The Leaders Sport Summit, with conferences for Football, Performance, Sponsorship, Digital Sport and the business of Horseracing, has been hailed a huge success by speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and delegates alike following 2 eventful days at Chelsea FC, London on 10th and 11th of October.

The invite only sell-out international event saw over 1500 delegates and 100 speakers from over 45 countries, representing 50 different sports in attendance. 60% of the delegates were rights holders, 89% were Director-Level and 95 different sponsors in sport enjoyed the top quality content and networking. In fact 92% stated they were “extremely satisfied” with the quality of attendees.

Perhaps most pleasing of all was the fact that 48% of all attendees were from overseas, with significant director level delegations from Brazil working on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Qatar 2022, Singapore Sports Council, Australian Institute of Sport, Scandinavia, and a major group representing the biggest sport franchises in the US, the events second biggest market.

Millions of people more from around the world followed the news stories as they happened live with 12 international TV networks covering the event (including BBC, Sky Sports News, ITV, Bloomberg, ESPN, MBC, CNN, CNBC, NHK ) and 150 international journalists in attendance. Recognising the growing importance of social media, the organisers had 15 people covering all 40 sessions and debates at the summit with the official hash-tag #Leaders2012 proving to be a huge success.

James Worrall, CEO, The Leaders Sports Summit said “The 5th Leaders Sports summit reached new heights on every level with the quality of delegates, relevance of content and media coverage it generated making it the premium event in the sports business calendar. I am so grateful to all the speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and delegates for travelling to London from all over the world and for all the supportive messages we have received in the days following the summit. Whilst we are delighted with the outcome for 2012 we are already working on the 2013 edition to ensure we continue to improve and deliver a first class experience for all concerned”

More Facts about the event:

Leaders in Football hosted more than 30 speakers over 12 sessions, with 92% of delegates “delighted” with the content and learning. Panels made up of players, referees, MLS owners, Brazil 2014, FIFA ExCo members and CEO’s from the biggest clubs in Europe, as well as interviews with Juventus president and owner, Andrea Agnelli, President of the Spanish Football Federation, Angel Maria Villar Llona and a panel with Qatar 2022 were spread throughout the two days.

Leaders in Performance hosted 21 world class speakers over 10 sessions with 90% of delegates “delighted” with the content and learning. Sessions concerning subjects such as talent identification, athlete development, sports science, technology, analysis, psychology and physiology, as well as what sport can learn from the business world, took place across the two days. The conference’s highlights included in depth interviews with Head Coach of the South African World Cricket Champions, Gary Kirsten, England Rugby National Team Coach, Stuart Lancaster and a fascinating panel on Innovation in Sport from NASA, UK Sport and McLaren F1.

Leaders in Sponsorship hosted 18 world class speakers over 7 sessions with 89% of delegates “delighted” with the content and learning. A world class roster of speakers were present for the Sponsorship conference on Wednesday and Thursday including speakers from the NFL, P&G, Hublot, FC Barcelona, ABInBev, Orange, SAB Miller, Investec, DHL, Western Union, Jacksonville Jaguars and GE. They spoke on a range of issues such as the latest trends in sponsorship from the US sports market, where global brands are spending their money, Olympic sponsorship, creating rights, the future of brands and how to harness the fans to activate sponsorships globally.

Leaders in Digital Sport hosted 20 world class speakers over 8 sessions with 94% of delegates delighted with the content and learning. A stellar line up of speakers were present for Wednesday’s and Thursday’s event, with the crowd addressed by prestigious representatives from companies such as Facebook, Sky Sports, Fox Sports, YouTube, NBC, BBC, Terra, Maple Leaf Sport and Entertainment, Pittsburgh Penguins, MLS, Universal Music, Manchester City and more. Sessions concentrated on the major topics within the industry, including; Digital lessons outside sport, how fans will consume sport in the future, the digitalisation of the Olympics, Digital fan engagement, building new digital platforms and finally a session on how the music industry has coped with content rights issues.

Leaders in Racing hosted 17 world class speakers over 6 sessions with 91% of delegates delighted with the content and learning. Leading representatives from some of the racing and betting world’s most prestigious brands and rights holders gathered to speak at Thursday’s event, with sessions focusing on the business of racing, promotion of the sport, international racing and betting and the finance of racing.

For the 3rd year running Levy Restaurants provided world-class food and drink at the event with a superb menu created by a team of leading chefs and in house hospitality experts. Levy restaurants operate globally at prestigious venues including Chelsea FC, Cardiff City Stadium, The O2 Arena and the Dodger Stadium in LA and created a similar first class experience for delegates. Similarly SIS, the experts in host and outside broadcast production and facilities, returned as a Main Partner of the summit covering every conference session and beaming relevant footage all over the world.

if you would like to learn more about Leaders events or to enquire about opportunities to get involved in 2013, please contact one of the team on +44 (0) 207 042 8666 or email enquiry@leadersinevents.com.