SportAccord welcomes return of principal media partner Yutang Sports

SportAccord announces the return of Yutang Sports from China as a Principal Media Partner ahead of the World Sport & Business Summit in Birmingham – West Midlands, United Kingdom from 7 – 11 April 2024.

With nearly 20 years experience in the sports business sector, Yutang Sports is a leading Chinese sports marketing and media platform, its ultimate mission to connect China and the rest of the world through sports.

Powered by a comprehensive media and marketing system, Yutang Sports is dedicated to reporting sports business and marketing trends; and providing sports business news, analysis, and exclusive data reports. With a deep understanding of markets, an extensive network and specialist competencies, Yutang Sports can support international leaders and sports stakeholders in developing successful sports and business-related ambitions within China.

“We are delighted to have the continued support and commitment of Yutang Sports as a Principal Media Partner who has been providing extensive media coverage globally for SportAccord since 2016,” said Martin Gibbs, Managing Director of SportAccord. “Their influence goes way beyond China and reaches Chinese sports business leaders around the world.”

The partnership reinforces SportAccord’s commitment to connect key influencers and decision-makers in the world of sport, with the Summit providing a unique and trusted platform for the gathering of leaders representing all areas of the sports ecosystem.

Mr Li Jiang, Co-founder and Executive Director of Yutang Sports said: “We are thrilled and privileged to be collaborating on our sixth edition of SportAccord. As one of the world’s most prestigious gatherings for the sports and business community, the Summit will demonstrate the Power of Sport and lead the industry to thrive in the post-pandemic era.

“As one of SportAccord’s Principal Media Partners, Yutang Sports will fulfil our mission to share and spread the leading voices, bridging China with the global sports ecosystem. With all eyes on Birmingham, the world-renowned city with a profounding sports heritage, I can’t wait for our reunion with the Summit in April.”

The Power of Sport

The ‘Power of Sport’ is the overarching theme for this year’s World Sport & Business Summit conference programme with legendary expert speakers recently announced from the NFL (National Football League). Rob Alberino, Vice President of Media and Marketing at The Kansas City Chiefs has won numerous accolades for his work across the NFL.

“You don’t get too many chances like this one – to be in the room with so many leading lights at the same time,” said Alberino, who can’t wait to get started at a dedicated session during the Summit plenary entitled “Decoding success: lessons from North American Leagues on strategic brand building, revenue prioritisation, and fan loyalty.”

“I’m thrilled to be speaking about the NFL’s emergence into international markets – how we engage our fans and grow our fan base outside of the US. I’m also excited to learn what we can do better.”

Yutang Sports – the gateway

Chinese-speaking sports bodies and businesses who wish to become involved, showcase their organisations, and connect with the most influential leaders in sport, are encouraged to contact Yutang Sports in China to discuss the opportunities available at SportAccord.

Key lessons from the Australian Open for the world of sport

In this Member Insights article, Michael Pirrie looks at the key lessons from the Australian Open, first grand slam of the year, and what they mean for sport in 2024 as the world countdowns to the much-anticipated Paris Olympic Games.

From Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire to the Manchester United dynasty and Sir Alex Ferguson, all things must pass – political empires and leaders, and great sporting careers, teams and managers too.

And so the Djokovic era of dominance at the Australian Open (AO) tennis grand slam –  one of the world’s biggest annual sporting events – has also come to pass for the Serbian superstar who has won four of the last six AO titles (2019, 2020, 2021, 2023).

And like many eras, the end was as swift and inglorious as it had seemed improbable for the alpha tennis predator – without Djokovic even breaking serve, a cornerstone of the game many experts still thought was unbeatable. 

The AO has been the foundation for the Serb’s extraordinary grand slam success, the event where he has collected 10 of his record 24 grand slam trophies. 

While major international sporting events focus primarily on the winners, such was the magnitude of Djokovic’s loss that his defeat has already become a milestone moment for sport in 2024. 

Jannik Sinner’s epic come-from-behind five set thriller in the AO final will long be associated with his earlier and even more epic semi-final defeat of Novak Djokovic.

The defeat ended Djokovic’s extraordinary 2,195-day, 33-match steak at the AO.

Along with Aryna Sabalenka’s crushing win over Chinese opponent Qinwen Zheng in the women’s final, Djokovic’s downfall and Sinner’s rise were the tournament headlines.

The AO, the world’s biggest new year sporting event, was also a forerunner of issues and storylines likely to dominate sport in 2024 – from the impact of European and Middle East conflicts on players, security, economics and organisation of major sporting events and federations, to the growing migration of elite sport to Saudi Arabia.   

THE KING IS DEAD

When Djokovic won his inaugural AO title in 2008, his mother Dijana, infamously declared “ the king is dead,” implying the reign of Roger Feder as king of tennis was over. 

Dijana Djokovic will no doubt be hoping that, like her mistaken statement regarding Federer, similar predictions about her son’s future will also prove premature.

The on court killing of the reigning king of tennis was one of the new year jolts pointing to a high octane 2024 for sport, like the Australian Open itself, a bellwether for sport’s rapidly changing landscapes.

These jolts include the recent sanctioning of Russian teenage figure skater, Kamila Valieva, for doping violations relating to her performances at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY & SPORT

The landmark ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) sees the focus on Russia shift, temporarily at least, from crimes against humanity in its war on Ukraine back to crimes against sport and war on drugs and doping. 

The ruling follows a series of investigations spanning the past decade by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) into secret Kremlin backed athlete doping programs, designed to project Russian power and influence on the world stage through sport.

