ASOIF Workshop highlights commercial trends and their relevance for IFs

Current commercial challenges and opportunities related to pressing topics such as Esports, digital strategies, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and external funding were the focus of the second edition of ASOIF’s Commercial Workshop held on 4 May in Lausanne. Organised by ASOIF’s Commercial Advisory Group (CAG), the one-day meeting brought together commercial and marketing experts from 23 member International Federations (IFs). The participants also heard presentations dedicated to event common indicators, and TV / OTT data insights from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – both important means to assess the value of events and the return on investments.

Antony Scanlon, CAG Chair and Executive Director of the International Golf Federation (IGF), said:

The ASOIF Commercial Workshop has been a great opportunity for IF commercial and marketing executives to exchange views and experiences with not only their peers but also experts from the sport business on innovative funding models in the post-COVID world.

The Workshop provided the participants with the opportunity to share best practices of engagement between IFs and the sport industry and hear expert opinions on global commercial trends in sports.

Guido Betti, Chief Business Officer at Volleyball World, presented his organisation’s digital strategy as a case study and Frank Leenders, FIBA’s General Director for Commercial and Marketing, Vincent Gaillard, Executive Director of World Rowing, and Thierry Weil, FIH Executive Director, gave insights into their federations’ relations with external funding partners. Antonio Arimany, Secretary General of World Triathlon shared his experience of the relevance of NFTs for IFs.

External speakers included representatives from PwC, Legacy Delivery, IRIS, Färgen Sports & Media, Deltatre, CVC Capital and the eUniversity FFHS.