What's next for Conferences and Events in the football industry?

Hello and welcome back to PITCHSIDE MONITOR, your ultimate source for exclusive club management insights!

This week, we delve into the realm of football events. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of football events and gain insights from Hunor Dudás , President of the MMSZ Sports Marketing Department .

First up, a space where expertise meets excellence – our dedicated Club Management Insights section.

Trade shows remain a significant global industry, even in an increasingly digital and post-pandemic landscape. Pre-pandemic data indicated that this market reached a staggering $1 trillion in direct spending alone, with over 1.5 billion participants in the late 2010s, representing a substantial portion of the world's population.

However, how does this translate specifically to the football industry? There's a common notion that the football sector is relatively small in terms of its key personnel, potentially limiting its audience reach. Yet, the 1990s marked a pivotal era not only for the evolution of professional football's business model, transitioning from a spectator-centric to a media rights-driven approach, but also for the inception of football business conventions. These events, pioneered by platforms like Soccerex in the 1990s, were modelled after similar trade gatherings within the music industry.

Football Business Events 1.0: Meeting

For teams embarking on their football business journey in the early 2000s, this period marked an exhilarating transition towards modernity and glamour. Previously, industry events were characterised by traditional, bureaucracy-focused assemblies or exclusive competitions limited to a fortunate few. However, during this transformative era, teams had the opportunity to partake in dynamic gatherings that transcended barriers of exclusivity. These early events provided a platform to interact with prominent figures in the international football community, fostering an environment of collaboration and innovation free from the constraints of VIP tiers and closed-door sessions.

The escalating prominence of these pioneering events, coupled with the recognition that football business was poised for sustained growth and global reach, spurred an initial wave of expansion in the sector. New players, such as Leaders in Sport (initially in Football and subsequently across the broader Sports spectrum), emerged as dynamic additions to the landscape, reflecting the evolving dynamics of the industry.

Football Business Events 2.0: Meeting and Content

In the years post-2008, the football industry witnessed notable shifts in ownership dynamics, with club leaders of the preceding era affected by the repercussions of the global financial crisis, prompting changes in their roles. This transition reverberated across the football trade show sector, underscoring both the sport's remarkable resilience in adverse economic climates and the influx of new stakeholders into European football. As club ownership and management transcended local boundaries to embrace international dimensions, the landscape welcomed a wave of fresh perspectives and approaches.

Simultaneously, there was a notable trend towards heightened professionalism within football's organisational framework. Clubs experienced growth not only in sporting prowess but also in commercial dimensions. This translated to a surge in personnel across diverse roles spanning the performance spectrum and a corresponding elevation in the sophistication of commercial operations, drawing inspiration from established practices in American sports business.

This dual dynamic prompted the establishment of sophisticated executive exchange platforms tailored to cater to the burgeoning influx of new CEOs, owners, commercial heads, and established industry leaders. Additionally, specialised platforms emerged to accommodate sport scientists, scouts, venue managers, and sales leads seeking to engage with like-minded peers and stay abreast of the latest trends within their respective niches of the industry.

Events like ESSMA - European Stadium and Safety Management Association Summits or Scout 7 gatherings tailored for sport directors and scouts (later acquired by Opta, now Stats Perform ) offered in-depth explorations of specific subjects. Meanwhile, mega conferences such as Leaders or World Football Summit featured multi-track presentations alongside traditional expos and "speed-dating style" meetings, attracting diverse audiences. However, the level of access often varied depending on the attendee's status.

Football Business Events 3.0: Meeting, Content and ROI

In the wake of the pandemic and amidst the ongoing evolution of the football industry, today's landscape for industry meetings has been reshaped. With mounting pressures across various facets of the football world, there's an ever-growing imperative to streamline operations and drive greater revenue and returns.

The pandemic has underscored the value of face-to-face interactions, elevating them to a premium status in today's landscape. However, it has also sparked a realisation in certain circles that fostering more local connections is equally essential, complementing the traditional emphasis on global destinations.

That being said, the rise of international events across Europe, combined with the relatively compact nature of the elite football industry, has led to a situation where similar formulas are often employed. This results in overlapping line-ups and topics across various events. Event organisers employ different strategies to distinguish themselves, ranging from aggressive marketing campaigns to capitalising on opportune timing and location. They may also leverage their established heritage and track record or enhance offerings and access to attract attendees.

Football Business Events 4.0 (Future): Meeting, Content, ROI and Local Flavour?

With the increasing prevalence of international events and the global expansion of the football industry, which now boasts several growth hubs beyond Europe, the trajectory of this space is leaning towards the establishment of international exchange platforms in these growth hubs. These platforms are envisaged not as extensions of existing European initiatives but as distinct entities with a stronger local focus.

As mentioned in our previous newsletters, the forthcoming frontier for development and expansion is anticipated to emerge in regions such as the Americas, MENA, West Africa, and South and East Asia. These areas will require a collaborative platform for the exchange of local insights and ideas, facilitating the adaptation of football tools to diverse markets and environments. This evolution signifies the maturation of these ecosystems, moving beyond mere replication of established models.