The CAS ruling has seen Russia’s figure skating team stripped of its Beijing gold medal in a Cold War sporting victory for the US, which now takes Russia’s gold.  

The CAS verdict is a major win for WADA, whose former chair, leading British and Olympic sports administrator, Sir Craig Reedie, was targeted by a Russian operative involved in a high-profile fatal poisoning attempt on a Russian double agent and his daughter at his England home, as revealed by intelligence officers in Reedie’s recent autobiography.

PUTIN BLOW

The CAS ruling, by contrast, is a personal blow to Putin who stood strongly by Valieva as Russian sporting and political figures waged a hostile disinformation campaign to discredit evidence of doping against the star teenage skater.

Djokovic’s Australian Open demise was the first major sports shock of 2024, along with the sudden resignation of Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, signalling a more dramatic year ahead following the AO.

The biggest annual sporting event in the southern hemisphere, the AO also highlighted key lessons for organising committees, federations, governments and other stakeholders involved in international events this year – from the Paris Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Euro 2024, and T20 World Cup to the Monaco Grand Prix, Tour de France Femmes and others.

This Australian Open expanded the Grand Slam model, generating record crowds in excess of 1 million visitors for the first time with an entertainment imperative to bring in more people and money. 

NEW  GRAND SLAM MODEL

The tournament stretched players on and off the court, with innovations that included the first party court with bar and DJ, creating a night club atmosphere at evening sessions, with night club hours to match and some controversial predawn finishes.

The mega tournament is rapidly evolving beyond a sporting event into a multi experience extravaganza, centred around a tennis precinct filled with live entertainment, modern corporate and hospitality facilities for high level business meetings, children’s activities, water slides, and fine dining. 

The site resembles a tennis theme fun park catering for visitors looking to participate in an international event without having to pick up a racquet or watch a volley.

Organisers have attempted to create a carnival atmosphere to attract younger people seeking to be part of a more glamorous social, sporting event.    

The price for finals tickets was more than a Taylor Swift concert, reflecting the growing entertainment and celebrity focus to bring in new audiences and business.

Match scheduling was on the list of things that often go wrong at a major event, as organisers attempted to coordinate broadcast and match schedules with high value peak broadcast viewing times, audiences and revenues in Europe and American markets.

The AO’s progressive grand slam model also reflects mounting pressure on organisers to generate greater economic benefits from the tennis event.The business model for the grand slam must grow to justify state government investments of almost $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades to maintain the precinct as a world class sports and entertainment destination close to Melbourne’s CBD.      

SPORT AT WAR

The AO tournament highlighted security as the number one issue for major events this year, with tensions from the Middle East and Europe spilling onto the Melbourne tennis courts and stopping matches.

These included a man with a Palestine flag chanting loudly, while another protestor threw anti war brochures from the stands onto the court below.

The AO’s strict policies on flags and war propaganda has also exposed weaknesses in neutrality protocols that will be adopted at major international events this year.

Russian players however didn’t need a flag nor other national emblems to be identified, while Ukraine’s tennis warriors kept the flag flying for their devastated homeland, and for refugees from the war-torn nation now living in Australia, which is supporting Ukraine against Russia. 

Ukraine’s tennis players described the current ban on flags and other symbols as a form of pro-Russian neutrality. 

“We have repeatedly asked the question ‘What is the status of a neutral athlete?’ Because it actually does not exist,” said Ukraine’s quarter finalist Marta Kostyuk.

“The athletes have repeatedly said that everyone knows which countries they represent…their government constantly says that these are their athletes and the world knows about it. Many athletes have their flag on social networks.”  

‘ITS VERY EXHAUSTING TO LIVE IN THIS STATE’

Players also provided rare personal insights at media conferences on the personal impact of the war on athletes, their families and sport in wartime.

The intensity of the war in Ukraine meant family and friends were fighting for their survival while also cheering on the tennis players in Melbourne; one friend messaged Kostyuk: “Well, we were looking between your score and where the missiles are flying.” 

 “Its very exhausting to live in this state,” Kostyuk said. 

The wall separating international sport from repressive regimes may also crumble further in 2024.   

While Raphael Nada’s sudden withdrawal from the AO due to injury changed the complexion of the tournament, the tennis legend continued to loom large despite his on-court absence.

VOLLEY OF OPPOSITION

Nadal’s surprise ambassador appointment for Saudi Arabia could help to change the direction of elite professional tennis and sport more widely.

The tennis legend’s role to promote and develop tennis in Saudi is expected to help pave the way for a potential major tournament in Saudi at the end of the year or early next.

This could threaten scheduling of the Australian Open more than any other grand slam, and was a hot topic in VIP court side, government, sponsor, and  business and hospitality meetings at the AO.

As the latest prize in Saudi’s sports trophy cabinet, Nadal would be expected to support a Saudi tournament, and help soften international opposition to Saudi’s growing sports domination.

Saudi’s expanding collection of sporting assets has triggered fears of a new sports underclass of nations lacking Saudi’s vast oil wealth to influence and invest in the world’s premier sports events, federations, leagues, and clubs.

While the hard-line kingdom’s traditional treatment of women and imprisonment and execution of state declared enemies has been a barrier to international sport, federations and governing bodies are increasingly wary about sources of finance in a world at war in Europe and the Middle East, and growing economic and security concerns in Asia and China.

While hosting the Olympics remains Saudi’s ultimate goal, the gravitation of elite sport towards Riyadh looms as a growing dilemma for world sport, with overtones of China’s expansion of sports as part of its bid for the 2000 Olympic Games, launched in the aftermath of Beijing’s 1989 massacre of prodemocracy students in Tiananmen Square. 

