The first day of the event, which is taking place at the Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires, welcomed more than 2,000 attendees, 80 speakers, 20 countries, with more than 150 clubs and 150 companies represented.
With the participation of important Latin American sports figures, who gave in-depth presentations and held discussions at the highest level, the Sports Summit Leaders Argentina 2023 began this Tuesday, an event that is taking place this September 5 and 6 at the Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires. Aires.
The largest B2B event in the sports industry is bringing together executives from confederations, leagues and clubs, renowned sports personalities and technology companies, among others, to share and discuss the latest in innovation, digital transformation, audiences and platforms.
The first day of the event had more than 2,000 attendees, 80 speakers, 20 countries represented, with more than 150 clubs and 150 companies.
In its first edition in Argentina, the Sports Summit Leaders is backed by Olé, the country’s leading sports media platform and international benchmark.
The opening day featured multiple participations by prominent figures, including that of the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio Tapia, who, in an attractive dialogue with Mariano Dayan, director of Olé, shared details about his career leading the AFA, from the difficult beginnings in office to the maximum possible triumph, achieved in Qatar 2022.
“It’s more than what was achieved in Qatar; we have won 17 titles”, highlighted Tapia, citing, among others, the awards obtained by other categories, such as the Sub 15, as well as the great development that women’s football has experienced.
The day began with a talk by Eridany Vázquez de la Cerda, Head of Sports & Gaming at Tik Tok. His presentation, entitled “The impact of Tik Tok on the sports industry” detailed the growth that the platform -“We are not a social network, we are a content platform,” Vázquez stressed- has experienced in recent years, with an emphasis on impact in Latin American events such as the FIFA World Cups, both male and female.
Juan Esteban Gómez Llamas, head of Digitization and Continuous Improvement at Sevilla FC, shared that his area seeks to “contribute to the achievement of sporting objectives through the search for excellence through research, development and implementation of technologies and methodologies that allow us to improve the results and competitiveness of our first team”.
In the panel “Formation of Argentine talent: keys to train and detect the players of the future”, coaches from the Argentine environment shared a detailed study of the best practices carried out by the training divisions of the participating teams, with an emphasis on care and correct promotion of young people, to maximize their development possibilities.
The Kings League Latin America sets a date
The afternoon began with a live broadcast from Spain in which Oriol Querol, CEO of the Kings & Queens League, announced that the Kings League Latin America will arrive next year. The league will be based in Mexico City and will begin in January 2024. Although he cannot yet confirm names, Querol assured that there will be great football players and very powerful personalities present.
The Spanish executive also commented that Brazil will not participate, because it will have its own league due to language issues.
The afternoon continued with the talk “Disruptive technologies: digital identities and more bridges with fans”, with the participation of Iris Córdoba, Managing Director of GSIC; Débora Saldanha, Innovation Manager at Clube Atlético Mineiro; and Pepe Sánchez, 2004 Olympic champion and co-founder of SportFanz. The conversation, led by Marcelo Gantman, director of Big Data Sports, focused on what are the next areas that will be disrupted by technological innovation.
“Today we have a more empowered fan who not only generates content, but also generates their own business model to monetize that content,” said Córdoba. Connecting with this empowered fan is the objective of Débora Saldanha’s work, who explained her goal is to “develop conversations” with the fan, and, from there, “use technology to reach the fan”, with projects such as Territorio Minheiro.
Another of the most anticipated participations in the event took place when Martín Migoya, CEO and co-founder of Globant, presented the talk “The technological reinvention of sport”, in dialogue with Sebastián Lateulade, co-founder and CEO of the Sports Summit.
Migoya reviewed the beginnings of Globant, working with his own video game studio on projects such as FIFA, from Electronic Arts, up to his present in which he is participating in the developmentof the new stadium of the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA. “It will be the experience of a Disney park, but in a basketball stadium,” he stressed.
Migoya also highlighted what was done in 2022, when Globant signed an association with FIFA that made it part of the Qatar 2022 World Cup: “It was very difficult to achieve that association, we closed it just two weeks before the start of the World Cup, but it tried to position ourselves with the sport as a long-term strategy.”
The CEO of Globant affirmed that Latin America plays a fundamental role in the future of sports, but that more investment and development in technology is due, as well as highlighted the opportunity that events such as the Sports Summit Leaders have to make this leap in quality.
The day also included the attractive talks “Brands: how to connect with the emotions of the fans”, given by the branding expert Andy Stalman, co-founder and CEO of Totem; and “Argentine way: YPF identity to promote the national teams”, by Santiago Carreras, Manager of Institutional Affairs and Communication at YPF.
One of the most anticipated panels, entitled “Clubs of America: management, modernization and international projection”, fueatured Carlos Alfaro Moreno, president of Barcelona SC of Ecuador, Héctor González Iñárritu, operational president of Club América; Ignacio Ruglio, President of Club Atlético Peñarol; Paula Young, Head of International Relations at Botafogo.
“Our main fight is to build beyond the result”, summed up Alfaro Moreno. “It is a fight against the immediacy that the institutions have and the pressure of the fans.”
The day closed with the panels “YouTube: trends and strategies in the creation of new sports content”, “Mental performance and data management: towards the new well-being of the footballer”; and “Brazil: the expansion of a market and the influence of the Argentine factor”, this one with Mauro Silva, vice president of the São Paulo Football Federation, and Fernando Carvalho, Footub partner.
“This type of event provides a unique networking opportunity for the region, learning from what others are doing and sharing what we are achieving in our area”, shared the Brazilian star Mauro Silva.
The Sports Summit Leaders 2023 will continue with its second day, which will have the participation of Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA.
