Companies such as CONCACAF, ESPN, FIFA, Fubo TV, TyC Sports, WorldRugby, and WWE all had representatives at the event. Puons took the time to speak with Bolavip about the growing business opportunities of the Miami sports market and what that means for future Sportel conferences.

In the interview Puons also mentioned the importance Latin American communities and business ventures mean in growing the sport of soccer in the United States.

Interview with Laurent Puons

Bolavip: You stressed the importance of having events like Sportel as a face-to-face event, why do you think that is important for networking?

Laurent Puons: From my point of view, if you want to succeed with planned events you need to provide the best business. Sportel is the best event for that, we have more than 18 new companies at this event, meaning there are 18 new business opportunities in our community. The goal each year is to have new companies at the event, thatis the key.

BV: Here in Miami both the Sports business and regular businesses are growing, what is your expectation for Sportel and this business networking that you hope go together?

LP: Simple, we will be back in Miami next year and maybe in 2024, Miami is perfect not only for the weather, but the potential of the development of Sportel in this city is important… Am sure our community prefers to come to Miami than another city in America.

BV: Here in Miami, there are a lot of people from Latin America who are soccer fans, is soccer a major focus for Sportel?

LP: Yes, our goal this year was to attract a lot of delegates from South America, because the potential of soccer is very important to Sportel. This year the percentage of the participation from the region is quite important. Of course, I want to develop this participation because it is important for the urban community to meet not only the South American community but also the South American (executive) because there is a lot of business there.

For Anna Lockwood, Vice President of International at Telstra Broadcast Services, it was a chance to meet and greet various executives and share ideas. “I served as a ‘journalist’asking questions, I was moderating a panel discussion which featured various sports leaders in Florida such as Heidi Pellerano from Concacaf, Jose Sotolongo from the Miami Dade Sports Commission, and Angela Suggs of the Florida Sports Foundation,” she told Bolavip.

Lockwood continued by stating: “I think there is quite a bit of difference between sports in Florida than the rest of world… there are a lot of different sports that are trying to penetrate through the traditional Floridian sports scene, as well as nontraditional American sports, such as footvolley and paddle tennis that are popular in Brazil, and South America, so here in Florida, you see traditional and non-traditional sports.”

Anna Lockwood on shaping sports coverage

For Anna Lockwood the coverage of sports begins by telling a good story:“I think for us in sports it is important to figure out how to keep focusing on how we make sports more representative of our audiences. How do we make sports better representative of the people who are watching depending on gender, ethnicity, age, ability… How to tell the stories of a wide variety of people who play sports and compete in sports. We do not only do the Olympics we also do Paralympics, Special Olympics, so how to make sure we are telling those stories across sports.”

Lockwood knows that no matter how good a story is, it is important to convey it through what attracted the viewer in the first place… the game. “I think it is important to have coverage of sports that reflect the audiences who watch sports, so at the moment if it is only male sports we are watching, it doesn’t represent the 50% women audience. In Miami you have the local language coverage, you have the different countries who watch sports here being represented, so it is culture diversity as well as gender diversity.”

When discussing the panel Lockwood moderated, the Telstra VP was satisfied that she was able to cover a wide range of topics:“The discussion that came during the panel was about how we make sure we are telling the stories of the people who compete. There was a statistic that 6% of sports coverage focused on women’s sport and now that has gone up to about 10%… still a very low percentage… (still) that is going up and we are getting great interest and great audience ratings for FIFA and FIBA World Cup’s for women and the women leagues in the US.”

“Two years ago, we were all in Miami, running our last SPORTEL event abroad. Today we are back with a new concept, and I am pleased to confirm that our return in the Americas is a real success. We always want to provide the SPORTEL community with the best business opportunities and our strategy has paid off”, Laurent Puons, CEO of Monaco Mediax stated.

The conference featured new look exhibitor products, including meeting pods and exhibitor suites. There was more than 500 participants from 290 companies, including 80 new companies that have never attended SPORTEL before.

Who was present at theSPORTEL Rendez-Vous

Companies that were present at the SPORTEL Rendez-Vous included: ALDEA, AMAGI CORPORATION, ATHLETIC SPORTS GROUP, BEIN MEDIA GROUP, BLAST, CAA ELEVEN, CONCACAF, CONIFA, DAZN LIMITED, ESPN, FIGHT SPORTS, FIFA, FORMULA E, FOX SPORT AUSTRALIA, FUBO TV, FX DIGITAL, LALIGA, LIGUE PROFESSIONNELLE DE FOOTBALL, MATCHROOM SPORT, METTA SPORT, NBC SPORTS, PGA TOUR, PREMIER LEAGUE, PREMIUM SPORTS, INC., RED BULL MEDIA HOUSE / SERVUSTV, SNAP INC., SPORTRADAR, SUNSET+VINE, TEAM MARKETING, TELSTRA, TMG, TYC SPORTS, WORLD RUGBY, WWE, among others.

New Media Sector participation wasup 17,7% compared to 10,9% in 2020. 150 content buyers as well increased to52,5% of sport business C-Level executives.

“I want to invite you all to SPORTEL Monaco, to be held from 24 to 26 October 2022. I am also pleased to announce that in 2023, we will organize two SPORTEL Rendez- Vous; one in Miami and we will also be back in Asia. For the first time ever, SPORTEL will go to Bali in Indonesia, in partnership with Transvision”, Laurent Puons stated.

Each day of the two-day event will provide conferences and networking opportunities for all the participants. A total of 40 companies will be attending the conference for the first time. The theme of the conference is to showcase the power of “New”, which will lead to fresh ideas, insights, and new technologies in sports business.