Saudi is expected to plough extraordinary sums of money at tennis and other sports this year, generating further opposition to more buy outs as against the purpose and spirit of sport.

That spirit includes hope, which can come from sport in many different and unexpected ways.

Hope could be seen on the courts at the Australian Open as a young debutant finalist took down the reigning king of tennis from a sporting summit so high many thought he was beyond reach.

This was the first time Djokovic had lost in the semi-finals or final of the event, and the first time since 2005 the final did not feature Djokovic, Nadal or Federer. 

In doing so, Sinner removed the final pillar of the human sports pyramid that had formed around the untouchable ‘Big Three’ of tennis.     

MARATHON OF HOPE

Or hope could come at the upcoming Super Bowl, from a dream scene featuring Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs.

In the imagined scene, esteemed US columnist Peggy Noonan, urges Kelce “to take an impossible catch, jump a man’s height, score the winning touchdown, hold the ball up to your girl in the stands as the stadium roars and the confetti rains down. Leave 100 billion memories. Remind everyone: It’s good to be alive. Because it is.”

Hope could also come from Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum at the Paris Olympic Games; his epic quest to run the first sub 2-hour marathon beckons as a new milestone in human achievement.

The holy grail of athletics, long regarded as improbable if not impossible, the Paris marathon looms as a landmark moment in human history, the long distance equivalent of Sir Roger Bannister’s sub four minute mile once regarded as sport’s moon landing.

CONCLUSION

Sport’s capacity for hope will be on full display in July and August at the Paris Olympic Games, the planet’s premier event centred on hope and peace.  

Paris may also be a defining event for the Olympics, staged on a continent confronted by a catastrophic war waged by Vladimir Putin, who specialises in killing hope.

Putin however could not crush the hope of  Ukraine that was demonstrated by tennis players from the devastated nation at the Australian Open.  

These included Dayana Yastremska, who defied the odds much like her country has in defending itself against Russia’s genocidal war – she became the first player to make the women’s AO semi-finals since 1978, after having to first qualify just to secure a place in the main draw. 

As Yastremska moved onto the tournament’s frontlines, her compatriot, Sergiy Stakhovsky, who once famously defeated Roger Federer at Wimbledon, was representing Ukraine on the front lines of the war having traded his racquet for a rifle.

While Yastremska played for Ukraine more than herself, the wife and 8-year-old daughter of Ukrainian rugby player Volodymyr Mashkin, were killed by missile attacks on Kharkiv.   

This Australian Open has highlighted how war will continue to impact the world and its sport’s landscapes in 2024UKRAINE’S TIMELESS MESSAGE FOR SPORTWhile Yastremska didn’t win or reach the AO women’s final, her presence at the tournament was an important symbol of hope for her country and the wider world in times of adversity.

She and her tennis compatriots symbolise the relevance of sport in these times.

“It’s good for people to look at something different than missile shellings,” Kostyuk said.    The Ukraine women’s tennis team retains a deep faith in sport despite the deaths of hundreds of their nation’s athletes and coaches and destruction of sporting facilities. 

“Sport has always brought a lot of joy and happiness for people, regardless of time,” Kostyuk said. “I don’t think it has changed.”

The IOC and Games organisers are hoping the Olympic athletes in Paris can also be a symbol of hope for the world in turbulent times.

“Hexagon Cup is a groundbreaking media product with a level of data and analytics that has not been seen before”

As the Hexagon Cup kicks off today, iSportConnect’s Taruka Srivastav spoke with Hexagon Cup Chairman Simon Freer who’s known for his acumen in sports start- ups and investments, to discuss Padel, and how this concept came about. The group of founders behind the Hexagon Cup, has worked together since the formation of Formula E, and the subsequent series’ additions. Simon was also previously Chief Commercial Officer at Liberty Global for more than a decade, where he led their strategic media investments.

Simon where did the idea of Hexagon Cup come from?

I’ve been investing in sports media and entertainment for 10 to 15 years now and 25 years in the wider technology media space. So I’ve been looking at a lot of these for a long time, most sports around the world. And we’ve monitored lots of niche sports over the years. The interesting thing about Padel is it’s moved on from being a geographically focused, amateur led sport in a small number of countries, particularly Southern Europe and Iberia. Over the last decade or so it’s really spread broadly around the world, particularly to the Middle East, to the Nordics to Mexico, tracts of South America, and increasingly other big geographies, including the UK, Germany and America. That is because Padel has some fundamental attractions to it at an amateur level, which makes it very playable, sociable and enjoyable. It’s relatively easily accessible and different levels can play and interact effectively unlike they can in other sports. It takes some of the best aspects of tennis and/or games like squash and combines them. And as a result of that, when you have a great point or a great shot goes past you, the point is over in a sport like tennis. However, in Padel it is not over. It’s gone past you, but it’ll come off the side of the back wall, you get to play again.

It’s almost like Padel has been taking the best features of tennis and squash and other racquet sports and putting it together in something that an amateur level people absolutely love. It’s been growing astronomically in a dozen major countries around the world.

Commercials of Padel

At the commercial level it’s increased to a couple of billion. That’s probably two or three fold increases over the last five years and I imagine it will increase on a similar trajectory going forward. And it’s getting to a tipping point now where the major international sponsors, major international media partners, major international locations are seeking out quality Padel as an entertainment proposition.

So it’s sort of at that tipping point where it becomes a genuine tier 2 to national, regional or international sports. And a lot of sports are interesting in certain geographies, but not that many managed to break through and become popular in multiple geographies at a scale. I think Padel has a unique opportunity to be up there and become a genuine Tier 2 alongside the likes of golf, tennis, rugby, cricket, etc. That’s the most exciting thing about Padel because of the fundamentals of it.

