SportsPro Live 2023 - A review with a scarf

I've just spent two amazing days at Sports Pro Live at the Kia Oval in London. A big shoutout to Nick Meacham and the Sports Pro team for putting together such an engaging event. It was packed with people, and the content was top-notch. Some personal highlights for me were the intriguing story of Wrexham, FC Barcelona and Spotify and the insightful talks with Brett Gosper from the NFL and Mark Watson from DAZN.

The CEO panel, though, didn't quite live up to my expectations. Simon Cummins did a good job preparing it, but some of the answers seemed lacking. As someone who cares deeply about these issues, I felt a bit let down.

On a brighter note, the networking and connections I made during the event were really good. I appreciated that the focus expanded beyond just sports, recognizing that we need to embrace the entertainment industry to keep audiences engaged.

One notable panel featured Aarti Dabas from Formula E discussing the importance of purpose. She tied in a personal story about her daughter, which I found really moving and well-articulated.

Content-wise, the curation worked well, keeping audiences engaged with a variety of themes, all relevant but not too spread which could cause dispersion. Most of the people on stage brought strong messages, and transformational experiences, few of the panelists were not adding much or re-stating the obvious - ok, I know I may be a bit demanding here. If there is a focus to improve beyond the already the current very good level it is about making sure every session is outstanding - or at least that should be the ambition.

In terms of logistics, the rooms were always filled with people which is an essential success factor, especially from the stage; Finding them a bit of an exercise but I was ok with that; the location super close to Victoria Station works well for me; the organization and the staff were great as always; the networking area may be too small for such an attendance; catering may need improvement.

Overall, Sports Pro Live was a great experience filled with fascinating discussions and interesting connections. It's given me a fresh perspective on the future of sports and entertainment and consolidated some of the thinking I am currently focused on.

Sessions I attended

NFL

Brett Gosper - National Football League (NFL)

A pretty extensive coverage of what the NFL is up to internationally, including playing games abroad, the new marketing program for clubs, a franchise in London (?), the new DAZN deal.

Immersive Experiences

National Hockey League (NHL) David Lehanski - Roblox Tian Pei - Rebecca (Bex) Smith - Sander J Schouten Beyond Sports

Fascinating talk about Roblox and sport leagues (NHL) with BeyondSports (a Sony Sport) company supporting them to create immersive experiences.

Roblox is the place to be to engage Gen Z and a wider audience who is spending substantial time on that platform. It has the numbers, the daily users, the engagement.

Good point about fragmentation of distribution from NHL and how you need tools to support content in that respect.

A bit of an awkward moment when Bex Smith read my question and started with "Who is this guy?" and I waved my scarf from the front line ?????? I will need to do some media buy for awareness! But she liked the question, answer below in the second video.

My question: Would you see the NHL selling rights to others to create their own hockey experience on Roblox?

Gen Z: The fan of the Future

Michael Sutherland Real Madrid C.F. - Giulia Z. ESL FACEIT Group - EFG - Michael Meltzer Sorare - Lidor Oz WSC Sports

My question: How do you expect Gen Z behaviors and traits to remain unchanged or evolve and converge to previous generations' as this cohort grows in age? (Thanks Giulia for the shoutout)

Stories... That is my pitch from 2016 when I created SportTeller a platform for stories in own & operated digital products - basically reacting to Snapchat and copying the idea. Worked well.

Purpose in sport

Aarti Dabas Formula E

One of the best articulation on why we do what we do.

CEO Leadership Panel

Simon Cummins Odgers Berndtson

As anticipated, I was definitively puzzled by what I have heard on this panel. Very well prepared by Simon, touched all the main topics, but in some cases I was shocked by the answers.

More in my world, it felt like when I was asking a product team if they had implemented analytics and dashboards and they would start mumbling about roadmap priorities and had clearly not done that and wanted to launch without.

It's 2023, post-pandemic, clear signals from younger generation and the workforce that times are changing, and in some cases I was brought back to the 90s... with all respect for the massive experience on stage.

FC Barcelona and Spotify

Sergi Ricart i Balcells FC Barcelona - Marc Hazan Spotify

My question: What about first-party data? (There was an article when they signed, that alleged Spotify was unimpressed by the real number of user that were in the data platform compared to the number of fans, and ended up paying less). They did not fall in that naive trap. Good answers.

The club perspective

The brand perspective

The most glamorous club

Wrexham AFC Humphrey Ker Shaun Harvey

Huge crowd attracted by the celebrity owners - not there though.

How to create a great story by knowing what you don't know and empowering others to implement your vision.

What I loved about this session was that it rarely touched on the football itself. A lot of focus on other aspects. Storytelling at the center. The Netflix series top priority. The community impact.

But having said that, being promoted is what makes this story great.

No mention of Ted Lasso. Intentional? Would have this happen without that? Not sure.

Good moderation by Nick, also.

DAZN new phase

Mark Watson DAZN

Strong gravitas by Mark Watson and no-nonsense articulation of the DAZN current and future scenarios.

No mention of Italy and Serie A new cycle. Will be intriguing to see what happens there. See my instant article on that here(https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/what-happening-italy-serie-tv-channel-carlo-de-marchis/ ).

Fantasy football

Alexandra Willis The Premier League

A good deep dive on the best Fantasy Football app on the planet, a first play by Alex at the league.

StreamingLiveSportIsNotEasyDotCom

My first merchandise marketing stunt with Nick Meacham

A Guy With A Scarf on your Apple Watch

Thanks to Chris Welsh

A Guy With A Scarf and BuzzMyVideos

Paola Marinone from BuzzMyVideos (I am an advisor for them)

Canadians

Kasey Machin ( Areto Labs ) and Mike Armstrong ( Juventus Football Club )

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