17 March 2022
The Leaders Sport Business Summit Abu Dhabi sees over 400 senior industry executives gather at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Leaders is celebrating a momentous couple of days following the success of the ‘Leaders Sport Business Summit Abu Dhabi’, the landmark global sport business summit that took place in Abu Dhabi this week.
The two-day event experience - delivered in partnership with Abu Dhabi Sports Council, marked the premium conference and content platform’s return to Abu Dhabi after a year’s hiatus. Industry leaders gathered for exclusive insight led content from leading global sports organisations and local entities.
Leadership, Technology, Creativity and Experience were the four core topic areas discussed as the event looked to explore the new dynamics of global sport. The Leaders Sport Business Summit Abu Dhabi welcomed over 400 senior decision makers, hosted at the state-of-the-art Yas Marina Circuit, providing those in attendance with an unforgettable experience and a taster of the incredible sports facilities the UAE capital has to offer.
Day 1 of the event opened with a interview from General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, H.E. Aref Al Awani who welcomed both international and local GCC guests.
Later on day 1, The Football Association’s Commercial Director, Navin Singh, explained the unique opportunity of the football stakeholder when investing in content and storytelling: “From an organisational structure perspective it's having the right digital resources and skillset, but also data scientists and intelligence that can analyse consumer data and provide insight and proactively identify the segments our partners what to speak to. We can target them with the right sort of offers and promotions; that ultimately benefit the fan and participant”.
Also, Laura Georges, Secretary General of the French Football Federation shared her views on why the women’s game should have a FIFA World Cup every 2 years: “It would be an oppoortuny to keep up with the momentum of the women's game; to make sure poeple are still following the game, or at least I would give it a try”.
Across both days 1 and 2, there were some important moments in the calendar as Abu Dhabi Sports Council announced exclusive partnerships and agreements. First with Al Masaood, exclusively announcing a new long-term strategic partnership on-stage. Then, we saw ADSC with Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management signing an agreement to support more community events at the Yas Marina Circuit, across both health, fitness and Motorsport. Finally, ADNOC renewed their title sponsor agreement for the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon, set to take place on 17 December 2022.
Day 2 opened the doors at the Yas Marina Circuit yet again to senior industry executives. To kick off proceedings, England cricket's all-time leading test runs scorer, Sir Alistair Cook was alongside unorthodox big-hitter, Tom Banton in a session focused all around examining the several different formats of cricket and how that impacted the wider game.
Later, we heard from NBA’s Managing Director, Ralph Rivera discussing their ground-breaking partnership with DCT: “Every environment is different, you have to learn, iterate, improve, and then look at other opportunities that go beyond the scope that has been defined in our deal to do other things that have positive impact”.
In addition to those already mentioned, The Leaders Sport Business Summit Abu Dhabi, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Sports Council hosted a number of high profile speakers, including: Robbie Fowler, former England and Liverpool FC player, Laura Georges, French Football Federation’s Secretary General and James Johnson, Football Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, World Triathlon’s President, Marisol Casado, H.E. Dr. Omniyat Mohammed Al-Hajri, Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy’s Vice Chair and many more to see here.
Reflecting on The Summit, Leaders Managing Director, Laura McQueen, said: “This has been an unforgettable event for Leaders and we are so pleased to have been able to host so many influential figures back at the Yas Marina Circuit. Our delegates have been treated to incredible insights from some of the most powerful people in world sport and we are grateful to each and every one of our speakers for their time. Not to mention all of our partners – especially our long-standing host partner Abu Dhabi Sports Council who have once again been pivotal in delivering this event and whom we look forward to working with again.”
His Excellency Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: “It was with great pleasure to see the return of the Leaders Sport Business Summit Abu Dhabi here at the Yas Marina Circuit. Abu Dhabi, and the UAE, has undoubtedly become the place to be for sport, with world-class state-of-the-art facilities, it is a prime location to host events such as these. We heard from some of the most influential figures on stage and we joined by the well regarded industry executives from around the world, as always it was a pleasure to work with Leaders and we look forward to future collaborations”.