In realms of high creativity and collaboration, streamlining both horizontal and vertical connections becomes crucial to ensure that innovative ideas can swiftly reach key decision-makers without hindrances. Thus, the evolution of football business events must integrate accessibility and participation quality with local representation, real-time knowledge exchange, and profound insights into region-specific challenges. This approach should be underpinned by a robust and contemporary experiential and logistical framework, tailored for the demands of the modern era.

In this edition's "Football Talks" segment, LTT Sports engaged in a conversation with Hunor Dudás .

We had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about the upcoming Football Forum Hungary , and his insights are truly enlightening. Here's what he had to share.

1) Football Forum Hungary has experienced significant growth, especially with the innovative idea of positioning Budapest as a crossroads where the East meets the West and vice versa. What expectations do you have for this edition of the forum, and how do you envision Budapest's role in facilitating this as a bridge between Europe and Asia?

When we started preparations for the first conference last year, we didn’t have these expectations, we just wanted to organise a high quality football conference, the first in the region, where regional football professionals can meet. As they say, appetite grows with eating: after the huge success of the first edition, we set even bigger goals for ourselves, and then we defined the idea that we would like Budapest and Football Forum Hungary to be the place where football professionals from the West and the East would meet in both term-East and West Europe and Europe and Asia. I think it is important to have a meeting point where the two worlds can meet, and we can organise this event every year.

Based on its geographical location, Budapest is perfect for this, as it is very easily accessible from the surrounding countries by car, and for professionals western and eastern countries, by plane. Budapest is a beautiful, safe city, with great climate, it is a city that has a lot to offer, not just football. Football has undergone huge infrastructural and professional changes here. We have beautiful stadiums, academies, the national team qualified for the European Championships again, and Ferencvárosi Torna Club advanced from the group stage of the European Conference League. Last year, Budapest hosted the Europa League final and the World Athletics Championships, and is one of the sporting capitals of the world – this combination makes Budapest the perfect place to host our event.

2) This edition introduces new formats and innovative ways to engage with stakeholders and participants, offering a dynamic conference experience. Why do you believe that the Football Forum is on the verge of becoming the central hub for football discourse in Central Europe?

While attending international conferences, I often came across the opinion that education and networking should be made accessible and more cost-effective for local professionals. For this reason, we thought that professionals from the surrounding countries should travel to our event, as it is still relatively cheaper for them.

We are lucky, we have a lot of partners who stood behind us, starting from our great colleagues, the sponsors, and other European conferences, including our friends, and also our network of contacts, with whom we have built 15 years of friendship what I made when I was the general manager of the Hungarian club DVTK. With this shared experience, we can address and reach the entire European football community, and beyond. In today's world, it's even easier, since we can keep up in touch through social media platforms and applications. With our hospitality, I trust that it will be an event after which they will gladly come back, enriched with good experiences.

In addition to the basics, such as the lectures and exhibitors, this year we will introduce networking through an application, which has become a global standard at conferences. This year we are introducing side events. We are organizing a short program for Hungarian university students, where they can learn from world-renowned experts in an interactive lecture, thereby providing them with inspiration for their future. We believe, that knowledge must be made available to everyone, this is why we are brining this programme to them. With a tour, it is possible to get to know our modern stadiums and academies, which are newly built facilities and which we are proud of. For those who are interested in some culture and would like to wind down after Football Forum Hungary, we are preparing sightseeing options, a goodbye party and entertainment programs that go beyond the main conference program. If the draw makes it possible, we will also give our guests the opportunity to visit a football match. We encourage them to bring their families, so that they can get away from everyday life and relax together – we also offer them programs.

As Monsieur Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said

To invite people to dine with us is to make ourselves responsible for their well-being for as long as they are under our roofs.

3) LTT Sports will be participating in a panel discussing future trends in football. Given the challenging reality that only one club from Hungary regularly competes in the group stages of European competitions, do you believe the current model of football supports Magyar clubs in their growth and ability to compete on a larger stage?

In general, I do not think so. It would be necessary to formulate new models for small and medium-sized teams in Eastern Central Europe, which includes new competition systems or cups, such as the revival of the Mitropa Cup. It could be more exciting for the fans of the teams. I feel that these teams would need more local, international competitions. For these teams, merchandising, sales, and match-day revenue make up the just a small portion of their total income. In order for them to get transfer revenue and TV broadcasting rights, they would need to show themselves more in the European market.

4) Last year, the 3 Seas Initiative was publicly introduced at the Forum as a potential model for the sports industry in our part of Europe. Do you think such initiative might influence the future of football and sports management in the region?

This initiative is a great first step for the long-term success of Central and Eastern European football. As mentioned before, our clubs can grow their audience if they have the chance to compete in an international setting – this privilege is now reserved for only the top clubs, but the others can only grow if they also get this opportunity. Stronger middle-sized clubs also mean stronger domestic leagues, which will stabilise each country’s position in the front of European football.

