The annual International Sports Convention (ISC) summit is an established fixture on the sports events and conferences calendar.

Having operated since 2009, the ISC is closing in on its 15th edition, which will take place in 2025 across March 19 and 20 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, UK, in partnership with Sportcal.

As always it will feature high profile attendees, insightful discussions, and ample networking opportunity. Ahead of the event, ISC chief executive Nigel Fletcher spoke to Sportcal about what people can expect from the upcoming edition.

Last year’s event was based around broadcast and innovation. What themes can we expect from the upcoming edition?

"Next year, we'll have over 1000 delegates, over 100 speakers, and five key themes. Those are: brands and sponsorship, broadcast/over-the-top and media, digital technology and fan engagement, events and tourism, and integrity and governance.

"We also have a couple of one-day summits leading up to our flagship event. The first one coming up is the ISC Brands and Sponsorship Summit at Unilever house on October 3, followed by the ISC Manchester 2024 Summit on November 14 at the Etihad Stadium, and that one is concentrating on women's soccer fan engagement and soccer integrity."

What prevailing trends in the industry have led you to those topics?

"In terms of the brand space, some subject areas will be brand purpose, culture, inclusion, music, and sustainability, while there's big growth in terms of destination sponsors so that's going to be a key development as well. Everyone's looking at differentiation and new markets and opportunities, and for many, we will have a lot of brands present.

"It's an eclectic mix. It's on the business of sport, and we think everything [overlaps]. Digital overlaps with sponsorship, sponsorship overlaps with broadcast, and so forth. That's why the International Sports Convention is the meeting place for the business of sport."

What attendees and speakers are you most looking forward to?

"In terms of speakers for the flagship event, we'll have speakers from across the world, major rights holders, major brands, and significant broadcasters, so something that really appeals to everyone.

"It's the main industry event in the first quarter of 2025.

"Whether an emerging tech company, a leading rightsholder, a broadcaster, a tech company, a tourism board, a governing body, or an event organizers looking for a host city, there's something for everyone, and we curate the content to ensure that there is, hence our 100 speakers.

"There's a lot going on, I think, in terms of what attendees or potential delegates need to think about in terms of maximizing their two days."

What are the biggest differences with this edition compared to last year’s?

"We don't do big changes, people want to be familiar with the venue and the event experience, but we always add on to that. So this year, there's going to be even more content packed into the two days. We're hosting two drinks receptions, we're increasing the ISC International Sports Awards from seven to 20, there's also an ISC 30-under-30 category as well.

"There's also more and more interest from North America, so there'll be significant attendance in 2025 from that region. There's a couple of reasons for that, for example, soccer's FIFA World Cup 2026, and also the LA 2028 Olympic Games. But also, a lot of cities and regions and convention bureaus are seeing the benefits of getting involved in industry events, and partnering with clubs and rights holders as well."

As the sports industry changes, how do you see ISC’s role moving forward?

"It’s an epicenter of innovation, as well as networking, over those two days. It will be in the first quarter of 2025, in which people always want to take stock of the market, what is happening, and have lots of meetings in one place. It saves time, saves money, so there will always be a need for that."

If you were to speak to people on the fence about attending ISC 2025, what would you say to them?

"We’re the first big industry event in the first quarter of 2025. It’s an event of scale, both in attendance and content. It’s a global audience, and if one thinks about it deeply, it saves a lot of time, energy, and cost by scheduling a lot of meetings in two days.

"Relationships are very important in any industry, and maintaining that is key, but also new business and new relationships are very important, and our content is king, it’s always very important [to us], and the ease of networking is important, both for new business and existing clients.

"If people just want to have lots of meetings as well we have lots of lounge space, and if people just want the content there's a lot of that.

"What we pride ourselves on is quality in every touch point. Once everyone's there, everything is included."