Telegraph Business of Sport Conference 2015 Announces Sir Ben Ainslie as Key Speaker

Conference will discuss ‘quantifying and delivering success for brands, rights-holders and broadcasters’, with Rio Ferdinand also signed up as a panellist

Telegraph Business Events has today announced that Sir Ben Ainslie will be the BT reception speaker at the inaugural Telegraph Business of Sport Conference 2015. The event will take place from the 13th to 14th May, at the BT Centre in the City of London.

At an exclusive drinks reception for a selected audience at the BT Tower on the 14th May, hosted by BT Sport, Jake Humphrey will interview Sir Ben Ainslie about his plans to be the first British sailor to win the America’s Cup in the race’s 163 year history.

Sir Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, winning four consecutive gold medals, before turning his focus to competing with Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) on the 2012/13 America’s Cup World Series. In the summer of 2013, he went on to join ORACLE TEAM USA and played an instrumental part in one of the greatest comebacks sport has ever seen and becoming the first Briton, for 110 years, to be part of a winning Cup team. Now stepping into a new role, as BAR Team Principal, Ben will develop and lead a British entry into the 35th America’s Cup, with the aim of bringing the Cup back to Britain where it all began in 1851.

It has also been confirmed today that Rio Ferdinand, the ex-Manchester United and England legend and current player for Queens Park Rangers, will be a panellist on “Harnessing the value of social media” on the second day of the conference. Additionally, Jim White, The Telegraph’s sports columnist will be chairing the entire Telegraph Business of Sport Conference.

Other confirmed speakers include Lord Coe, CH, KBE, Chairman, CSM; Debbie Jevans, Chief Executive, England 2015 Rugby World Cup; John Petter, CEO, BT Consumer; Henry Winter, Football Correspondent, Telegraph Media Group; Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, Williams; Sally Bolton OBE, Managing Director; London 2017 World Athletics Championships; Barbara Slater, Director of Sport, BBC; Laurent Colette, Chief Marketing Officer, FC Barcelona; Peter Thompson, Managing Director, Global Sponsorship, Avaya; Mark Cameron, Global Brand Experience Director, Jaguar Land Rover; Guy-Laurent Epstein, Director of Marketing, UEFA; Brian Cookson OBE, President, Union Cycliste Internationale; Mark Lichtenhein, Head of Television, Digital Media and Technology; and Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship + Events, HSBC.

Speakers will demonstrate how they have maximised the success of sporting events, boosted results, improved legacy benefits and increased audience participation. Case studies, panel sessions and in-depth interviews will provide insight from outstanding industry experts on issues that are relevant to the industry.

A variety of topics will be discussed including:

– Learning lessons from leading sporting events and implementing industry best practice.

– Accurately quantifying ROI and increasing value for money in sponsorship activation.

– Examining how rights-holders can develop a collaborative approach with sponsors to meet specific brand goals.

– Maximising the use of digital platforms and rapidly creating content to reinforce brand identity.

In addition to BT Sport, who are the Principal Partner of the event, Supponor, the sports media and technology company, and Populous, the global sports architecture and design firm with 30 years’ experience in the industry, are pleased to be sponsors of the event.

Jim White, Sports Columnist, The Telegraph, said: “The Telegraph’s Business of Sport conference is the best opportunity you will get this year to meet, listen to and question the key stakeholders and decision makers in the business of sport.”

For further information or to book a place please visit: www.telegraph.co.uk/bos or contact Soosyan Eng, Marketing Manager soosyan.eng@telegraph.co.uk or telephone +44 2079313986