On March 19-20, 2025, the International Sports Convention (ISC) summit will once again descend on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London for its landmark 15th edition.
Ahead of the conference, the first major sports business event in the first quarter of 2025, ISC chief executive Nigel Fletcher runs through the agenda with Sportcal.
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“Our tagline is ‘the meeting place for the business of sport’. So that collected mix of subject matters [is important to us]. Brands is one area, broadcast media is another, and obviously sports events and tourism, and then it's all underpinned with integrity, governance, and fan engagement. So we've got a huge number of top-line properties, it's really a who's who of sports properties.
Brands and Sponsorships
“I think the whole brand side is very important for the attendees, so we've got a very good two-day program on brands and sponsorships. One of the panels is Sports Partnerships and Brand Purpose, and there we've got Hugo Boss, FoodHub, Virgin/O2, obviously all the names and trusts in the program. Another panel is on “How Brands can turn customers into Fans”, where we have a diverse panel of Starling Bank, Panini, Unilever, and Pernod Ricard.
“I think one of the favorites I'm looking forward to is “Brand Partnerships in Women's Sport”, we've got Standard Chartered Bank, PepsiCo, Unilever, and now the Chief Marketing Officer from Valeo Foods, Michael Inpong (not yet in the program list).
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By GlobalData“And then we've got more and more brands confirming [their attendance]. Warner Bros. Discovery, leading agencies such as Ear to the Ground, and football clubs are running a panel with their sponsors as well, looking at brands and culture and diversity and inclusion, so that whole brand segment will will be covered well, great for networking, for clubs, leagues, rights holders and broadcasters, and other brands in attendance. We have a keynote from Chris Baron from Unilever and their global soccer partnerships and some diverse panel discussions. So Brands and Sponsorship is a key one.
Broadcast/Media/Streaming
“We’ve got FIBA, Jockey Club, Formula E, FC Barcelona, the Premier League, Rakuten TV, NASCAR, and the Olympic channel. We've also got Eintracht Frankfurt, who are probably the leading club in Europe in terms of technology innovation, in my opinion.
“We’ve got a panel called “Women’s Sport Broadcasting – A new era for sport.” There we have DAZN, England Rugby RFU, also the new BBC Director General. We've also got Sarah Gregorius from the National Women's Soccer League as well. So women's sport broadcasting is very important for many clubs and rights holders as that's where the majority of their money comes from. And then we have a “Growth of Women's Sports” panel also on day two. It’s very, very important for us, that whole area.
Fan Engagement
“Last year, we had Fan Engagement and Digital [on the program], and we're going again this year. Some of the feedback we got [from 2024] was day one was very heavy on content, and day two slightly lighter, so we flipped it a little bit and made it very much 50:50 in terms of content on day one and day two.
“It's a very broad subject matter. The NFL and NBA have been confirmed to be on the “Fan Engagement – An International Perspective.” Formula E and Red Bull confirmed for “Analytics and the Fan Experience.” So it's your top rights holders, it's clubs, it's also a couple of leading agencies, and then it's independent fan channels as well.”
Sports Integrity
“[Sports integrity] is a very specialist area. Rightsholders, agencies, and international federations find this a very useful two days in terms of content and networking. We've been doing it for many years now, and it seems just to grow year on year. There's a focus on safeguarding, we've seen that grow, unfortunately, in many ways but it's starting to grow from very much an international perspective.
“This year we've got FIFA’s head of safeguarding and child protection Marie-Laure Lemineur speaking, and that's followed by a panel discussion as well. It will touch all key points of business – sport, gambling, safeguarding, integrity, fighting against manipulation.
“We've got the director of global policy and strategic relations, Alexander Bielefeld from FIFPro [to talk about] key topics affecting the soccer industry, in terms of the playing calendar, getting the balance right between performance and player care.”
Networking
“It's all about the touchpoints. As soon as you enter, you're greeted, and that's maintained over the two days through the teamwork and our volunteers, and then it's just elevated by the attendee experience with the content, the meetings, the lunch, the snacks, the drinks experience. It is the biggest B2B industry event in the first quarter of the year.
“Delegates have access to all content and all networks over the two days. We've got not just one but two drinks receptions over [the two days] bringing everyone together. Because we've got to get the balance right about content and networking and meeting time as well.
“The great thing about the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is it's a five-star, inclusive experience. We put a lot of effort into hospitality and customer service. All food and drinks are included, and we'd like to think of it as at the highest standard.”
