of the members of the organizing team, who also serves as co-founder of Laugh LATAM, an agency that aims to “deliver high voltage content to engage fans”, spoke in an interview with AS USA to give us a little more insight into what Sportbiz will be like from July 11 to 13.
In this interview, Ignacio revealed some of the details and purposes that Sportbiz has for this congress. This is the first time that it is being held in Miami and the United States.
Ignacio also told Diario AS who exactly this sports networking congress is aimed at and how the organizing team decided to take it to a city like Miami, which has been the focus of attention (even more so than normal!) after Lionel Messi’s arrival in the city.
Interview with Ignacio Bernardo, Co-founder of Laugh and part of the organizing team of Sportbiz Miami
What is Sportbiz and what is the main objective of this sporting event in Miami?
Sportbiz is a sports congress. What we offer is sports networking. We try to show what is happening around the world of sports, not only in the United States, not only in Latin America, not Europe or Asia, but all over the world.
Who is the Sportbiz congress in Miami specifically aimed at?
There are two types of people who attend Sportbiz. The executive who is already in the business of sports, events, rights, and so on, who can be the directors of different brands associated with sports or associated with a congress or a club. And on the other hand, the second type of people who can go to Sportbiz are the type who want to learn, know and connect. With this topic we made a great initiative with universities so that students participate by attending and listening, and also helping us at the congress. There is a very nice move for them to participate and learn. Those are the two targets, the one who wants to know what it is about, how to learn and so on and then there is all the networking of the business among themselves.
How did the commitment to bring a congress like Sportbiz to the United States come about?
What we analyzed the most was the moment that the United States is going through, the moment with the MLS, with Messi, with a lot of investments in soccer, a Concacaf that is getting stronger and stronger, an AFA that is putting its foot in the United States. And I come from the world of sports and I was very tempted by the idea of developing this, because we are sticking to a Copa America final, next year is the Club World Cup and there the doors open to reach the World Cup in 2026, so that was the analysis of why to take it to the United States.
And why was Miami specifically chosen as the headquarters of Sportbiz?
Before Messi arrived and the whole Inter Miami boom, Miami was always very important for the sports industry. They host friendlies between European teams, they play a lot of friendly FIFA matches, not to mention Miami with the Dolphins, with the NHL. The truth is that the sports boom and we say, Why Miami? OK, Inter, Messi, but the city’s sports boom is very strong and I see it as a whole, but another reason why we do it in Miami is also the Copa America final, people like it, the city is growing a lot and around a tournament like Copa America and it’s fun.
Why is Sportbiz taking place during the week of the Copa America final?
We purposely chose the date, we chose it right during the week of the Copa America final because we know that a lot of the atmosphere is of interest to us, and we knew that people from Concacaf, FIFA, different clubs and national teams were going to be there and that is why we put the event in that week and since it is a more global event where people from anywhere in the world can come to participate, we thought that it was the final and it gave us the perfect days to be able to do it.
What does this first edition of Sportbiz in a city like Miami leave you as an organization?
Sportbiz coming to Miami is something new and we had to make many connections with Florida as a state. Who could give us a hand to invite people, on the ticket sales side as a business, is how you reach out to local people to participate. We did not achieve that completely because it was new for us, today a lot of local people from Miami participate and they are helping us a lot and I think that next year we will be better prepared. But speaking of multi-sport, there will be people from the NBA, MLB, Concacaf and soccer, we invited a speaker from the Dolphins. Explaining a little bit, Sportbiz is not only about soccer but also about the entire world of sport.