SSAC

Big Events, Big Tickets, Big Experiences: Managing the Fan Experience When Stakes are Highest

Molly Pendleton - Head of Touring, NHL and MLS, Eventellect
Ryan Tanke - COO, Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx
Brian Lafemina - Chief Business Officer, LA28
Sezin Aksoy - Senior Vice President, Global Data Strategy & Analytics, AXS
Shira Springer (moderator) - MIT Sloan Lecturer and Journalist, MIT Sloan

 

While companies are pouring billions of dollars into media and streaming rights to bring events to the masses, there is nothing that can replicate a live viewing experience: the sights, smells, sounds, and energy of a stadium is so unique. The stakes are only amplified when the events and experiences are big - fan expectations skyrocket in parallel with ticket prices. This panel convenes leading executives from ticketing companies, teams, and major events to discuss how to price the biggest tickets and deliver the boldest experiences all in the name providing fans an unforgettable live experience.

Start Me Up: How New Leagues Are Innovating Sports and Capturing Fans

Jon Patricof - CEO and Co-Founder, Athletes Unlimited
Katlyn Gao - Co-Founder and CEO, LOVB
Andrew Sinnenberg - Chief Operating Officer, Premier Lacrosse League (PLL)
Johanna Boynton - Chair and Principal Owner, Toronto Six (PHF)
Shira Springer (moderator) - MIT Sloan Lecturer and Journalist, MIT Sloan

 

Amid seemingly endless opportunities for entertainment, the drama and excitement of sports remains a core part of our culture and continues to capture our attention. Shifting participation trends in youth and high school sports will shape the fans of the future. For example, volleyball - with over 450,000 participants in 2022 - is poised to overtake track and field as the most popular high school girls sport in the US. Amid these changes, we have seen a wave of new leagues - outside the Big 4 sports - pushing the boundaries of traditional league operations through unique approaches to fan engagement, team structure, player empowerment, and gameplay. This panel will dive into the strategies and tactics of innovative leagues like Athletes Unlimited, League One Volleyball, Premier League Lacrosse, and Premier Hockey Federation and outline what's in store for the exciting next chapter of professional sports.

Partnerships 2.0: Data, Dollars, and Digitalization

Paul Caine - President, Endeavor’s IMG Events and On Location
John Sheeran - Senior Commercial Director, FanDuel
Elizabeth Lindsey - President, Brands and Properties, Wasserman
Jeff Price - Chief Commercial Officer, PGA of America
Abe Madkour (moderator) - Publisher & Executive Editor, Sports Business Journal, Sports Business Daily/Global

 

In the last decade, traditional sponsorships have evolved into broader partnerships with deeper integrations and expectations. The current age of data and digitization has also fundamentally impacted sports partnerships in recent years: we are getting close to the "holy grail" of determining the value behind partnerships. On this panel, we combine holistic perspectives from the PGA of America, Wasserman, Endeavor, and FanDuel to provide insights into how data analytics has revolutionized sports partnerships and allowed both the brands and talent to calculate successes and failures.

Investing in Global Sports: Creating Value While Building Dynasties

Gerry Cardinale - Founder and Managing Partner, RedBird Capital Partners
Steve Pagliuca - Senior Advisor, Bain Capital | Managing General Partner and Co-Owner, Boston Celtics
Mitch Lasky - Partner, Benchmark | Co-owner, LAFC
Saj Cherian (moderator) - Chief of Staff and Head of Fanatics Ventures, Fanatics

 

Global investment in sports teams has boomed in recent years across continents, sports, and levels, especially as institutional capital has become an increasing driver of team valuations and the sports landscape writ large. Sports-specific funds are popping up and raising funds of ever-increasing sizes, while more generalist institutional funds have increasingly turned to sports as a key investment pillar. With more money flowing in than ever before, valuations have ballooned despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. The last year has seen record franchise and club sales in the NFL, NBA, Premier League, and Serie A. Listen in as some of the most prominent sports investors and owners dig into the logic behind their investment theses, how they make specific investment decisions, and where investment in global sports is going.

Sharpening Your Edges: The Role of Analytics in Sports Betting and Fantasy Sports

Dejan Mitkovski - VP of Data Analytics, FanDuel
Grant Cloud - Senior Director of Data Strategy, PrizePicks
Meghan Chayka - Co-Founder and CEO, Stathletes
André Snellings - Senior Writer, ESPN
Lisa Kerney (moderator) - FanDuel TV Talent and Events Host, FanDuel

 

As sports betting and fantasy sports continue to expand throughout the US, sports gaming enthusiasts, sportsbooks, and fantasy operators will push each other to become more statistically sophisticated. While not all bettors are leveraging advanced analytics in their strategies, the common consumer now has access to more data and analytical tools than ever before. Therefore, this panel will discuss how consumers are receiving and utilizing this new mass of data, as well as the successful strategies that sportsbooks and fantasy operators are seeing from statistically savvy market participants. Senior data scientists from FanDuel and PrizePicks will provide insights into the modeling that goes into setting lines, while perspectives from ESPN and Stathletes will share how the underlying data is collected and translated to fans and clients. Panelists will also discuss the analytics and real-time decision making that go into new and popular betting and gaming formats, such as live odds (FanDuel), player projections (PrizePicks), and many more.

