Soccerex are delighted to confirm that, in their 20th year, the Soccerex Global Convention 2015 saw increased levels of attendance and record levels of rights holder participation in what has been widely acclaimed as one of the best Soccerex events of recent times.
The Global Convention, taking place at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, saw 2804 delegates attend from 7th to 9th September to benefit from the unique array of high level networking and insight opportunities. This was an 8.5% rise on the 2014 attendance and the seniority of delegate also increased, with the percentage of attendee at either C-Level or Director level up by 7% to 61%.
Soccerex has long been recognised as a key meeting place for the world’s rights holdersand this year over 700 attended the Convention. This record level of buyers at the event was driven by institutional partnerships with LaLiga, The Football League and Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), with the former two holding official meetings at the event, ensuring the attendance of all 20 and 72 of the members clubs respectively.
The -global nature of the delegates in attendance was also evident with over 80+ countries represented as delegates flew in from as far afield as China, India, Australia, Brazil, South Korea and Russia meaning there were always new business strategies to be learned and new football cultures to be discovered.
The Conference Programme provided the usual mix of business best practice and exclusive insights from the game’s biggest names. The Studio was home to industry heavyweights from key sectors of world football with 15 sessionsacross three days including1-2-1’s with HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein,LaLiga President Javier Tebas, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn.
Some of the key headlines that emanated from the Studio included:
= Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein to confirm he will run for FIFA Presidency
= Premier League Referees would back more video technology – Howard Webb
= Gareth Bale was never close to leaving Real Madrid says agent
= England 'perceived as arrogant' within global game, says FA chief Martin Glenn
= Steven Gerrard not making loan move back to Liverpool says MLS Chief Don Garber
The Academy was a hub of learning, insight and creativity which saw20 individual workshops focusing on finance & law, social & digital media, performance, match day operations and sponsorship. It was the platform for some of the game’s biggest companies with the likes of Twitter, Heineken, FC Barcelona, Facebook, Barclays, theAll India Football Federation and the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (German FA) all sharing their business acumen and industry secrets.
As with every Soccerex event, there was a host football legends participating in talks or walking around the exhibition floor to meet new businesses. One of those talks involved Michael Owen, Jay-Jay Okocha and Gaizka Mendieta discussing the World Cup experiences to a packed audience, whilst Nasser Al Khater, Assistant Secretary General, Tournament Operations at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, discussed how the country is going to change the way fans consume and attend a World Cup.
Other legends in attendance included John Barnes, Peter Reid, Tony Adams, Gianluca Vialli, Fabrice Muamba, Kelly Smith, Eniola Aluko, Kikin Fonseca, Denis Law, Ramon Vega, Mike Summerbee and Ossie Ardiles.
With the new Half Time Networking Lounge complimenting the ever vibrant networking cafe and the relaxed social evenings at the National Football Museum, the Convention was a three day networking extravaganza. An expanded SoccerMatch facility, which links clubs and suppliers together in a speed dating format, once again proved to be a valuable component of the event with multiple deals being agreed on the day or to be signed in the following weeks.
Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie commented:“As we all know, Football is a numbers game and we’re proud that the Global Convention has delivered such a large and high quality attendance in this our 20th year. The amount of positive feedback we’ve receivedso far has been overwhelming and we’re already working on making next year even better. I’d like to thank our partners Marketing Manchester for their continued support and we’re now looking forward to 2016 where we’ll be hosting events in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. “
For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/global.
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About Soccerex
Established in 1995, Soccerex is the leading provider of business events for the global football community. Bringing together key industry decision makers from the world of football, Soccerex provides a unique commercial environment where delegates can benefit from exclusive business opportunities, networking and bespoke educational content. Since the first event in 1996, Soccerex has hosted over 39 events across five continents. The Soccerex portfolio includes an annual Global Convention complimented by continental Forums and regional Seminars,