WFS19

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LaLiga x WFS partnership extends into fifth year
LaLiga x WFS partnership extends into fifth year 1266 710 WFS Live

World Football Summit and LaLiga are celebrating a fifth-year of partnership, with the Spanish top-flight renewing as Global Partners of the second edition of WFS Live from November 23-27.

Since the very first World Football Summit in October of 2016, to July’s inaugural digital WFS event, LaLiga has been central to making each and every one of our summits so successful. 

The relationship between the two companies began five years ago with LaLiga president Javier Tebas giving a keynote speech titled “The future of the professional football industry”. 

Tebas – who has gone on to become a regular top-tier speaker at WFS events – was joined by more LaLiga directors at our debut that featured Javier Gómez (then Corporate Managing Director) debating football investment and Pedro Malabia (then Women’s Football Director) discussing the league’s investment in the women’s game.

By May, 2017 LaLiga became WFS Global Partners for the first time – a moment of great pride for both institutions to be able to make the partnership official.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with WFS,” said Tebas at the time. “The work they’re doing to improve each year is excellent and it’s important for LaLiga to present our work at this knowledge sharing forum, where the top representatives in the world of football meet. We want to actively participate in this and help grow the sports industry.”

That’s exactly what has happened ever since. LaLiga has been a highly engaged and influential participant at all subsequent WFS events; from Madrid to Bilbao, to Kuala Lumpur and beyond, producing some incredibly memorable moments along the way.

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What a great opening day at #WFSLive, we really couldn't have hoped for any better. Here are some of the top-lines from our superb day one panels.⁣ ⁣ 🗣️ “Together we’ve tried to ensure rights don’t lose value. We’ve realised Together we can do things better. That UEFA and the big clubs should not go on their own. I think that has weakened the Super League project quite a lot.” – @javier.tebas ⁣ ⁣ 🗣️ "We tend to have this feeling as women of not being good enough, but I actually think it's an asset because it always pushed me to be the best version of myself, always striving for excellence." – @desiree.bellia ⁣ ⁣ 🗣️ "There are too many football clubs, the players are over-remunerated and leagues will have to be run more efficiently and professionally.” – Sir Martin Sorrell⁣ ⁣ 🗣️ "We need to be very creative through these times. with sponsors, we are speaking about how they want to go, what are their resources and maybe if we can offer them something different with new propositions.” – @luigidelaurentiis

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LaLiga were due to also feature prominently at our WFS Africa and FIF20 events before their coronavirus-enforced postponements, and were there once again when we got back up and running online in July.

Tebas opened WFS Live in a wide-ranging interview with  journalist Alfredo Matilla, and the Spanish league’s president was a fitting curtain-raiser due to both his and LaLiga‘s long-standing commitment to WFS.

Elsewhere, Alfredo Bermejo, Ivan Codina and Albert Castelló all represented LaLiga at WFS Live, where we also had the pleasure of sharing a workshop from the league.

Tickets are now on sale for November’s WFS Live event and are available via THIS LINK.

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WFS Live speaker Luis Vicente explains how Covid-19 will impact right packages
WFS Live speaker Luis Vicente explains how Covid-19 will impact right packages 2048 1365 WFS Live

WFS Live powered by Octagon, will be running from July 6th to July 10th, talking place over a month after the Bundesliga’s return to action and just under a month since LaLiga was also able to resume. It’s time now to reflect on how football was able to make a comeback in various countries around the world after the unprecedented crisis provoked by Covid-19.

As CEO of Eleven Sports and having formerly worked in digital transformation at FIFA, Luis Vicente is perfectly placed to discuss the lessons learned during this time by both linear and OTT broadcasters and by the industry in general. He’ll be doing so on the second day of WFS Live, on July 7th, in a panel titled ‘One Month Into The New Normal: Sport’s Comeback From Covid-19’.

