SportsInnovation: Future Summits in China and the USA
11 November 2019 – As part of a warm-up for the second SportsInnovation trade fair next March, leading members of the sports industry recently gathered at Future Summits in China and the USA to discuss and analyse the future of sports and sports technology. Organised by Messe Düsseldorf in cooperation with the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and deltatre, international guests from organisations such as Major League Soccer (MLS), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), as well as officials from the UEFA and Bundesliga clubs came together at the DFL’s Regional Head Office Americas in New York to discuss upcoming trends in the field of sports.
After a keynote talk with David Stern, former Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and John Kosner of Micromangement Ventures, Andreas Heyden, EVP Digital Innovations DFL Group, spoke about the DFL’s innovation strategy, highlighting the integration of 5G technology in the Bundesliga following the successful showcase of the technology in partnership with Vodafone in Wolfsburg earlier this season. The event concluded with a panel featuring veteran sports journalist Bonnie Bernstein, John Brody of WWE, Chief Revenue Officer for the US Olympic and Paralympic Properties Kathy Carter, Blake Stuchin of the NFL, and Alex Kaplan of Golf TV, all discussing the role of technology in the future of sport.
Just a few weeks earlier, at the Future Summit in the Chinese capital Beijing in September, the main focus was on the fast-developing sports industry in China and how technology is playing an instrumental role in driving its growth. As one of football’s innovation leaders, the DFL was at the heart of the event, which brought together representatives from many Chinese sporting organisations – including the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) – as well as delegates from Bundesliga clubs. A number of lively discussions took place in relation to the future of sports technology in China. A round-table panel including representatives from the CBA, Deltatre and OCEANS Sports also analysed the future of the Chinese sports industry from the perspective of consumers, media, sponsorship and technological innovation.
The inaugural SportsInnovation summit in 2018 provided 47 exhibitors from eleven countries with a platform to showcase the latest developments and future plans to a global audience of thousands under the motto ‘Meet the Future of Sports – Media – Stadium’. The conference was met with a very positive response and plans are already in place to ensure a successful SportsInnovation 2020, which will take place on 25 and 26 March 2020 in Düsseldorf.
More information on SportsInnovation 2020 can be found here.