The 20th edition of SPORTO Conference is slowly approaching, along with the new issue of the SPORTO Magazine. Once again, it brings fresh reading and reflections on an industry that is nearing the end of an extremely dynamic year, full of challenges, events, and new insights. We briefly present some content from the new issue, which is available for download in digital format (pdf) here.
Paris 2024 – a bearer of change
The increased product placement at the competition venues—a shift from the strictly “clean field” tradition—and content creators were at the center of the communication activities at this year’s Paris Olympics. According to experts, we will see this new trend truly take off at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. Product placement is becoming an even more efficient marketing tool due to the exponential growth of video content. Major television networks like NBC and Eurosport have partnered with content creators to create behind-the-scenes video content for them.
EURO 2024 and emotional connections
How well did Slovenian sponsorship brands prepare for this year’s UEFA Euro 2024? Have they activated fans successfully enough, connecting them emotionally with their brand? The Football Association of Slovenia (FA Slovenia), their sponsors Mercator and Petrol, and UEFA sponsor Lidl shared their experiences with the football event of the year.
Conversations with the conference guests
We also spoke with some of the guests at the upcoming SPORTO Conference. We chatted with Thomas van Schaik, author of The Athlete Brand Book, about the importance of strategy and digital potential in athlete branding. Misha Sher, Global Head of Sport, Entertainment and Culture at EssenceMediacom, shared his views on the changing rules of sports sponsorships dictated by social media. Commercial hippy Richard Ayers, founder of the Rematch, the Sporting Time Machine, and former digital chief of Manchester City, is regarded as one of the leading thought leaders in digital sports marketing and is returning to Portorož after a decade. We also spoke with Sharon Fuller, vice-president responsible for content and social media at the NBA for Europe and the Middle East, who shared some insights about the league’s content strategy and localization approach.
Successful and rich, but also vulnerable
Bill Duffy from California is among five most renowned NBA agents, five most established basketball agents and among those excelling in managing the players’ behind-the-scenes and private lives. He shared with us some of the business-behind-basketball at the Goran Dragić’ farewell game.
Sport ‒ a common language
We talked to Sarah O’Connor, Deputy CEO and Head of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship at the Irish agency for strategic communications Wilson Hartnell, part of the advertising, marketing, and public relations agency Ogilvy, about the power of sport as a force connecting rights holders, brands and fans.
No records yet
Stephen Espinoza’ biography is truly exceptional: from representing big music and sports stars, working in high-scale law offices to staging record-breaking Mayweather‒Canelo, Mayweather‒Pacquiao and Mayweather–McGregor boxing fights. Over 24 million people paid to see the latter, which is still a record…
The challenges of clubs
How do three of the prominent Ljubljana clubs market their successes, pull back costs, plan budgets, communicate with fans, act sustainably and coexist in the European space?
Athlete of the Year, Farewell of the Year, and Talent of the Year
We have also captured some of the most beautiful Slovenian sports moments of the past year in pictures, with Tadej Pogačar, Goran Dragić, and Žiga Lin Hočevar taking the spotlight. Don’t miss sports marketing profile of the successful industry professional Vanja Černivec, currently working in San Francisco, where she is assembling a team for the inaugural season in the strongest basketball league WNBA as the Team Vice-President of the Golden State Valkyries.
The digital edition of the SPORTO Magazine No. 18 (pdf.) can be downloaded here.