Vicente has already demonstrated his expertise on this subject in one of the ‘Talking Sport’ webinars that have been held in recent weeks as part of a collaboration between Eleven Sports and World Football Summit. Vicente spoke on a similar topic, titled ‘Sport’s Great Comeback: Fighting Back From Covid-19’ and he is very interested in the impact the crisis will have on the future of rights packages.

As Vicente said on that panel: “I think there are, of course, many ways that Covid-19 is definitely going to impact the packages. The traditional inventory packages of sports rights holders will need to change. They needed to change anyway. There was a certain culture that didn’t probably resist the test of time, with the exception of a few organizations.”

In his view, the current crisis and the return of football behind closed doors should further convince industry players of the opportunities to be found online during an event. As Vicente explained: “When you look at the essence of a football match and you look at 47,000 or 50,000 people in a stadium, people tend to forget sometimes that there are millions of people connecting online and trying to engage with that game on social media networks. It’s an amazing ecosystem and we have actually been doing a very poor job in trying to get that all aligned. People sometimes complain about the lack of new forms of monetization. Well, that’s a solution right there that comes from a need.”

Following that line of thinking, Vicente expressed his belief that micro-transactions and micro-subscriptions will become increasingly common and popular and also praised the innovation being seen in eSports.

All of these topics will be discussed in much greater depth during WFS Live, WFS’ first virtual summit. Other speakers already announced include FIFA President Gianni Infantino, LaLiga President Javier Tebas, Real Valladolid President Ronaldo Nazário, S4 Capital executive chairman Sir Martin Sorrell and world champions Iker Casillas, Juan Mata, David Villa, Vicente del Bosque and Fernando Hierro.

Attendees, meanwhile, will come from various leagues, federations, clubs, broadcasters, retailers, sponsors and more and it’s already possible to book a ticket to this unique virtual networking opportunity right here.

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Trio of stellar speakers announced: Ronaldo, Sir Martin Sorrell and Javier Tebas
Trio of stellar speakers announced: Ronaldo, Sir Martin Sorrell and Javier Tebas 620 413 WFS Live

Ronaldo Nazário, Javier Tebas and Sir Martin Sorrell are the first three speakers to be announced for WFS Live powered by Octagon, the pioneering virtual event that will bring the global football industry together from July 6th to 9th. With the coronavirus pandemic having shaken up the industry, WFS is going virtual for what is set to be the largest online business event in the football industry and the first one to gather all the major leaders together in one place.

  • Ronaldo Nazário is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Real Valladolid and has been since September of 2018. Before that, he became one of the beautiful game’s most iconic players ever by winning the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 and 2002, as well as three FIFA World Player of the Year and two Ballon d’Or awards. Given that he has also been an ambassador for the United Nations in the fight against poverty, Ronaldo is expertly placed to talk about so many of the issues facing the world of football and the world in general right now.
  • Sir Martin Sorrell is the Executive Chairman of S4 Capital, a digital advertising and marketing business that has over 2,400 employees in 30 countries, with a market capitalisation of over $1.2 billion. Sir Martin was also CEO of WPP for 33 years, building it from a £1 million “shell” company in 1985 into the world’s largest advertising and marketing services company. When Sir Martin left in April 2018, WPP had a market capitalisation of over £16 billion, revenues of over £15 billion, profits of approximately £2 billion and over 200,000 people in 113 countries. Put simply, he is one of the most respected minds in the advertising industry, a field that faces so much uncertainty at this time of crisis.
  • Javier Tebas is another influential figure in the football industry, having been the President of LaLiga since 2013 and having served on the boards of several national and international associations. As the leader of an organisation that has grown from 35 employees to approximately 600 members of staff and one that has increased its clubs’ audiovisual turnover to the €1.5 billion mark, Tebas knows the ins and outs of the modern football industry like few others. He has also been steering LaLiga through the coronavirus crisis in a commendable manner and is able to offer unique insight at these unprecedented times.

While the speakers at WFS Live will be discussing a wide range of topics, there will of course be particular focus on the challenges and the opportunities that will arise as a result of COVID-19. As the Conference Concept outlines, there will be discussion of how this crisis will affect all in the industry, from right holders to broadcasters to sponsors to scouting and player development departments to those working in the transfer market and beyond.