And it has caught the attention at an amateur level over the 10 or 15 years and grown from this historic basis into so many geographies. Now, with such scale and consistency and a professional ecosystem it almost is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy that it’ll become a Tier 2 sport, which only the top 10% of sports globally ever become. And obviously, there’s only ever one football but at the Tier 2 level, it’s commercially very significant if a sport gets into that bracket and stays there, and our belief is that Padel is doing that and will do that. But because it has come from relatively modest beginnings to substantial status now, maybe over a 10 year period, rather than some of those other sports that took 50 years to do it, the established ecosystems aren’t necessarily in place. The calendar isn’t already full. The league’s aren’t already there, The major tournaments aren’t already there. So there was a unique opportunity to pull together like real estate on the Padel chessboard, and put together really unique tournaments.

Hexagon Cup

In our case, we wanted to sort of ride that wave of enthusiasm with Padel but add some innovation to it like we did with Formula E and Extreme E. In this case, the really exciting features we’re bringing are the teams. Hexagon Cup is a team based competition which is principally a solo pairs game and adds a team component to it much like the Laver Cup in tennis and the Ryder Cup in golf. This is about taking all that enthusiasm for the sport but putting a team structure around it, which means people can unify around those teams and introduce a sort of championship or ladder based structure to it.

Secondly, we’re taking the best 20 odd players in the world male and female, participating in equality and next generation talent, putting them into that team and giving them the highest prize money in Padel to date. We’re also giving a media distribution and reach that’s never been delivered before in Padel in any of the other exhibition or league events. I think we have significantly greater media distribution so we’ll have a much greater reach and chance for everyone to watch it.

Celebrity team owners

One particularly important feature we have brought is the ‘celebritisation’ of team ownership. We have the top players in the world and unless you’re a Padel participant or a Padel fan, you may not know that but we have partnered with some really great leading international sports men and women and entertainment stars around the world like Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal, Eve Longoria and others and they have been as excited by the prospects of Padel as we are and they have joined the Hexagon Cup stakeholder group and helping us propel this format to hopefully break the whole of Padel through to a whole new level – the best players, the biggest prize money, the best media distribution and a much bigger reach because of the use of celebrity association through team ownership, means we can  break through that barrier of just traditional audiences. We think we’re going to put out a pretty groundbreaking media product with a level of data and analytics that has not been seen before as well as some of the social media programming and strategy we have around it.

When you put all those ingredients together, we think the prospect for this Padel cake, as an analogy, is pretty exciting and has never been done before. At a time when there’s this groundswell of enthusiasm at the amateur level and increasingly, the green shoots of key commercial partners, media sponsorship and venues are looking for a product like that there’s never been delivered before. So that’s what we’re trying to do with Hexagon. And that’s why we think it’s an exciting time because it’s come from a relatively less organised, amateur led, regionally focused game to an increasingly very international Europe, Middle East and Latin America and increasingly elsewhere with a lot of people looking forward to increasing the demand. When you go to a tennis club in many countries it’s now the Padel courts that are fully booked. I think there’s a stat in Spain, there are more active Padel players than tennis players at the moment. So the game really is in an exciting growth trajectory and what we’re trying to do is be innovative in the way we’re joining the dots and pulling together different stakeholders and different features to deliver a product that’s great for the talent, that’s great for the media partners, is great for the locations, and ultimately for the fans. And if we do a good job, it will be a little bit like trying to create one of the majors in tennis. So that’s what we’re trying to do with the Hexagon Cup.

How economically viable do you think padel is going to be in future?

I think Padel has a very strong prospect to be economically viable for all of the major stakeholders in the ecosystem, including first and foremost fans. But then, of course, talent, the stars, the players themselves, and media partners, sponsors and locations, for the very simple reason that there’s a huge interest in the sport. Yet the fundamentals of putting on a major international Padel events are much less logistically and financially challenging than putting on a motor race in the middle of a big city, or some other sporting event that is very capital intensive to build an event or a location. Madrid is just the first of what will be a series of Hexagon Cup supported events. A lot of infrastructure exists around the world for us to take the circus to. But it’s significantly logistically and financially more doable than many other sports. So as a result, there is a lower barrier to entry economically for players to do well, for spectators to enjoy the game, there are great value points for b2b partners and sponsors to be part of the movement at a level that looks attractive versus other opportunities in the wider sports and entertainment landscape. This is all the more doable. But fundamentally, all of the levers of the ecosystem are driven by one thing, which is this groundswell of amateur enthusiasm and love for the sport that is growing in an unabated fashion. It’s more socially easy to find people to play with and play a good game that everyone can enjoy.

What’s the interest level of brands in the Hexagon Cup?

What brands often want to associate with is the biggest, the best, the fastest, the top  sports and that’s what we’re pulling together here. There’s a series of brands that have already been associated with Padel over the last five or 10 years in the early stages of commercialisation. What we’re seeing now is the bigger established brands, major distribution partners and locations that are already active in other major sports, golf, tennis, rugby, football, cricket, etc  starting to lean in. And if we look at some of the partnerships we have started with Hexagon, I think that’s borne out in practice. It’s also borne out if I look at some of the areas around the world that are asking us to talk about bringing the Hexagon product in. But ultimately, the big media players don’t want to take a product on their platform, if they don’t think it’s going to get watched. Therefore I believe we have achieved the best and widest media distribution that’s ever been entertained for a Padel event, which is partly to do with the groundswell of enthusiasm and panel generally, but also the way we’ve positioned this product. But yes, I do believe the big international stakeholders, the likes of media partners, such as Warner Brothers, Discovery for eg. coming and saying, “We want to put the product out on all of our platforms” tells you that the world thinks Padel is moving up into the next stage.

