Agenda

Learn how the industry is adapting pivoting innovating to tackle the biggest challenges in sports today

This year, we’re levelling up the value for attendees with more real-time case studies, hands-on learning, and honest, open discussion.

Instead of chasing the “next big thing,” the 2026 agenda zeroes in on the most pressing challenges in today’s sports ecosystem, offering genuinely actionable insight and real solutions to help organisations succeed today.

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9:20 am

Duchy Suite

Welcome to SportsPro London

Rebecca Adams

Sports Broadcaster,

9:30 am

Duchy Suite

Presentation

Does sports need a reality check?

Nick Meacham

CEO,

SportsPro

9:45 am

Duchy Suite

Keynote

The 2030 blueprint: Engineering a global powerhouse

David Hopkinson

CEO,

Newcastle United FC

10:10 am

Duchy Suite

Keynote

Power play: Influence, investment, and the battle for sport’s soul

Samuel Agini

Sports Business Reporter,

Financial Times

Michael Payne

Chairman & CEO,

Payne Sports Media Strategies

10:15 am

Pakistan Room

Closed-door, NGB Forum

Practical insights for the next era of NGB growth

Lewis Evans

System Master Planning Manager,

UK Sport

Christina Jones

Founder & MD,

Blacktype Digital

Gareth May

Director of Commercial & Brand Partnerships,

British Triathlon Federation

Fawad A. Qureshi

Global Field CTO, Platform Adoption,

Snowflake

Jenny Clark

Head of Commercial, Marketing and Communications,

British Eventing

Stuart Denard

Head of Fundraising,

British Olympic Association

10:45 am

Networking break

11:15 am

Alcock Room

Presentation

Setting the scene: 5 sports tech trends shaping the industry

Steve McCaskill

Editor,

SportsPro

11:20 am

Long Room

Presentation, Sponsorship & Marketing

Setting the scene: 8 things we’re seeing in sports sponsorship

Sam Carp

Head of Editorial,

SportsPro

11:25 am

Duchy Suite

Interview

Driving the commercial success of men’s tennis

Eno Polo

CEO,

ATP Tour

11:30 am

Alcock Room

Case Study, Technology & Innovation

From buzzword to buy-in: VfL Wolfsburg’s ChatGPT adoption journey

Claudio Demmer

Business Innovation Lead,

VFL Wolfsburg

11:30 am

Long Room

Room 101, Sponsorship & Marketing

Sponsorship room 101: Brand therapy

Richard Johnson

Founder,

Sports 3.0

Oliver Hicks

Senior Manager Global Sponsorships,

Just Eat Takeaway

11:40 am

Alcock Room

Panel, Technology & Innovation

From unknown to unified: How sports organisations turn fragmented audiences into revenue

Aadil Mukhtar

Head of Marketing - Growth & Technology,

United Rugby Championship

Bobby Nightingale

Head of Fan Growth & Content,

Bath Rugby

Carlo De Marchis

Founder,

A guy with a scarf

Stefan Lavén

Founder,

Data Talks

11:50 am

Duchy Suite

Case Study

Welcome back to Wrexham

Shaun Harvey

Director of Club,

Wrexham AFC

11:55 am

Long Room

Panel, Sponsorship & Marketing

From front of shirt to sleeve: How does football deliver ROI for brands?

Minal Modha

Research Director & Head of Sports Media,

Ampere Analysis

Liseli Sitali

Director Football & Music Partnerships,

Expedia Group

Garrett Ponder

Head of Brand Partnerships and Activations,

Snapdragon

12:10 pm

Duchy Suite

Panel

PREM Rugby: State of the Union

Steve McCaskill

Editor,

SportsPro

Tom Tainton

CEO,

Bristol Bears

Simon Massie-Taylor

CEO,

PREM Rugby

12:10 pm

Alcock Room

Case Study, Technology & Innovation

From the locker room to the dark web: Shielding European athletes from cyberattacks

Chris Pierson

Founder & CEO,

BlackCloak

12:25 pm

Alcock Room

Case Study, Technology & Innovation

Inside Reading FC’s tech transformation with English football’s first Head of AI

Stuart Fenton

Head of AI,

Reading FC

12:25 pm

Long Room

Presentation, Sponsorship & Marketing

The invisible advantage: Why logistics make or break sponsorship activation

John Bergmann

Commercial Head, Sports & Corporate Events,

ATPI

1:35 pm

Duchy Suite

The commercial resurgence of Atlassian Williams Racing

Cian Brittle

Editor,

BlackBook Motorsport

Peter Kenyon

Adviser to the Board, Commercial & Marketing,

Atlassian Williams Formula 1 Team

1:35 pm

Long Room

Interview, Sponsorship & Marketing

From global to local: How does Bank of America deliver partnership impact?

