SportAccord CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

The SportAccord conference took place over two days and was dedicated to general themes of central importance to the sport movement and the business of sport.

DAY ONE: Tuesday 18th May 2004

The theme of the first morning of SportAccord is television, an obvious choice, because the symbiosis between television and sport has entered a new phase of development.  As the era of big rights fees comes to an end, sports and events, big as well as small, need to re-think their strategies.  Instead of rights fees, the focus in increasingly on distribution, brand-building and mutually beneficial partnerships with television.  TV is the way the world experiences sport and the way sport’s sponsors reach audiences.  Broadcasters and rights-holders are not only financial partners, but marketing partners, as exposure on television is an advertisement for an event.  SportAccord assembles top executives and officials to tackle production, distribution and sponsorship issues.

09:00-09:10 Welcome: Daniel Brélaz, Mayor, City of Lausanne

09:10-09:30 Keynote Address: Staying in the game
Who and where will your audience be ten years from now? How will they be accessing your sport in the future? Will your sport look the same 10 years from now or does it need to change to ‘stay in the game’?

Hein Verbruggen, Vice President, GAISF

09:30-10:30 Panel Discussion: Becoming television friendly
What exactly IS your television product? What is the aim of the programme? When is it scheduled? How long is the programme? What is the format? What kind of feed will you offer and where is it going? Who is going to see it and why will they want to? A guide to becoming more television friendly.

Moderator: Rick Burton, Commissioner, Australian National Basketball League

Charles Balchin, Head of Sports, Middle East Broadcasting Centre
Craig Dwyer, Chief Marketing Officer, BBC Technologies
Richard Harding, Development Officer, World Curling Federation
Michael Payne, Director, Global Broadcast & Media Rights, International Olympic Committee
Jonas Persson, CEO, IEC In Sports

10:30-11:00 COFFEE IN THE EXHIBITION AREA

11:00-12:00 Panel Discussion: Understanding the world of broadcasting
What are the complexities involved in getting your sport on-air? How is your event produced and distributed? What is your relationship with the satellite provider and the host broadcaster? Who is responsible for what? The more you understand, the better your product will be.

Moderator: Jay Stuart, Editorial Director, Sport Services Group

Peter C. Diamond, Senior Vice President, Programs Olympics, NBC Olympics Inc.
Jan Menneken, Commercial Executive Director, ITF
Mike Miller, Secretary General & CEO, International Rugby Board
Francis Tellier, CEO, Host Broadcast Services

12:00-13:00 Panel Discussion: Solving the sponsorship riddle
The ‘chicken and egg’ conundrum of sponsorship as it relates to the broadcast process remains elusive.  The sport needs sponsors to get on television but has difficulty attracting sponsorship without a television deal already in place. What are some creative approaches to this scenario and which ones will work for your event?

Moderator: Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director, SportBusiness Group

Rick Burton, Commissioner, Australian National Basketball League
Steffen Greiner, Head of Sport & Entertainment Group, HSBC
Peter Hürzeler, Vice President Marketing, Swiss Timing Ltd.
Peter Worth, CEO, Quintus Group

13:00-14:00 LUNCH IN THE EXHBITION AREA

14:00-14:05 Opening Remarks: StephenTownley, Chairman, LawAccord

14:05-14:30 Opening Address: The positive role of the lawyer within the international sports community

François Carrard, Attorney & Senior Partner, Carrard, Paschoud, Heim & Partners

14:30-15:30 Panel Discussion: The liability issue
An in-depth analysis of the liability that can be attributed to a sports federation through the acts or omissions of its officials and how this can best be reduced or avoided.

Chairman: Goran Petersson, Partner, Advokatfirman Vinge KB

Dr. D. Reiner Martens, Partner, Beiten Burkhardt Goedeler
Gary Flynn, Director, AON
Philippe Pinsolle, Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP

15:30-16:00 TEA IN THE EXHBITION AREA

16:00-17:00 Panel Discussion: Developing and exploiting your intellectual property rights
A look at the different approaches adopted by Federations and National Olympic Committees with regard to licensing, logos, marks, names, image rights, audio-visual rights, data and data protection, licensing fans data, gaming and betting and sponsor expectations.

Chairman: Robert H. Storey, President, International Bobsleigh & Tobogganing Federation

Jeffrey G. Benz, General Counsel and Managing Director of Legal and Government Affairs, United States Olympic Committee
Dr. Stephan Netzle, Attorney at Law, Wenger Plattner and Member, the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Howard Stupp, Director of Legal Affairs, International Olympic Committee

17:00-18:00 Panel Discussion: Event cancellation risks
How Federations and Organising Committees can understand and mitigate the risk attached to event cancellation, including political and economic risks, the liability with regard to sponsors, issues with housing and organising committee agreements and having to move the entire event to a new location.