5) In light of recent discussions on sustainability and environmental impact across various industries, including sports, how does Football Forum Hungary address these concerns and integrate sustainable practices into its operations and discussions?

We believe it is very important to think about sustainability when establishing a brand and organizing smaller and bigger events as well. At our other conference, Sport Forum Hungary in October 2023, we dedicated a whole block and several lectures in sustainability, including facility management in Europe.

Now this year other topics will be highlighted, but some presentations will look in this direction as well. In our operations, we use digital platforms, ticketing and communication channels. At the event, we make the event accessible for all arising needs.

In our Bottom-49 segment this week, dedicated to providing comprehensive analyses of football trends on a local scale, we revisit the Three Seas Initiative.

At the last Football Forum Hungary, we officially unveiled the Three Seas Initiative for football, a visionary project rooted in the potential identified back in 2015. This initiative focuses on strengthening transportation and energy links among countries once part of the Habsburg monarchy in 1919, spanning the Baltic, Black, Adriatic, and Mediterranean seas. Beyond mere infrastructure development, it represents a strategic endeavour to establish a formidable football hub in Central and Eastern Europe by the mid-21st century. With a collective population of approximately 160 million, including Ukraine, and a combined GDP exceeding €2.5 trillion, this region boasts both the economic and demographic foundations necessary to embrace a football business economy of scale, aspiring to emulate the success of the English Premier League (EPL) model.

At LTT Sports, our mission is to foster a deeper understanding of the intricate workings within the football industry. Leveraging our extensive knowledge and extensive network, we provide insightful analyses and comprehensive insights into the ever-evolving football landscape, both in Europe and globally. Through collaborative efforts with emerging sports leaders, we aim to ignite curiosity and drive innovation, positioning ourselves as a central hub for knowledge and networking to propel the advancement of the sport. With a track record of hosting and participating in over 30 workshops, seminars, and conferences, we are committed to actively engaging with key stakeholders across the football spectrum.

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our esteemed event partners and organisers, including World Football Summit , ESSMA - European Stadium and Safety Management Association , UEFA , European Club Association (ECA) , FBIN , Soccerex , Stowarzyszenie Sport Biznes Polska , SPORTBIZ , Football Forum Hungary , WinterLeague & WL Convention , Spielmacher , and many others, for graciously inviting us to share our independent perspectives on football's future.

LTT Sports takes great pride in its pivotal role in launching the ECA Club Management Programme (#ECACMP) nearly a decade ago, a pioneering endeavour that marked the inception of the first-ever executive education initiative tailored specifically for football club executives. In collaboration with Stockholm Business School, this programme has significantly enriched the global football community by offering a comprehensive curriculum that seamlessly integrates industry insights with academic excellence. Over the course of three successful editions, we've had the privilege of engaging with over 120 participants from diverse backgrounds worldwide, delivering more than 440 hours of immersive learning covering various management domains. Beyond enhancing professional knowledge, this initiative has served as a catalyst for extensive global networking and partnership opportunities, facilitating invaluable interactions with esteemed clubs and stadiums across the globe.

We are honoured to have collaborated with over 30 clubs and stadiums, fostering numerous learning and development exchanges with esteemed European clubs such as FC Bayern München , Chelsea Football Club , Real Madrid C.F. , Juventus Football Club , FC Porto , AFC Ajax , and Olympique Lyonnais . Our outreach extends further to the United States, with partnerships with prominent entities like the New York Yankees and Atlanta United, and across Asia, including iconic venues like the Birds Nest Beijing and Guangzhou R&C.

You can watch a video of the same, here.

Join us as our Executive Board participates in the groundbreaking Football Forum Hungary – a pivotal event shaping the future of football.

?? Date: 23-24 April 2024

??Location: Groupama Arena, Budapest

Our Board Member, Olivier Jarosz will contribute to discussions on technology, sustainability, fan engagement, and the economic transformation of football. We eagerly anticipate sharing our insights and gaining knowledge from others to cultivate a vibrant, inclusive, and forward-thinking football community.

That brings us to the end of this week’s newsletter. We hope you found eye-opening insights from our content this week. Each week, we will be curating exclusive content for you from the club management ecosystem. So, stay tuned for more and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter here!

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LTT Sports is an advisory firm focused on connecting football strategy and operations based on experience, analysis and a strong network. At LTT Sports, we have created a set of services for football organisations, providing transversal solutions at any level of the professional football pyramid – to boost performance off the pitch, directly impacting on-pitch results.

*** Disclaimer: LTT Sports is an independent think tank aimed to be a platform of discussion amongst football stakeholders. The answers received for our interviews are personal views of the interviewee and/ or the organisation he or she may represent and strictly do not represent our views on the subject matter.

Contributors to this week's newsletter: Olivier Jarosz, Konstantin Kornakov