SSAC

Backdoor Cover: Revolutionizing Sports During COVID

Scott O'Neil - Chief Executive Officer, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment

 

Erika Nardini - CEO, Barstool Sports

 

Jason Robins - Chief Executive Officer, DraftKings

 

Chad Millman (moderator) - Chief Content Officer, The Action Network

 

Sports betting organizations have changed the way fans experience games from opening dedicated lounges in stadiums to including fantasy stats on ticker tapes. Leagues and front offices have capitalized on this wealth of fan behavior to see what piques fans’ interests and to discuss potential rule changes. Looking forward, what's the next big thing for the sports betting industry, and how will businesses adapt in order to meet their customer's needs? Tune in to hear Erika Nardini, Scott O’Neil, and Jason Robins wager on what’s ahead.

Negotiating the Future: How Priorities Changed as a Result of COVID

Kathy Carter - CEO, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Properties

 

DeMaurice Smith - Executive Director, NFLPA

 

Sue Bird - Athlete, Seattle Storm

 

Michele Steele (moderator) - Correspondent, ESPN

 

The Return to Play faced unprecedented competing priorities and needs. From player safety to business continuation to sponsor obligations to maintaining Fan Interest to ensuring our 2028 Olympians can train to brand launches. New processes like daily testing were created and validated and changed. New approaches to messaging were deployed. Learn how key leaders were impacted personally, fought for business imperatives and ensured their perspectives were understood.

When the Sports World Stopped & How it Came Back to Life: COVID and the Future of Sports

Dana White - President, UFC

 

Jonathan Kraft - President, The Kraft Group

Jackie MacMullan - Senior Writer, ESPN

 

Sports businesses were not spared as COVID brought the entire world to a grinding halt in 2020, forcing businesses to adapt quickly to the new environment. Seasons were cancelled, stadiums were turned into vaccination sites, and fans looked forward to a new ‘Opening Day’: a day when sports would return. As the sports industry works towards a new normal, this panel of sports business titans will discuss the pandemic and what has changed. We will examine lessons learned around player training/safety and what the future of the sports world will look like in the new normal for organizations and fans alike.

Quantify This: Valuing Sports Sponsorships Presented by Bose

Renie Anderson - Chief Revenue Officer & Vice President Partnerships, NFL

 

Catherine Carlson - Senior Vice President Revenue and Strategy, Philadelphia Eagles

 

Brendan Lynch - Global Executive Vice President Enterprise & Revenue, Ticketmaster

 

Kat Frederick (moderator) - Former CMO, Live Nation

 

As COVID forced game play to a screeching halt requiring innovation to deliver sports to fans virtually, the traditional sports sponsorship model had to be re-invented too. Learn how the leading sports properties adjusted, created new value as their assets disappeared, managed long-term partnerships, and identified new assets and data to maximize impact. As we continue our return to fans in venues, learn how sports sponsorship has changed forever and, as importantly, what historical assets are more valuable than before. The leading executives from the NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, and Ticketmaster will discuss the increasing role of analytics, ROI, and sponsors who became partners in surviving the pandemic together.

Women‘s Sports: The Time is NOW

Alexis Ohanian - Founder, Seven Seven Six

 

Cathy Engelbert - Commissioner, WNBA

 

Kate Johnson - Director and Head of Global Sports & Entertainment Marketing Partnerships, Content, and Media, Google

 

Jessica Gelman (moderator) - CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

 

There is a misconception that people do not want to view women’s sports, driving the notion that women’s sports cannot make money and are a bad investment. This perpetuates a cycle that puts down the industry, but is based on faulty logic. This March women’s games in the NCAA basketball tournament have outpaced men’s games in head to head slots in terms of social media impressions, and last summer social justice protests in the WNBA Wubble cast reverberations with profound impacts on national politics. This panel brings together fierce advocates of equality in sport who will discuss why NOW is the time for investment in women’s sports based on evidence from impressions, viewership, and other overlooked data.