WFS Live by Octagon will have all the features that make WFS events the largest and most appreciated, with top speakers and premium networking at the crux of the conference. Interaction will be a key aspect of this get-together, with the technology being used allowing for extra-efficient networking between attendees and a truly global reach, while the keynote speeches will also remain at the heart of the summit. Ronaldo Nazário, Javier Tebas and Sir Martin Sorrell are just the first trio of speakers to be announced, but WFS Live has already confirmed other top names from across the industry’s various sectors and these will be revealed over the coming weeks.

Tickets are already on sale at the WFS Live website for a unique price of 40 euros. With WFS determined to help the communities that have been most severely hit by the coronavirus crisis, all net proceeds will be donated to the Common Goal COVID-19 Response Fund and Fundação Fenômenos.

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The 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC kicks off!
The 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC kicks off! 1707 1217 WFS Live

World Football Summit (WFS), in partnership with Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft (GSIC), are launching the StartCup 2020, an international competition that aims to locate the best sportech projects and/or startups with innovative solutions that can impact the sports industry in general, and football in particular. 

In its four previous editions – three in Madrid and one WFS Asia edition in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) – this competition received more than 800 applications from startups around the world. 30 of them had the opportunity to present their solutions to the world’s industry leaders at World Football Summit, the international reference event of the industry. 

The winners of the first four editions, 3D Digital Venue, Thermohuman, GameReady and YBVR, respectively, have since gained great notoriety in the sportech ecosystem.  They are currently working with top international sports entities such as LaLiga, NBA, Ligue 1, Australia Open, MLB, MLS, Mutua Madrid Open, Davis Cup, Manchester City, FC Barcelona, Wembley Stadium or Atlético de Madrid, among others. 

The jury members of the 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC.

The call is for projects and/or startups that offer solutions that impact the football particularly and/or sports industry in general in any of the following areas:   

  • Team & player performance
  • Business insights & analytics
  • Smart & immersive facilities 
  • Fan engagement & experience 
  • Media platforms
  • Generation of sponsorship 
  • eSports, emerging sports, virtual currencies & betting
  • Mitigation of pandemics & public health

The call aims to showcase, support, nurture, and train entrepreneurs to transform their projects into successful companies, while improving their projection, growth, and scalability. In addition, this year there is a new feature, as startups are invited to present innovative initiatives aimed at responding to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will have multiple and important consequences for the sports industry in the upcoming months. . 

Héctor Prieto, CEO of YBVR, receives the award during WFS18.

“From the GSIC we have created a catalogue of solutions, which is constant update, to help sports entities to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis, but we are convinced that the current situation is a learning experience for everyone and we must have identified the solutions that will help us to be better prepared for this kind of emergencies in the future“, says Iris Córdoba, General Manager at GSIC.  

“Technology plays an essential role in football. In recent years, solutions have been implemented to allow improvements in all areas of sport and industry, some of which have come out of this StartCup. But football must still benefit from technology, especially in the light of the coronavirus crisis. In the upcoming months, sport will have to face some challenges that can only be overcome through technological innovation. At WFS we are proud to be able to contribute by acting as a link between entrepreneurs and industry,” agrees Jan Alessie, Director of WFS. 

The call will be open from May 14 to June 21. The 16 top-ranked proposals will have the opportunity to present their solution to the jury during WFS Live powered by Octagon, a new virtual congress with a global reach that will gather the most important international industry leaders from July 6-9. It will be then when the eight finalists will be selected to make the live pitch at WFS20 (September 23 and 24 in Madrid), where the final winner will be chosen.

CALENDAR 

  • Application opens: May 14, 2020 
  • Application closes: June 21, 2020
  • Selection announcement: June 29, 2020
  • Online pitch at WFS Live: July 9, 2020
  • Finalists announcement: July 27, 2020
  • Live pitch at WFS20: September 23 & 24, 2020 

Click HERE to apply

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