SPORTEL: The Energy Keeps Growing
October 31, 2023
The event business is all about flow: the flow of crowds in space, the flow of things for them to experience when they attend, the flow of energy that’s enabled by the organisers. The big challenges are around how to make the most of a venue and how to maximize the value of the limited time that people are there.
Since taking charge at SPORTEL in 2016, Laurent Puons, the CEO of Monaco Mediax, has re-shaped the biggest annual Sport TV business gathering to improve the convention on both fronts and it has made a huge difference.
He decided to shorten the event to three days instead of four. The last day used to be very quiet, now the buzz continues all the way through.
The entrance into the Grimaldi Forum to access the convention has been moved so that delegates have to pass exhibition stands on the lower floor (a bit like going through duty free in an airport) to get to the main exhibition area. In the past, stands on the lower floor were cut off, now they are desirable spaces.
There is a lot more dedicated space with tables and chairs for networking all over the convention. In the past there was only a central area of the main exhibition that was always overcrowded with an ongoing tussle to get a table.
The conference sessions are now right in the main exhibition hall. In the past, delegates had to go to a different room. Now they can dip in and out without having to go to a difference area as in the past. The content, which is of a consistently high quality, and the market are merged.
These changes have added up to create a much more effective and enjoyable event. It’s easier to find people, easier to sit down and talk and easier to learn.
Puons is gratified that attendance at SPORTEL 2023 last week was just about back to the 2019 pre-covid level with 2000 participants and 800 companies from 70 countries.
“It was not easy to get people to commit to coming back,” he admits. “Covid had such a massive impact on habits and attitudes. One thing I did not want to do during the pandemic was to go virtual with some sort of online stop-gap substitute. I was totally against that. People want to be together and meet face to face. That is what SPORTEL is about and now they are back doing that.”
SPORTEL continues the policy of offering two international events in the first part of the year to broaden its reach to businesses that might be less likely to attend the flagship autumn convention in Monte Carlo.
The focus returns to Asia from February 20-23 with the SPORTEL Rendezvous at the Grand Hyatt in Bali. Last year’s edition attracted over 400 participants (55% from the APAC region) and 200 companies from 31 countries.
Puons is especially excited about the big new event in the spring, SPORTEL Buenos Aires, from May 14-15. “It will be our first SPORTEL in Spanish-speaking Latin America after we were in Rio ten years ago. We have traditionally gone to Miami but that is not Latin America, so this is something new. I expect Buenos Aires event to be bigger than Miami and we aim to draw companies from North America as well as South America, so it will give our European community the opportunity to meet people from both.”
South American accounts for only 5% of attendance at SPORTEL Monaco, so there will be different companies and plenty of new faces. The aim is to attract at least 600 participants at the five-star Buenos Aires Hilton (which hosted the 125th IOC Session).
SPORTEl is organising the first Rendezvous in Argentina with J&S EG, represented by Jorge Strika and Sebastian Ibarrondo, Lions Sports & Media represented by Daniel Tamborini (in photo) and Martín Rey, and ProEnter, represented by Javier Schmidt and Diego Avila, with the assistance of Bamboo Business, represented by Marta Ortega.
Registration is now open.