Sam Carp

Head of Editorial,

SportsPro

Brad Ross

Managing Director, Global Marketing Partnerships,

Bank of America

1:35 pm

Alcock Room

Presentation, Revenue & Commercial Models

From demand to sell-out: Rethinking ticketing in sport

Marek Borowik

Director, Fan Engagement,

SailGP

Lorenzo Ceretto

Global Head of Sport,

Fever

Joshua Sim

Reporter,

SportsPro

Marc de Jong

Head of Business Development,

WRC Promoter GmbH

1:55 pm

Long Room

Panel, Sponsorship & Marketing

Knowing when to say ‘no’: How to choose the right partnerships

Mario Dughi

Digital, Design & Media Director,

Unilever Homecare

Jonny Algeo

Managing Director, EMEA,

Two Circles

Jamie Brooks

Sports Partnerships Lead, Guinness,

Diageo

Shivs Thevarr

Vice President, Global Partnership Sales,

Milwaukee Bucks

2:00 pm

Duchy Suite

Case Study

Open access: The future of ticket distribution

Shaun Stewart

Vice President of Open Distribution,

Viagogo

2:00 pm

Pakistan Room

NGB Forum

Commercial Clinic – Beyond social platforms: Owning the fan relationship

James Hodge

CEO,

Tiparra

2:05 pm

Alcock Room

Presentation, Revenue & Commercial Models

How UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 became a cultural moment

Anni Hofer

Senior Event Marketing Lead,

PACE AG

Kayleigh Grieve

Women's Football Marketing & Sponsorship,

UEFA

2:20 pm

Duchy Suite

Interview

Wickets & Wall Street: The business of the new ICC

Sanjog Gupta

CEO,

ICC

George Dobell

Chief Correspondent,

The Cricketer

2:20 pm

Alcock Room

Presentation, Revenue & Commercial Models

How Golf’s Global Tour is using unprecedented disruption to double its partnership revenue

Max Hamilton

Executive Commercial Director,

European Tour Group

2:25 pm

Long Room

Case Study, Sponsorship & Marketing

Uber x Panathinaikos BC: A masterclass in partnership activation

Alexandra Stamidi

Head of Marketing, Greece,

Uber

Nikolas Syrmalis

Partnerships Manager,

Panathinaikos B.C.

Elena Kouyoufa

Content Manager,

SportsPro

2:35 pm

Alcock Room

Panel, Revenue & Commercial Models

Mastering The Business of YouTube in the “YouTube is TV era”

