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The inaugural iSportconnect Directors’ Club London took place on 21st February, cheap attracting an exclusive audience of senior decision makers from across the sports industry meeting to share high level insight and opinion on business trends and industry news in a ‘Question Time’ format.

The event, buy in partnership with Generate Sponsorship and Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, was deemed a huge success, with a special panel of industry leaders including Sir Craig Reedie, Member of the IOC Executive Board, Ed Warner, Chairman UK Athletics, Sally Hancock, Director, Olympic Marketing and Group Sponsorship at Lloyds TSB, Paul Vaughan, CEO of England Rugby 2015, and Nic Coward, General Secretary, Premier League.

Areas of discussion included the key issues facing the sports industry, such as racism and discipline and how and when both rights holders and sponsors should address such situations publicly.  The panel concluded that it is not a sponsor’s role to solve rights holders’ disciplinary issues however sponsors must act privately and put pressure on the rights holder, as well as work collaboratively. 

Another area of debate was Olympic branding and the return for sponsors. Hancock commented that she would place a low value on any branding assets around the Olympics and that the industry has become too focused on media ROI.  Hancock also expressed that London 2012 has not had a true impact on how sponsors activate. 

Social media was also discussed with both rights holders and sponsors encouraging athletes to use social media to engage with fans. However, education on the implications of commenting publicly was a key point discussed as well the issue of hate crime facing celebrity athletes. 

Sally Hancock, Director, Olympic Marketing and Group Sponsorship at Lloyds TSB, said, “It was a great privilege to have done this as it was a good line up of speakers, really diverse, and some good challenging conversation. I knew that the questions would be punchy, and I liked the idea of the format as well so it’s been great. I think these kind of closed room, closed door conversations don’t really happen that often so it was a good to be here.” 

Ed Warner, Chairman UK Athletics, said, “This event is about the people you’re sitting alongside, as you’re as interested in hearing their views as you are about giving your own out to the audience, and I thought it was an interesting mix of professional sport and Olympic sport and of course the sponsor perspective from Sally Hancock as well. 

“I think it was the right sort of format and what you are looking for here is interaction between the panellists, you want a little bit of disagreement and we did get a bit of it. If you think about Questions Time on the BBC, it’s about people with different opinions disagreeing with each other in an intelligent fashion and we got that today.”

Founder and CEO of iSportconnect Sree Varma, said, “We’ve received an excellent response from this first event, attracting high profile speakers from across the industry.  We are delighted with the positive feedback that we have received.  Many guests said the Question Time-style discussion panel was a unique feature and something that the sports industry has lacked.  We hope iSportconnect Directors’ Club will become a firm fixture in the industry’s events calendar.”

iSportconnect Directors’ Club London will take place three times each year, with further events in Munich, Lausanne, New York and Barcelona in the coming months.

For further information go to dev.isportconnect.com

45 invitation-only attendees included:

Rupert Daniels Arsenal – Partnerships Director

Misha Sher Rangers FC – Global Partnerships Director

Rajesh Agrawal RationalFX – CEO

Gordon Lott Lloyds TSB – Head of London 2012 Partnership & Group Sponsorship

Peter Daire The Football Association – Head of Sponsorship

Rupert Pratt Generate Sponsorship – MD

Andy Martin London Irish RFC – CEO

Mike Pask IMG – Vice President

Kenny Logan Logan Sports – MD

Chris Akers Sports Resource Group – Chairman

David Piggins Powerplay Golf – CEO

Helena Christopher QBE- Head of Marketing

Danny Talbot Thomas Cook Sports – MD

Andy Westlake Fast Track – CEO

Paul Blanchard Surrey Sports Park – CEO

Michael Cole Marketing & Communications Director – BT Global Services

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Read: Inaugural iSportconnect Directors Club Germany a Big Success

iSportconnect has announced Nic Coward, General Secretary, English Premier League as the final ‘Question Time’ panellist to join the iSportconnect Directors’ Club, which takes place on 21^st February.

Nic will join other high profile panellists, Sir Craig Reedie, Member of the IOC Executive Board, Ed Warner, Chairman UK Athletics, Sally Hancock, Director, Olympic Marketing and Group Sponsorship at Lloyds TSB and Paul Vaughan, CEO of England Rugby 2015.

The event, in partnership with Generate Sponsorship and Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, invites senior decision makers in the sports and sponsorship industry to share high level insight and opinion on business trends and relevant industry news.

A specially invited audience of premium iSportconnect members will offer questions to speakers through a ‘Question Time’ style panel moderated by Richard Gillis, Sport Business writer and blogger for The Wall Street Journal, followed by a round table networking opportunity in a relaxed environment.

Founder and CEO of iSportconnect Sree Varma, said, ‘We are pleased that Nic is able to join us at our first iSportconnect Directors’ Club in London.  The high profile panellists we have secured from across the industry, including rights holders and sponsors, should generate interesting insight and debate.”

The Directors’ Club event networking tool will be live from 3^rd February which will act as a virtual meeting room, so that event participants can interact before, during and after the event in a secured way, thanks to the site’s Strict Door Policy.

This tool will allow delegates to:

• – Contact delegates direct
• – Post Question Time debate questions
• – Find delegates with whom you would like to meet at the event and arrange meeting times in advance

Nic Coward Biography

Nic Coward joined the Premier League as General Secretary in May 2011. This is a return to English football administration; Nic had joined The Football Association shortly before Euro’ 96 as its first General Counsel, after a secondment from City law firm Freshfields in 1994 to rewrite its constitution and rules. During eight years with The FA, he had many roles including twice acting Chief Executive and a Director of Wembley Stadium. After The FA, Nic spent several years as Deputy Chairman of a leading UK lobbying consultancy and special adviser to the Premier League Board. He was also Honorary Treasurer of what is now the Sport and Recreation Alliance.  In 2006, Nic was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority. During four years he led the restructuring of the governing and regulatory body, and the major repositioning of the sport which became known as Racing for Change. From 2005 to 2010, he was also the first Chairman of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition, which brings together leading international and national federations to campaign on commercial, marketing and IP policy issues.

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