We are only 10 days away from the jubilee 20th edition of the SPORTO Conference in Portorož (November 21 and 22), the largest meeting in this part of Europe in the fields of sports marketing and sponsorship. SPORTO offers a broad insight into the trends in this industry. Case studies, discussions, and in-depth interviews create content at the intersection of fields, focusing on sponsorship strategy and activation, brand building and marketing in sports, digital communication, athlete branding, fan engagement, and other specific topics, all with one touchpoint – harnessing the communication power of sports.
Action-Packed Two Days on the Slovenian Coast
This year in Portorož will be especially dynamic and colorful, as the 20th birthday of a conference of this format is not an everyday occurrence, nor even an annual one! The Sport Media Focus agency, which oversees the SPORTO brand, has attracted some high-profile names from the industry for this year’s gathering on the Slovenian coast. Thursday’s program (November 21) will take place in the Portus Congress Center (Hotel Slovenia) in the center of Portorož from 9:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by the SPORTO Awards ceremony and an evening featuring the well-known SPORTO Party. Friday’s program will last from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Let’s mention a few of this year’s guests and their lecture orientations or areas in which they will share their knowledge and views with the conference audience.
AC Milan, NBA, Guinness, IMG, LALIGA…
Peter Morgan, Marketing & CRM Director of football giant AC Milan, is coming to Portorož to reveal how the legendary Italian football club took its global brand to the next level and how the football world “got a club that finally understands fashion.” We will be joined by Sharon Fuller, Vice President of Content and Social Media for the NBA Europe and Middle East. Among the players who attract the most attention on social networks are many European stars, led by Luka Dončić. Sharon will present the approach the NBA uses to take a localized approach to content.Alex Carera, one of the leading agents of top cyclists and the manager of UCI’s No.1 cycling superstar Tadej Pogačar, will surely reveal something interesting from behind the scenes of cycling management. At the conference, Jonathan Potts, Lead Consultant at the sports marketing agency Two Circles, who analyzes the habits of millions of fans around the world, will share his views on the origins of fandom. The question “How do people become sports fans?” is key for everyone working in the sports industry.
Pedro Oliveira Cortez de Miranda, Senior Sponsorship Manager at LALIGA, will reveal how, starting with the 2023/24 season, the Spanish football league begins to write a new chapter with a name partnership with the leading franchise in the sports video game industry, Electronic Arts (EA). Misha Sher, Global Head of Sports, Entertainment, and Culture at EssenceMediacom, will showcase how the most innovative brands are going far beyond logos to truly earn consumers’ time and attention.
After ten years, Richard Ayers, a pioneer of digital marketing in sports, the first head of digital at Manchester City, the founder of Rematch, and a consultant at IMG, returns to SPORTO to discuss digital sports trends. Ben Wells, CEO of PTI Digital, will discuss sports revenue models and present how sports can use data and technology to generate higher revenue and achieve greater business performance. Also not to be missed is a lecture by Thomas van Schaik, seasoned branding strategist and former Adidas Global Marketing Director, author of The Athlete Brand Book, on how athletes and their allies can build successful brands in today’s competitive environment.
In Portorož, there will be many other guests, including Patrick Carberry, Global Sports Marketing Manager at iconic Guinness, as well as some Slovenian colleagues who will discuss takeaways from major events in 2024 (Olympic Games, UEFA Euro). We will talk to Tanja Dimitrova (Lidl Slovenia), Alenka Potočnik Anžič (Hisense Europe), Maša Puklavec Polutnik (Slovenian Tourist Board), and Niko Kušar (Telekom Slovenije).
Are you interested? Welcome!
A full program schedule can be found here. As an overture to the conference, we have prepared SPORTO Magazine, where you can find interesting reading from the sports business world. During the conference, we will traditionally devote some time to the presentation of the SPORTO Awards. For fifteen years, the awards have encouraged and rewarded the best examples of exceptional work in the field of sponsorship and marketing in sports. This is a tremendous opportunity for brands, rights holders, and agencies to gain professional recognition in an ever-evolving sector. This year, the competition includes six exciting categories, including two brand new ones!
In cooperation with Mediana, Institute for Media Research, we will also present the newest SPORTO Brands, the best athlete and club brands from Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia according to public research.
Don’t miss the jubilee edition of leading sports marketing and sponsorship event in Adriatic region (tickets are still available), and join us in (S)Portorož.