Inclusiveness

Hexagon Cup is a competition with equality at its heart, and a future generation mindset. So each of the teams is made up with a male pair, a female pair and next generation pair and they all play for a point and each every point is equal. So much like in Extreme E, there’s a male and a female driver and they drive around the same course in the same car and have the same impact on the outcome. The same is true here in the Hexagon Cup. And that’s really important to us because it needs to be equality driven because Padel is still in the early days. Some other sports have historically propagated as sort of male lead in those sports because of the way they were developed but because Padel is at the early stage as long as it’s set up appropriately, where men and females get the same opportunity to participate and have an impact, there’s no reason for that to be the case here. And that’s really important to us at the Hexagon Cup team to help keep that.

Discover the SportAccord Summit sessions!

SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 in Birmingham – West Midlands on 7-11 April will feature an exciting central conference programme with four specialist streams – CityAccord, HealthAccord, LawAccord and MediaAccord – united under the theme “The Power of Sport”. 

Today – less than 70 days to go to sport’s most influential industry gathering for over 1,500 delegates at the award-winning International Convention Centre (ICC) – we spotlight the hot topics set to be discussed revealing more world-class speakers. 

Action-packed Summit 2024

The Summit will kick off with an opening ceremony on Monday 8 April, which will treat delegates to a taster from some of the world class cultural institutions including the Symphony Orchestra and Royal Ballet who call the West Midlands home. 

Key sessions on the conference programme will focus on some of the sport’s top industry trends as well as challenges for 2024 and beyond, addressed with keynote speeches and panel discussions. 

A line-up of top-level speakers will dive into topics including the way AI will shape our sporting landscape, the influence of gaming and e-sports have already had and lessons to learn from the commercially successful North American Leagues. Challenges to be addressed include online abuse in sport and wider expert discussions will centre around international sports diplomacy at a very difficult time on a global stage. 

HealthAccord

On Monday afternoon, HealthAccord will get underway with opening remarks by Prof Dr Margo Mountjoy, a renown sports medicine physician. Featuring pressing topics covering elite athlete mental health, sport performance and reproductive health, HealthAccord is the go-to stream for everyone involved in ensuring athletes’ mental and physical well-being. 

LawAccord

LawAccord will take place on Tuesday, 9 April, with a deep dive into legal issues being handled right now by the world’s best sports law specialists. David Casserly, a partner at Kellerhals Carrard, will open this stream with panels looking at how different federations have dealt with rules for transgender athletes; the contrasting ways that unionised and non-unionised sports have integrated athletes’ voices in their governance structures; as well as models of independence in regulatory functions like anti-doping and ethics. Special briefings will feature legal experts from the International Olympic Committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

CityAccord

Anyone involved in staging events of different sizes in world cities, should definitely attend CityAccord on Tuesday morning, to be introduced by Melanie Duparc, Secretary General of the World Union of Olympic Cities. Learn about growing complexities of hosting major events versus smaller events; challenges and opportunities related to new models of organising events across different continents; and innovative approaches to transport infrastructure – think cycling and walking!

MediaAccord

MediaAccord will take place on 11 April, featuring Pierre Gally, Head of Sports at Agence France-Presse (AFP). In focus: the latest innovations in coverage designed to attract a record global audience for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The session will also examine how technology is changing the overall media business in an environment where rights holders are under pressure to deliver better content, in greater volume than ever before.

In addition to the conference programme, SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 will be focused on providing delegates with top quality networking, superb catering and a series of evening events. Delegates will also want to explore the exhibition hall, featuring a large number of smart service providers, regions and cities and also showcasing some ambitious and growing sports.

Birmingham – West Midlands warm welcome 

Delegates of the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 will be welcomed with open arms by the City of Birmingham and the West Midlands region – with a range of sport business and cultural exchanges, aiming to leave a lasting impression on global visitors. The region has something for everyone to enjoy, from Shakespeare, to Heavy Metal, to Bhangra, and delegates can look forward to a memorable showcase of talent and creativity.


Early bird – a few hours to go! 

The early bird delegate pass for World Sport & Business Summit 2024 is still available until midnight on 31 January – register now here to benefit from a favourable rate of CHF 1,500! As of 1 February, the rate for a delegate pass will increase to CHF 2,000 and thereafter to CHF 2,500 from 1 March.

Partners

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 is supported by a number of strong partners and suppliers:

Contact us

Contact sales@sportaccord.sport for further details about sales, exhibiting and partnering; media@sportaccord.sport for media enquiries; and info@sportaccord.sport for any other questions.

World Aquatics and Malmsten renew long-standing partnership until 2028

World Aquatics and Malmsten have reached an agreement to extend their partnership for another 4 years. The renewed contract has been established for the 2025-2028 period.

Malmsten has been an Official Supplier of World Aquatics since 2009; during which time they have fitted aquatics arenas around the world with the highest quality equipment.

Under the 2025-2028 contract, Malmsten will supply a wide range of innovative and impressive equipment to several aquatics competitions including; World Aquatics Championships, World Aquatics Masters Championships, World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) and the World Cups for all aquatic sports.