Start Your Engines: How Data is Fueling NASCAR’s Strategy to Engage an Evolving Customer Base

Steve Phelps - President, NASCAR
Jill Gregory - EVP and General Manager, Sonoma Raceway
Justin Marks - Founder and Owner, Trackhouse Entertainment Group
Joe Pompliano (moderator) - Host of Joe Pomp Show, Entrepreneur, and Investor

 

As a perennial American staple, NASCAR has steadily increased viewership over the last few years, with on average about 3 million viewers watching each race in 2022. In this new sports age, this panel will convene NASCAR leadership, team ownership, and a racetrack executive to discuss how NASCAR is innovating to drive fan satisfaction and creating an enjoyable racetrack experience for attendees. Panelists will discuss how NASCAR's strategy - including changes to the race car, new events like Chicago Street Race, a show on USA Network - has evolved to match the needs and interests of a changing fanbase. The panel will also look to the future on how NASCAR will continue to innovate and tackle key issues such as media rights deals to improve the sport.

Like and Subscribe: Co-Streaming and The Influencer Age of Esports

Karim Fernandes - Content Creator, Counter Logic Gaming
Parth Naidu - CEO, SIDO
Nick Troop - Executive Producer, POSSIBLE
Doug Watson - Director of Esports Strategic Advisory, Riot Games
Greg Kim (moderator) - Head of CLG, Madison Square Garden Sports

 

There is arguably no place in sports that leverages social media, co-streaming, and cutting-edge technology better than esports. Over the past 5 years, esports storytelling has evolved, introduced new personalities, and made it possible for influencers to become bona fide superstars with tens of millions of followers and billions of views across YouTube, Twitch, and other streaming platforms. Fans are no longer content in having a single option for engaging with their favorite team or sport; they want options. Utilizing influencers, alt streams, and other technology, esports is developing strong connections with an extremely loyal fan base, scaling to new audiences, and generating unique integrations for partner brands. Join us to hear content creators, event producers, and sports leagues are using technology to change sports storytelling with new technology, virtual watch parties, and new forms of social engagement. This panel brings together perspectives from Riot Games, POSSIBLE, CLG, and SIDO to discuss the age of influences and co-streaming in esports and what it means for the development of the industry going forward.

The Chess Renaissance: Modern Challenges for an Ancient Game

Jennifer Shahade - Chess Champion, Professional Poker Player, Author
Hikaru Nakamura - Chess Grandmaster, 5-time U.S. Champion and Popular Chess Streamer
Daryl Morey - President of Basketball Operations, Philadelphia 76ers
Fabiano Caruana - Chess Grandmaster and Founder of C-Squared Podcast
Danny Rensch (moderator) - International Chess Master, Chief Chess Officer, Chess.com

 

Although Chess has been played for over one-thousand years, it's popularity has attained new heights in the recent years, particularly amongst the younger generation. This is in part due to popular TV shows, like the Queen's Gambit, the ease of streaming matches, and a growing amount of engaging and digestible content tailor-made for social media. Yet, the game has also been rocked by prominent cheating scandals - aided by the very technologies that have helped chess grow more popular. This panel brings together some of the biggest names in the game including Danny Rensch, Jennifer Shahade, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Daryl Morey to discuss the current state of chess, techniques to detect cheating, and how chess can continue to leverage technology to grow the game all while keeping competition fair, fun, and entertaining. There will be a board on stage - so who knows, we might even have a live match break out in the middle of the discussion!

Raising The Stakes: The Evolution of Poker Strategy

Nate Silver - Statistician, Author and Founder FiveThirtyEight
Jennifer Shahade - Chess Champion, Professional Poker Player, Author
Maria Ho - Professional Poker Player, Broadcaster
Xuan Liu - Professional Poker Player
Jeff Ma (moderator) - Entrepreneur, Author, Host of "Bet the Process" Podcast

 

How can analytic decision making in high stakes games of poker be applied to real life decisioning? What can we learn through the analytics of human behavior and how different game strategies can be applied to real world situations? Discover how to identify, analyze and leverage key metrics present in everyday games of poker, blackjack and chess to make more informed decisions in all aspects of your life. Join 538's Nate Silver, professional poker player Jennifer Shahade and Women in Poker Hall of Fame Inductee Maria Ho for a wide ranging conversation on poker's trendiest strategy, whether the rise in analytics in poker has truly evened the playing field, and the potential implications for the future of high stakes poker.

The New Age of Golf: Players vs the Game

Alex Baldwin - President, Korn Ferry Tour
Mark Broadie - Carson Family Professor of Business, Columbia Business School
Dan Zelezinski - Chief Commercial Officer, Twenty First Group
Suzy Whaley (moderator) - President, Golf Nation

 

Golf has seen a dramatic transformation in recent years with how players try to gain an advantage. With professional golfers now inundated with data about their games, how do they best cut through the noise and identify the key performance indicators that actually correlate to winning tournaments? How do different course conditions and layout impact performance? What are players focusing on physically to best prepare for peak performance? From the Tour perspective, how can organizations like the Korn Ferry, Epson, and NCAA best prepare players to compete on the PGA and LPGA Tour? Join us for a deep dive into how golfers are gaining a competitive advantage with Alex Baldwin, President of the Korn Ferry Tour, Mark Broadie, golf analytics expert and inventor of strokes gained, and Dan Zelezinski, COO of the Twenty First Group. Learn how influential figures in the golf community see these dynamics playing out in the short and long term.