iSportconnect Digital & Technology Masterclasses a Huge Success

The iSportconnect Digital Media and Technology Masterclass sessions in association with LG Electronics proved to be a huge success, no rx with around 50 delegates debating best practise.

Attendees included 50 IT / Digital Media Directors from Arsenal, ambulance AS Roma, viagra AC Milan, AEG, BOA, Bwin, European PGA Tour, England & Welsh Cricket Board, FINA, IRB, Liverpool FC, Man United, Man City, NBA, Premier League, QBE, Red Bull & UEFA.

The day started with presentations from Paul Rogers, Head of International Digital Development at Liverpool Football Club and Jonathan Levy, Global Business and Communications Director of The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.  The pair offered great insights on how they have tapped into the potential of digital media.

Rogers (pictured above) talked to the delegates about how Liverpool has created an international digital presence that satisfies their global fan base. The club have localised their content rather than simply translating the main English site into different languages. This means that content is more relevant to fans across the world. The same has been done on Facebook and as a result Liverpool have incredible engagement on the social media website. As Rogers said, research shows “the Thailand Facebook page is more engaged than the other 19 Premier League clubs combined.”

For Levy (pictured above) and the Clipper Race, digital media needs to be used differently. Levy explained how a niche sport is making use of new technologies to keep their fans, sponsors, partners and crew members happy and engaged. Levy commented that they are “driven by our followers” on social media and that the race has learned to respond rapidly, be transparent and far more.

Following the presentations, the room of delegates, who all work in digital media and technology, gathered to listen to the Digital Media Panel discussion, sponsored by Omnigon. The panel consisted of Richard Clarke, Managing Editor at Arsenal FC, Jo Binding, Head of Media at Manchester City and Mark Lichtenhein, CIO – Head of TV, Digital Media and Technology for the PGA European Tour.

The panel brought their collective experience from two vastly different sports to talk about how they are engaging with fans and the business models they are applying to monetise digital media as best as they can. Clarke used examples of various Arsenal videos that were well received by fans including a short clip of their fans celebrating victory over arch rivals Tottenham. The panel agreed that sometimes content can come out of nowhere and as long as you have great members of staff, this can be turned around quickly and do surprisingly well on social channels.

Lichtenhein also highlighted the difficulties that golf has and said it was critical for golf to find ways of enhancing the user experience, when they do not have stadiums to engage with their fans. Interestingly Binding said she looks at other brands from outside sport to take ideas from, including the Science Museum and Tesco.

Technology, monetisation and CRM

(Pictured L-R Sanjeev Katwa, IT Director at City Football Group, David Jones, Vice President of IT for AEG Europe & Daniel Marion, Head of IT at UEFA.)

The second session of the day was the iSportconnect Technology Masterclass in Association with LG Electronics. With a panel of Daniel Marion, Head of IT at UEFA, Sanjeev Katwa, IT Director at City Football Group and David Jones, Vice President of IT for AEG Europe.

Despite “everyone expecting to be connected in a stadium” according to Marion, sports venues in Europe are far behind their US counterparts in this field. The discussion focused on how sports and entertainment venues can make a business case to install technology including LED screens and Wi-Fi.

As Katwa highlighted, “Wi-Fi is very popular in US venues, but that is not the same in European stadiums.” One of the difficulties that was discussed in depth was the cost of installing Wi-Fi in venues like The O2, which is run by AEG, when technology is constantly changing. Then the panel discussed the importance of knowing your customers and how CRM is helping them build a technology business model.

(Pictured L-R Matthew Baxter, Liverpool FC Chief Media Officer, Paul Rogers & Xavi Garcia, Euroleague Head of IT)

The panel also informed delegates of initiatives they have implemented to try and enhance their technologies and improve fan engagement. Jones said The O2 is looking at airline style upgrade packages, which will allow both them and the fan to benefit from discounted prices and a better experience.

Over at City, Katwa described their fanzone as on a different level to most teams in the Premier League. The fanzone means supporters are staying and engaging with Manchester City for around six hours on a matchday, with food, drink and entertainment before and after the game.

iSportconnect would like to thank all of our panellists, delegates and partners for another fantastic Masterclass session. Video highlights will be available through iSportconnect TV soon. We look forward to seeing you all for the iSportconnect Stadia Masterclass in association with Populous.

( Pictured L-R Charlie Greenwood, AEG Europe Director of Digital, Chris Pearson, NBA & Chris Ault from LG Electronics)

(Hywel Sloman, Arsenal Football Club IT Director)

( iSportconnect partner, Huggity CEO, Mike Sikorski & Neal Herman, Manchester Utd Head of Mobile Products)

(Daniele Sano, Bwin Party Head of Sponsorship & Events)

(Pictured L- R Giuliano Giorgetti, AC Milan Head of Digital with Paul Rogers & Matthew Baxter from Liverpool FC)

(Nick Mott, Sponsorship Manager – Corporate Communications at QBE)

(Harold De Vries, B2B Marketing Manager at LG Electronics)

(Shergul Arshad, AS Roma Head of Digital)

(Elizabeth Liebenhals, Stadium Vision Project Director at Wembley Stadium)

(Leah Davis, Marketing Manager at British Olympic Association)

The exclusive, invitation only Masterclass series, is a unique gathering giving sports technology executives the chance to learn from other top level executives, hear industry insight based on pre-submitted questions, join in on group debates, network in a relaxed environment and book one on one meetings with our top quality panellists.

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