Phillie Phanatics

Lil Dicky - Artist

 

Daryl Morey - President of Basketball Operations, Philadelphia 76ers

 

Kevin Negandhi (moderator) - SportsCenter Anchor and College Football Studio Host, ESPN

 

From Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack to T-Swift’s Girl Gang, many a backroom legend has been told about exclusive celebrity supergroups. But only a select few have been deemed worthy enough to have picked up whispers of an ultra-elite group of superfans – until today. This unlikely squad is not bound by underground poker games, lavish parties, or even a literal friendship, but rather by their undying love for Philadelphia sports. The panel will discuss what exactly connects fans so deeply to their teams and what levers teams and fans can pull when engaging with one another.

Getting a Handle on Social Media: How Data is Engaging GenZ without Losing GenX

Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag - CEO, 100Thieves

 

Omar Raja - Commentator Digital and Social Content, ESPN

 

Blake Stuchin, Vice President Digital Media Business Development, NFL

 

Christine Wixted - Senior Partner Manager Global Content Partnerships, Twitter

 

Jordan Solomon (moderator) - Partner, Arctos Sports Partners

 

Social media platform users and usage have skyrocketed over the past year, and every industry wants to get in on the action. Twitch viewers watched approximately 17 billion hours of content in 2020, up 83% from 2019. Over 1 billion people use Instagram a month, making it the sixth most visited website. Sports fans are consuming content in new ways by moving to social media and other platforms, and sports businesses are faced with a decision: adapt, find trends through analytics or risk losing this new demographic of sports fans. This panel brings together experts who have tapped into the Gen-Z psyche on a myriad of platforms to grow engagement through social media.

The New Sports Fan: Innovation and Data

Valerie Camillo - President of Business Operations, Comcast Spectacor

 

Marie Donoghue - VP of Global Sports Video, Amazon

 

Jessica Gelman - CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

 

Alison Overholt (moderator) - General Manager, Oprah Daily

 

In 2021, precedent is not a predictor of who fans are or what they want. Learn how leading executives from the most forward thinking organizations in sports (Amazon, Comcast and KAGR) are using data to understand how to attract new fans, create new experiences, and take advantage of lessons learned during the pandemic. In the past year, the in-person and viewing experience has been forced to accelerate 5 years. Teams, leagues, and media companies are innovating to cater to the next generation while continuing to attract their longstanding supporters. At Amazon, Marie Donoghue has accelerated product innovation for viewers and creatively built rights deals with the EPL, NFL, teams, and more. A savvy and impactful team president of the Flyers, Valerie Camillo is resetting how teams in the NHL approach fans and use data. And, KAGR is the technology and strategic backbone helping industry leaders like the NFL and HBSE understand their fans, create new data, and define changing fan dynamics.

Show Not Tell: Sports Storytelling

Michael Lewis - Author

 

Adam McKay - Film Director

 

People have been telling stories about the lives of athletes for centuries. More recently, it seems that athletes have taken a more active role in telling their own stories. In this panel, we bring together director/producer Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights) and author Michael Lewis (The Big Short, Moneyball) to discuss this changing industry paradigm. Together, McKay and Lewis will discuss a variety of topics from how they bring athlete stories to life, both in parody and through documentary, to how sports media was the precursor to political media. How do they know when to insert artistic license, as opposed to letting the athlete or the story shine?

Adapting on the Fly: The Future of Ticketing

Clay Luter - EVP & Co-Head of Sports, Ticketmaster

 

Mike Markovich - VP of Business Development, NFL

 

Stevie Gray - Vice President Ticket Operations, Golden State Warriors

 

Kristin Bernert (moderator) - Executive Vice President, Madison Square Garden Sports

 

A multi-billion dollar industry reliant on live events, evaporated overnight in March 2020. Fans had tickets to games that might never happen or happen in a year. Teams and leagues held money for games they would need to refund. The secondary ticket market's easy flow of tickets and fees were reliant on games happening. Event cancellation was virtually non-existent. Learn how the foundation of ticketing was rocked to its core and how partners worked together to do right by the customer and by their shared goal and partnership to ensure a safe and expedient return to venue. As the sports world’s recovery continues, industry giants will share how they navigated the pandemic, the impact of new technologies & data, how analytics is driving fans' return, and how their partnerships have been strengthened to overdeliver on the fan experience.