LaLiga will have a lounge at the event from March 14-15, and on Tuesday all those at the SPORTEL Connect will be able to take in a Miami Heat game against the Detroit Pistons for an opportunity to network. SPORTEL Connect is set up to make networking and the sharing of ideas easy and to build close relationships and long-term partnerships. Click here for more information.

SPORTEL testimonials

“SPORTEL is important to us because it gives us the access to sell our content in one place. We expect for our worldwide distribution network to continue to grow”, Juan Pablo Reynal, CEO & Founder of the Women’s Cup.

“Looking forward to connecting with the most forward-thinking rightsholders in one place, that truly want to tackle the digital opportunity facing global sports in 2022.” Sam Grimley, Global Head of Sales & Account Management, HORIZM.

“SPORTEL is always the best opportunity to connect with global partners and meet new industry experts from the sports, entertainment, tech ecosystem, Dave Smith, Founder & Managing Director, METTA SPORT.

The event will have various panels and keynote speakers, here is an overview of the SPORTEL Rendez-Vous conference.

Aware of the current sanitary context, SPORTEL has developed an interesting pricing strategy and a’Covid safe’ policy to convince high-profile clients to register with multiple participants from the Americas and Europe.

“SPORTEL Rendez-Vous is the ideal location to reunite and reconnect, in person with international sports decision makers within the Americas. Our team was recently onsite in Miami and I am delighted to confirm that it is business as usual. We are confident and plan to go ahead. As of today, there is a significant participant list, including many long-standing clients as well as newcomers who will attend SPORTEL for the very first time. We look forward to welcoming them to this highly anticipated F2F event for our community,” said Laurent Puons, CEO of Monaco Mediax in a release.

Participant list and first speakers for SPORTEL Rendez-Vous Miami

Some of the high-profile attendees who have registered six weeks before the event kick-off are the following:ALDEA, AMAGI CORPORATION, ATHLETIC SPORTS GROUP, BEIN MEDIA GROUP, BLAST, CAA ELEVEN, CONCACAF, CONIFA, DAZN LIMITED, ESPN, FIGHT SPORTS, FIFA, FORMULA E, FOX SPORT AUSTRALIA, FUBO TV, FX DIGITAL, LALIGA, LIGUE PROFESSIONNELLE DE FOOTBALL, MATCHROOM SPORT, METTA SPORT, NBC SPORTS, PGA TOUR, PREMIER LEAGUE, PREMIUM SPORTS, INC., RED BULL MEDIA HOUSE / SERVUSTV, SNAP INC., SPORTRADAR, SUNSET+VINE, TEAM MARKETING, TELSTRA, TMG, TYC SPORTS, WORLD RUGBY, WWE, among others.

Moreover, a number of new companies have decided to kick off this new event concept by participating for their first time in SPORTEL. Some of them are:ALL ELITE WRESTLING, ENTERTAINMENT STUDIOS, EQL GAMES, JOYMO.TV, LQ SPORTS TV RIGHTS S.R.L, NEW CELL, NXTID, OAKHURST LEGAL GROUP, RUSH SPORTS, SPIIDEO, UPPER CUT SPORTS, among others.

A fascinating conference summit

The business and networking meetings will be complemented by a conference summit that, with focus on the Americas, will take a lookthe latest trends, shifts and evolutions in the sports media and tech industry,covering a range of interesting areas to the SPORTEL community.

EXCLUSIVE LALIGA SESSION

LaLiga President Javier Tebas will talk about the latest on Spain’s LaLiga technology and innovation driving
forward the industry.

A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH PFL

Alook into the 2022 PFL’s global expansions ideas to deliver premium MMA content featuring elite fighters to fans around the globe.

ENHANCING THE BROADCAST EXPERIENCE TO CAPTURE & KEEP AUDIENCES

A space for rights holders who create new channels to enhancethe broadcast experience in collaboration
with SVG.

HOW CULTURE & DIVERSITY IS SHIFTING THE DIRECTION OF SPORTS MEDIA

The importance of Driving Innovation and the changes it produces – the key rolediversity playsin leadership positions and media coverage with TELSTRA, CONCACAF, FLORIDA SPORTS FOUNDATION and GMCVB.

OTT & NETWORK GIANTS EXPANDING THE AUDIENCE REACH

Monetising top tier rights fees through subscription and the challenges that it brings,moderated by SVG.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR SOCCER IN THE US?

In the wake of the growth of theUS football media rights market, a space to discuss: What’s next for the America’s? LaLiga and expert panelists talk about the latest trends in collaboration with SPORTBUSINESS.

NAVIGATING THE US SPORTS BETTING MARKET

An insight into the status of live sports betting and its legalisation in the US, featuring the PGA TOUR and SPORTBUSINESS.

THE FANCENTRIC FUTURE

A space where Gamification, D2C platform strategies, data ownership and maximising the ROI around fan marketing will be central topics, with SVG and TEAM WHISTLE.

SPORTS ADAPTING TO SHORT FORM (SOCIAL MEDIA/UGC)

An interesting space to answer the question: What changes first, the sport or the fan? A topic to be discussed by SNAP INC., TOCH.Ai, and HENIMO GROUP.

NFT’S: A NEW REVENUE STREAM

A look intoNFT’s, a new revenue stream. NFT experts including NXTID and WAY TOO DIGITAL will discuss whether NFT’s are seen as a real value to the wider international sports media industry, or primarily for merchandise and collectibles.