Bengu Atamer

Co-Founder & Director,

BuzzMyVideos

2:45 pm

Long Room

Panel, Sponsorship & Marketing

Driving change through visibility: A new model for partnership delivery

Louise Jukes OLY

Senior Sponsorship Manager,

TeamViewer

Katie Denver

Performance & Talent Development Manager,

F1 Academy

Adam Britton

Chief Creative Officer,

Trunk

2:45 pm

Duchy Suite

Case Study

Inside SSC Napoli’s new digital playbook

Federico Giacinti

Partner & CEO,

Silencio

Leonardo Giammarioli

CBO,

SSC Napoli

2:50 pm

Alcock Room

Presentation, Revenue & Commercial Models

Breaking par: Inside the operational realities of the LIV Golf franchise model

James Dunkley

Team Principal,

Majesticks GC

3:30 pm

Duchy Suite

Panel

Fit checks and back of nets: Fashion at the intersection of sport

Valentina Lattuada

Marketing Manager,

C.P. Company

Nadia Kokni

Vice President, Global Brand Marketing,

PUMA Group

Susan Goodenow

EVP, Brand & Public Affairs,

Chicago Bulls

Jamie Pollitt

Co-Founder,

Rising Ballers Group

4:00 pm

Duchy Suite

Keynote

Driving the future: The WTA and Mercedes-Benz partnership

Elena Kouyoufa

Content Manager,

SportsPro

Tanja Roth

Head of Branded Entertainment & Brand Partnerships,

Mercedes-Benz

Marina Storti

CEO,

WTA Ventures

Filter

8:30 am

Duchy Suite

Networking

SportsPro NEW ERA breakfast & networking

9:15 am

Duchy Suite

Panel

Women in sport: Where are we seeing real progress vs. surface-level change?

Sue Day

Director of Women’s and Para Football,

The FA

Laura Cordingley

CEO,

Chelsea FC Foundation

Sharon Fuller

SVP Sports,

OS Studios

Júlia Pimenta Salazar

Senior Lead Women’s World Cup,

Common Goal

9:45 am

Duchy Suite

Keynote

The business of tennis with Grand Slam Champion Dominic Thiem

Michael Long

Director of Key Projects,

SportsPro

Dominic Thiem

Former Professional Tennis Player, Grand Slam Champion & Entrepreneur,

10:15 am

Duchy Suite, Main Programme

Presentation

HYROX: Building a global phenomenon

Douglas Gremmen

Chief Growth Officer & Board Member,

HYROX

Nick Meacham

CEO,

SportsPro

11:30 am

Duchy Suite

Media, Presentation

The state of play in sports media with SportsPro

Chris Stone

Community Lead,

SportsPro

11:30 am

Long Room

Case Study, Challenger Sports

Beach volleyball reset: Choosing disruption over stability

Guido Betti

Chief Business Officer,

Volleyball World

11:45 am

Duchy Suite

Case Study, Media

Scaling the peaks: How product innovation drove record Olympic engagement on HBO Max

Greg Burns

Chief Product Officer,

Reuters Imagen

David Gibbs

SVP Product Management,

Warner Bros. Discovery

11:45 am

Long Room

Challenger Sports, Presentation

Creating a challenger brand in rugby

Charlie Beall

CEO,

Saracens

11:50 am

Duchy Suite

Media, Presentation

How to win the battle for the ‘second club fan’

Matthew Kyle

Head of Insights,

Engage Digital Partners

Chris Sadd

Senior Director,

MTM

12:00 pm

Long Room

Challenger Sports, Panel

The survivalist’s strategy: Scaling success below the Premier League

Andy May

Sports and Media Lawyer,

Mark Devlin

CEO,

Leyton Orient FC

12:10 pm

Duchy Suite

Media, Presentation

AI: Shaping the future of sports streaming

Patrick Mostboeck

SVP of Fan Engagement,

Sportradar

12:15 pm

Duchy Suite

Media, Panel

Revolutionising global fan engagement through cloud-native ecosystems

James Pearce

SVP of Broadcast & Streaming,

DAZN

Lydia Fairfax

Founder,

Triple Crown Consulting

Ryan Beebe

VP Global Sales,

Backlight

Michael Broomfield

VP, Media Management and Delivery,

LIV Golf

12:20 pm

Long Room

Challenger Sports, Presentation

Reinventing Olympic sports into entertainment products

Rob Stull OLY

President,

Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM)

12:35 pm

Long Room

Challenger Sports, Presentation

From Salford to the world

Ronan Joyce

Chief Business Officer,

Salford City FC

2:00 pm

Duchy Suite

Case Study, Women's Sports

Moment to Movement: How the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup can turn visibility into lasting value

Jo Osborne

Head of Women’s Sport,

Sky Sports

Rebecca Adams

Sports Broadcaster,

Beth Barrett-Wild

Tournament Director - ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026,

ECB

2:30 pm

Duchy Suite

Presentation, Women's Sports

In a league of their own: Scaling a women’s brand with LOVB

Rosie Spaulding

President,

LOVB Pro

2:45 pm

Duchy Suite

Case Study, Women's Sports

Investing in the pitch: The multi-club model for women’s football

Adrian Farina

Co-Founder, Marketing & Commercial Lead,

Crux Football

Bex Smith

CEO,

Crux Football