Chairman: Stephen Townley, Chairman, LawAccord
Alan S. Goudiss, Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP
Patrick Vajda, Managing Director, Marsh
Philippe Verbiest, Counsel, International Cycling Union

18:00-20:00 RECEPTION IN EXHIBITION AREA OF THE PALAIS DE BEAULIEU

DAY TWO: Wednesday 19th May 2004

The theme of the second day is relationships, a broad theme indeed, for what is world sport if not a network of ongoing relationships governed by ever-evolving rules? SportAccord will focus on three different types of relationships. The first might be termed ‘official’, or even political. The overall question here is how can the various entities that make sports events and competitions happen, work in harmony for mutual benefit? The second category is commercial. How can sport work optimally with sponsors and other partners? The third is human relationships with boys, girls and grown-ups. How can sport make the human connection to win fans, deepen loyalty and generate revenue from consumers?

09:00-09:30 Keynote Address: Managing relationships – protecting your brand
Successful relationships are all about give and take, but ultimately sports bodies are the owners of their brands and need to protect them. This is a continuous process in a marketplace where broadcasters and sponsors are paying large fees for rights and it is understandable for them to want to ‘own’ a share of the brand. Managing the subtle relationship between partners during an event is of special relevance to everyone involved in the international sports scene.

Patrick Baumann, Secretary General, FIBA

09:30-10:30 Panel Discussion: Harmonising interests – relationships with federations, leagues, governments, organisers and athletes

A successful sporting body needs to develop and maintain good working relationships with a range of official entities as well as event organisers and athletes, many of whom have competing priorities. How can these relationships be harmonised while preserving healthy competition?

Moderator: Rick Burton, Commissioner, Australian National Basketball League

Pat McQuaid, Management Board, International Cycling Union
Gerardo Seeliger, Executive Director, Association of National Olympic Committees
David Simmons, President & COO, Firstwave Technologies Inc.
Regine Vandekeckhove, Secretary General, Union Internationale Motonautique
 
10:30-11:00 COFFEE IN THE EXHIBITION AREA

11:00-12:00 Panel Discussion: Shared values – relationships with sponsors and commercial partners
How can relationships be structured and managed so that expectations are met and everyone receives value from their participation? How do the partners define value from their different perspectives and how can value be maximised for all of them?

Moderator: Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director, SportBusiness Group

Phil Craven MBE, President, International Paralympic Committee
Jason Irrgang, Director of New Business, Ladies European Tour
Shaun O’Bierne, CEO, MobileChannel.Network S.A.
Michel Perraudin, Member of Executive Board, adidas-Salomon AG

12:00-13:00 Panel Discussion: Getting personal – relationships with audiences and customers
The ultimate relationship for any sport is with the public of viewers and consumers. As new media develop, potential audiences and customer bases are becoming more global but also more fragmented. Never before have there been so many opportunities to develop and deepen relationships with fans and customers. How can sports stay in touch with them, anticipate what they want and keep them coming back for more?

Moderator: Jay Stuart, Editorial Director, Sport Services Group

Dr. Chris Bruton, Managing Director, Hospitality in Partnership
Peter Hasler, Head of Sports Research, MORI
Prof. Jean-Pierre Jeannet, Professor of Marketing & Global Strategy, IMD Institute, Lausanne
Oliver Slipper, Commercial Director, Premium TV

13:00-14:00 LUNCH IN THE EXHBITION AREA

14:00-14:30 Address: Setting the stage for hosting and bidding cities

Gilbert Felli, Olympic Games Executive Director, International Olympic Committee

14:30-15:30 Panel Discussion: Designing your bid
The successful bid to host an international sporting event must bring together the components of finance, design, development, management and operation. Why do some bids succeed and others fail? What part does design play and how technically complex and innovative should your bid be? How important is symbolism or a sport’s public image to the overall design? Is it always necessary to leave behind a legacy of sporting infrastructure or is something temporary better suited to your city and event? A panel of experts who have won, lost or plan to produce bids for international events share their experiences.

Moderator: Rick Burton, Commissioner, Australian National Basketball League

Jerry Anderson, Senior Principal, HOK Sport+Venue+Event
Martin Harman, Senior Partner, Masons International Law Firm
Don Schumacher, Executive Director, National Association of Sports Commissions
Brian Stocks, Head of Sports / International Events, Birmingham, UK
Harald Vervaecke, Consultant, Doha Asian Games Organising Committee

15:30-16:00 TEA IN THE EXHBITION AREA

16:00-17:00 Panel Discussion: Designing your event

Moderator: Geraint John, Director of Sports & Leisure Programme, International Union of Architects

John Harnden, Chief Executive, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Corporation
Gar Holohan, Group Executive Chairman, Leisure Consultant & Architect, The Holohan Group
Detlef Kornett, Managing Director, Anschutz Entertainment Group
Donald Lockerbie, Venue Development Director, ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007
Bruno Mascart, International Director, GL Events

17:00-17:15 Thanks from Pierre-Henri Schmutz, Architecte dipl. EPFZ, President, Conference Suisse Des Architectes (CSA)

Closing remarks by Geraint John, Director of Sports & Leisure Programme, International Union of Architects

18:00-20:00 RECEPTION IN EXHIBITION AREA OF THE PALAIS DE BEAULIEU