The equipment they will provide includes:

Swimming: racing lane lines,

Open Water Swimming: finishing rows of inflatable horizontal buoys including turning and guiding buoys

Water Polo: official water polo goals, field of play markings/boundaries, field cones on field lines, ball release systems, referees’ catwalks with interchangeable field matting and referees’ ball holders

World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam stated: “With the founder’s roots being in competitive swimming, Malmsten has a deep understanding of the equipment needed in world-class aquatics disciplines. They also recognise the importance of having the best possible apparatus that allows athletes to perform at their best. We are thrilled to renew our partnership with Malmsten and look forward to our continued collaboration in the years ahead.”

In addition to providing equipment, Malmsten will also provide investment into the World Aquatics Scholarship Programme, ensuring that elite athletes of the future are provided with the best opportunity to develop their talent and perform to the best of their ability in the fairest of conditions.

“Malmsten is extremely proud of its long-term partnership with World Aquatics,” said Malmsten CEO Marcus Malmsten. “My father, Tommy Malmsten, started the company to supply functional and durable aquatics equipment, and I am honoured to continue a partnership which began in 2009 and proud to support World Aquatics vision: “a world united by water, for health, life and sport.”

Dyn Media secures broadcast rights for premier table tennis events

Dyn Media has secured exclusive broadcast rights for a suite of premium table tennis events, making their new streaming platform the home of World Table Tennis (WTT) for fans in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria starting from February 2024.

The launch of World Table Tennis in 2021 marked the beginning of a new era for professional table tennis. With WTT events, fans and viewers enjoy a thrilling and dynamic experience that merges sport and entertainment. As the official professional table tennis events series, the WTT Series brings together the world’s top players in exciting events that offer fans an unmatched experience.

The initial two-year partnership between Dyn Media and World Table Tennis will showcase all WTT Grand Smashes, WTT Champions, WTT Finals, and the ITTF World Championships Finals on Dyn, and provide an opportunity for fans in these countries to witness the best of the sport’s global stars, including Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Ma Long, Felix Lebrun, Ying Han, Nina Mittelham, Sun Yingsha and Bernadette Szocs.

Johannes Fühner, Head of Strategy & Business Intelligence at Dyn Media, expressed his excitement about expanding the platform’s offering for table tennis fans, stating, “WTT events feature the world’s elite table tennis players, and we are excited to expand our platform’s offering with further exciting games at a world-class level. Our partnership with World Table Tennis will provide fans with an unparalleled viewing experience, and we hope to see more fans tuning in and witnessing the sport.”

WTT Grand Smashes are the foundation of the WTT Series, featuring the best 128 players in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles; offer an unbeatable combination of world-class table tennis and thrilling entertainment, making them the pinnacle of professional table tennis and fully-fledged festivals of activities and excitement beyond the arena. The Singapore Smash, held annually in March at the Singapore Sports Hub, will be the first WTT major event for Dyn customers.

The WTT Champions event showcases the world’s Top 32 men’s and women’s singles players only, delivering high-octane action and energy. Dyn viewers will eagerly anticipate the return of WTT Champions Frankfurt at the Süwag Energie ARENA from 3-10 November later this year.

The WTT Finals, separate men’s and women’s events, bring together the world’s Top 16 singles players and 8 doubles pairs to battle it out for the right to be crowned season-ending champion.

Dyn Media will kick off the broadcasting of these thrilling events with ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan 2024, Presented by BNK Busan Bank, taking place from 16 to 25 February at the BEXCO Convention Centre. The expanded event format will see 40 men’s and women’s teams vying for the historic Swaythling and Corbillion Cups.

“We are delighted to partner with Dyn Media to bring the best of World Table Tennis to fans across Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. This partnership will showcase our reimagined production and help elevate the sport to new heights in the region.” – Melissa Soobratty, WTT Broadcast Director

Besides table tennis, Dyn Media offers a new media home for sports fans who are passionate about sports beyond football. It bundles the rights to attractive leagues and sporting events, including handball, volleyball, field hockey and basketball, for the first time in one media offering.

The global distribution of World Table Tennis’s broadcast rights, including the production of WTT events, is managed by Endeavor-owned sports marketing agency IMG.

Paris Saint-Germain inks partnership with Credit Financier Invest until 2026

Paris Saint-Germain has announced the signing of a partnership until June 2026 with the financial group Credit Financier Invest (CFI), a leader in online trading in North Africa and the Middle East.

With this alliance creatively combining the worlds of finance and football, CFI becomes the Official Online Trading Partner of Paris Saint-Germain, celebrating the values of excellence, performance and innovation.

Paris Saint-Germain and CFI share the commonality of reaching a vast international audience. CFI operates in over 100 countries, offering ultra-competitive trading conditions and cutting-edge platforms through more than twelve regulated entities on five continents. Recent advancements, including the integration of artificial intelligence technology, demonstrate CFI’s commitment to providing traders worldwide with the latest and most advanced tools.

For three seasons, the premier online transaction provider in the North Africa and Middle East region, which also operates globally, will enjoy unique visibility with the support of Paris Saint-Germain. Among the acquired rights, Credit Financier Invest will feature its name on the LED Overlay within the international feed in key territories and will have the opportunity to address directly huge fans of Paris Saint-Germain on social media, one of the largest communities in global sports, to attract new clients through innovative campaigns.

Hisham Mansour, Founder and Managing Director of CFI Financial Group, expressed: “We are incredibly excited to launch our partnership with Paris Saint-Germain, a top football club synonymous with passion and its own unique and prestigious brand identity. This venture represents a harmonious alignment of values, reinforcing our dedication to standing out as MENA’s leading broker, offering unmatched trading services and optimal conditions. We are excited for the journey ahead, aiming to create a lasting legacy through this well-matched partnership with PSG.”

