Valuing every interaction – key takeaways from SportAccord

Women’s sport and e-sports were prominent topics throughout the event.

E-sports

With e-sports, the aim is to regulate it through the traditional international federations, paving the way for its introduction into the Olympic Games. Federations are moving from a licensing approach to an engaging approach, given the audience they can reach.

Women’s sport

The panel ‘The exponential growth of women’s sport’ – with Marisol Casado, President of World Triathlon and Janelle Janis, Executive Director, Event & Business Development, Explore Edmonton – spoke about how an analysis of the market is showing that women's sports attract more families, which is why host cities are attracted by this investment, as it can bring more people to their destinations.

Disruptive Technology

It was very interesting to listen to Alex Gough, CEO at the Professional Squash Association, Max Wolfe, Head of Web3 and Digital Licensing at McLaren Racing and Jay Stuart, Head of Content at iSportConnect, discuss how the industry is adopting disruptive technology.

AI and Web3 were among the technologies discussed alongside the potential for AI to provide operational efficiencies that allow small organizations to significantly increase the amount of content produced. Gough said that these technologies could benefit the world of officiating because, particularly in squash, it is all very much based on the individual person's interpretation.

McLaren spoke about developing a digital collectables programme, which users collect weekly through shares on their digital properties. The items are collected in virtual wallets for rewards such as meetings with mechanics or drivers and this allows them to directly relate with their fans without intermediaries such as social media.

The D2C challenge for sports federations

Sports federations have significant control over events and hybrid digital solutions are increasingly attractive for leagues and federations. Our flexible publishing platform, FORGE, allows digital platforms to integrate OTT features without the need to build an end-to-end streaming platform. Valuing every interaction, harnessing emerging technologies to create engaging and memorable experiences for fans, with the ultimate goal of stimulating greater consumption of content, merchandizing and ticketing, is what these federations should be aiming for.

Where can you find us next?

Deltatre will be at CABSAT in Dubai from 21 – 23 May, so book a meeting with us to have a chat about our products, or meet up with us at Forum Europeo Digitale in Lucca, Italy from 6 - 7 June.