Marc Armstrong, Chief Revenue Officer of Paris Saint-Germain, added: “We are delighted to welcome CFI as one of our exclusive international partners. We share the same ambitions to offer our respective fans and clients increasingly unique and innovative experiences.”

SportAccord joins forces with iSportConnect, the world’s largest private sports business network

iSportConnect, a leading global membership service connecting key decision makers across the sports industry, returns as a Principal Media Partner for the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit in Birmingham, West Midlands, taking place from 7 – 11 April 2024.

iSportConnect is a global platform powered by the largest network of private members involved in the business of sport. A powerhouse of bright minds, key influencers and thinkers, the iSportConnect community is a coveted space where leaders like to go.

The iSportConnect service enables members to collaborate with industry peers, stay connected and current with news and opinion, or take part in specialist events – focused on the business of sport. This benefits all members whether they are the MD of an OTT sports streaming and entertainment platform available in 200 countries, or the CEO of the leading professional golf tour in Europe.

“We are very pleased to welcome iSportConnect on board for the World Sport & Business Summit in Birmingham, West Midlands,” said Martin Gibbs, Managing Director of SportAccord. “iSportConnect’s unrivalled network will play a crucial role in integrating the business of sport into the event. When the world’s largest private sports business network partners with SportAccord, the results are truly rewarding. The media collaboration is designed to combine both platforms, delivering added value and creating an immensely successful partnership.”

iSportConnect workshop at SportAccord

As part of the partnership engagement, iSportConnect will also host a workshop at SportAccord aimed at tackling disruption.

“The last few years have shown how vulnerable we are when external factors around the world can disrupt the best laid plans when it comes to hosting global sports events or taking part in international competitions. The challenges are growing and not getting any easier,” said Sandy Case, CEO of iSportConnect.

The iSportConnect workshop will cover fundamental issues around organisational travel and security that wouldn’t have garnered too much interest in the past. However, in the current climate these topics have taken on a much greater significance.

“World events, climate change and macro-economics have come together at such a pace in recent years, that many of us are struggling to keep up with the challenges presented in this fast-moving environment. The iSportConnect workshop will arm delegates with practical intel and know-how so they can start tackling challenges – tomorrow.”

Register now – early bird

With the Early Bird registration rate due to end in less than a week (31 January 2024), business leaders can register at www.sportaccord.sport.

Become a partner or exhibitor

To find out about other ways to become involved in SportAccord and connect with influencers and key decision makers at the Summit in Birmingham – West Midlands this spring, contact: sales@sportaccord.sport.

Other enquiries

For media enquiries contact media@sportaccord.sport; and info@sportaccord.sport for any other questions.

Editor’s Notes 

About SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit brings together around 1,500 leaders and key decision makers from over 120 International Federations (IFs), the International Olympic Committee, and organisations involved in the business of sport. 

The Summit provides an unrivalled platform enabling global business leaders and host cities to have access to all the International Federations and their stakeholders in one location.

This unique, week-long event is a combination of official sports meetings, social gatherings, a themed conference programme, and exhibition space enabling international federations, industry, cities and regions – to showcase their sport, services and facilities.

About SportAccord 

SportAccord is a sports event organisation based in the Olympic Capital, Lausanne, Switzerland, and governed by stakeholders representing the Olympic and non-Olympic International Federations. 

It brings together International Federations, the IOC and organisations involved in the business of sport with the aim to serve, promote and protect the common interests of its stakeholders, help them achieve their global objectives and facilitate knowledge-sharing. 

SportAccord’s stakeholders include: 

  • ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations) 
  • WOF (Winter Olympic Federations) 
  • ARISF (Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations) 
  • AIMS (Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport)

BLAST’s Alexander Lewin: “Esports fans like to engage, chat, and really lean into the viewing experience”

Last year, BLAST Premier secured a new round of funding to the value of €12.7 million to further fuel the company’s global expansion plans alongside working with prominent game publishers Valve, Ubisoft and Epic Games to create, produce and deliver successful esports ecosystems in Counter-Strike (BLAST Premier), Rainbow Six Siege (BLAST Rainbow Six) and Fortnite (FNCS). iSportConnect’s Taruka Srivastav spoke with Alexander Lewin, SVP for Commercial Revenue at BLAST to know about the 2024 vision of the organisation and more.

The Novo partnership and the completely refreshing angle of how you are using non-endemic companies around new areas of mental health etc. IE you are tackling the supposed negativity around eSports. Great for any Rights Owner to be thinking laterally around who they partner with, can you talk us through the campaign?

Esports and gaming reach millions of fans on a daily basis and therefore offer the potential to be a power for good and positive change. The ‘Away From Keyboard’ campaign, which was produced in cooperation with Novo Nordisk is the perfect example of that. The campaign aimed to drive change, inspire the gaming community by promoting a healthy and balanced lifestyle through influencer-led compelling storytelling and inspirational content.

When you combine a message which deeply resonates with fans alongside a familiar face, you are able to create an initiative that positively impacts audience behaviour and opinion. We were able to achieve that with leading global healthcare company Novo Nordisk, and look forward to recreating this approach and blueprint in the future with our other partners. 

BLAST has worked with some of the biggest games in 2023, having just announced an expansion with Epic Games. Is this a further focus for you as a business in 2024 and how important is this to your overall strategy?

Working with the world’s biggest game publishers has been a huge area of growth for BLAST as a business over the last few years. We started off this journey working in Counter-Strike, bringing our unique approach to entertainment value, production quality and industry-leading technology to the industry and the audience alike. The success we enjoyed here has allowed us to grow into other games, such as Rainbow Six Siege, DOTA 2, VALORANT, Apex Legends, FIFA 2022 and Fortnite – enticing game publishers to take the cooperation into multi-year partnerships.

In 2024, we are working with Valve, Ubisoft and Epic Games to build successful, sustainable and popular ecosystems in Counter-Strike, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League and Fortnite. We look forward to growing these ecosystems, which offer near limitless commercial opportunities with globally leading brands and broadcasters. 

How is esports unique for brands compared to other industries, and what opportunities does it provide?

A number of key factors turn engagement with esports into a unique and very beneficial experience for brands. To begin, esports has a phenomenal and truly global following, that allows brands exposure to millions of fans. BLAST events are broadcast in 150+ territories in over 27 languages which enables us to offer brands bespoke engagement in nearly every territory world-wide.

In terms of demographic, esports provides brands with the opportunity to reach a young audience with 85% of esports fans aged between 18-35. Our brand partners find the opportunity to reach a youthful, tech savvy and engaged audience hugely appealing.

When it comes to engagement, esports offers the opportunity to build deep engagement with fans and add to the fan/viewer experience in new ways. Esports fans like to engage, chat, and really lean into the viewing experience. To that end we recently launched our custom and in-house built live viewing platform BLAST.tv, which has pushed the esports viewing experience to new heights. Fans have a multitude of integrated experiences at their disposal – among many other features  they can chat, vote, re-watch key moments in real time and spend time with like-minded fans.

BLAST has visited countless locations around the world in 2023, how important is it to take esports events to global locations and what does this do for host cities and brands? 

It’s hugely important not only to offer fans a compelling streaming and broadcast experience but to ensure we are taking these events to as many different locations as possible so global gaming communities and fans get to experience esports up close and personal.

Netflix goes into live sports – a one-off or a major change of strategy?

Ian Whittaker, Twice City AM Analyst of the Year pens down Netflix’s latest decision of diving into the world of live sports.

This week Netflix signed a 10-year deal to become the new home of the hit wrestling show “WWE Raw” in a $5 billion deal. The deal sees Netflix gain the streaming rights in the US, UK, Latin America, and Canada, with the option to include more countries as existing deals expire. It will also gain access to other content (e.g. “Smackdown”, “WrestleMania”) as well as the right to make documentaries.  In all, Netflix gains more than 150 hours of content off the back of the deal. All this represents what seems like a major departure in strategy for Netflix when it comes to sports. The question is whether this marks a major turning point or a one-off. 

Netflix has been the one major streamer that seemed to stand aloof from the rush into sports rights. While it had dipped its toe in the ponds of sports documentaries on football and Formula One, it had held off from pursuing major US sporting rights, as Amazon, Apple and Google / YouTube had all done. In Europe, Netflix is so far from being seen as interested in live sports that its name is hardly mentioned when major sporting deals are up for auction. Previous comments from the company have not suggested an urgent rush to get into major rights. 

So, to go back to the question, is this a major change in strategy? Netflix is clearly serious in its intentions. $5 billion is not small change and, while Netflix has an opt-out clause after five years, it has another option to extend the deal by a further ten years if it wants.  This is not the move of someone who sees live sports as an interesting experiment. 

Yet, on its conference call, Netflix made clear that it is not interested in bidding for other major live sports rights and made the point that WWE’s ‘scripted’ content fitted in with Netflix’s type of content. That, of course, matches Netflix’s actions where they have not made any serious efforts (yet) to bag other major US sports rights such as NFL, Ice Hockey, Basketball or Baseball. 

Therein may lie one clue to the answer to its future intentions when it comes to sports, and which backs up management’s comments on the call. All the major sports rights have attracted bids from the major Tech players who have far deeper pockets than Netflix when it comes to making such long-dated commitments. While wrestling rights have increased in value (NBCU’s USA Network apparently paid 40% more than previous owner Fox for the rights to WWE’s ‘Smackdown’), they are nowhere near the value received by such major sports (the NFL reportedly received more than $100 billion for its 2023-2033 deals). Netflix looks to be competing where it can. 

So why has Netflix gone into WWE? The obvious logic is the deal will help it to attract subscribers and possibly reduce churn. Here there might be two reasons why the WWE deal would stand out. 

The first is that sports such as WWE skew on a younger demographic than the more traditional US sports and so Netflix is attempting to win over these audiences. That sounds sensible but we should not forget that (audience-wise), WWE is still a relatively niche provider. 

The second is that it is looking to attract extra advertising money by (presumably) boosting its ad-supported option. The thinking here may be that more (generally) price sensitive younger customers will go for the ad funded option and so boost Netflix can boist its ad customer numbers. Netflix disclosed earlier this month it had 23 million customers worldwide who take its ad-funded product. In its earnings release, it stated 40% of all new customers took the ad-funded option although no absolute number was given (we do not know Netflix’s churn rate so cannot work out its gross additions, on which such a comment would be based). However, when their likely share of viewing is considered, it is unlikely Netflix is making a major dent in the US TV advertising market. This deal could (incrementally) help change that. 

That points to this deal then not so much being Netflix looking to take a large chunk of US television advertising spending any time soon but more that this is a relatively low-risk way of testing the appetite amongst its customers for sports while sending out a signal to major US sports rights holders that its previous lack of spending is not ideological. Netflix’s comments about not bidding for other sports rights seem categorical but this feels like one of those ‘it’s not a problem until a problem’ situations. Netflix looks to be given itself enough wriggle room to head into sports if it needs to but for now, this does not look like a headlong charge into sports. 

As usual, this is not investment advice.