Agenda

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.

View in more detail below.

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8:30 am

Doors open & networking

9:15 am

Pakistan Room

Closed-door, NGB Forum

NGB Commercial Forum breakfast

9:20 am

Dutchy Suite

Welcome to SportsPro London

Rebecca Adams

Sports Broadcaster,

9:30 am

Dutchy Suite

Presentation

The state of play in sports business with SportsPro

Nick Meacham

CEO,

SportsPro

9:45 am

Dutchy Suite

Keynote

The 2030 blueprint: Engineering a global powerhouse

David Hopkinson

CEO,

Newcastle United FC

10:10 am

Dutchy Suite

Keynote

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

Michael Payne

Chairman & CEO,

Payne Sports Media Strategies

10:15 am

Pakistan Room

NGB Forum

Practical insights for the next era of NGB growth

Carrick Livingston

Senior Policy Advisor, Sports Strategy,

Department for Culture, Media & Sport

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

11:25 am

Long Room

Presentation, Sponsorship & Marketing

Setting the scene on sports partnerships

Sam Carp

Head of Editorial,

SportsPro

11:25 am

Dutchy 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

Debate, Sponsorship & Marketing

Sponsorship room 101: Brand therapy

Oliver Hicks

Senior Manager Global Sponsorships,

Just Eat Takeaway

11:40 am

Alcock Room

Case Study, Technology & Innovation

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

Bobby Nightingale

Head of Fan Growth & Content,

Bath Rugby

Carlo De Marchis

Founder,

A guy with a scarf

Stefan Lavén

CEO & Founder,

Data Talks

11:50 am

Dutchy 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

Deborah Wajsbrot

Associate Director, Head of Growth Partnerships,

Revolut

Liseli Sitali

Director Football & Music Partnerships,

Expedia Group

Garrett Ponder

Head of Brand Partnerships and Activations,

Snapdragon

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

12:15 pm

Dutchy Suite

Panel

PREM Rugby: State of the Union

Steve McCaskill

Editor,

SportsPro

Tom Tainton

CEO,

Bristol Bears

Simon Massie-Taylor

CEO,

PREM Rugby

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

12:30 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

12:45 pm

Networking lunch

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

1:45 pm

Dutchy 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

1:55 pm

Long Room

Panel, Sponsorship & Marketing

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

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

Pakistan Room

NGB Forum

NGB Commercial Clinic – Beyond social platforms: Owning the fan relationship

James Hodge

CEO,

Tiparra

2:00 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

2:05 pm

Alcock Room

Presentation, Revenue & Commercial Models

From demand to sell-out: Rethinking ticketing in sport

Lorenzo Ceretto

Global Head of Sport,

Fever

2:15 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

Alcock Room

Panel

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

Bengu Atamer

Co-Founder & Director,

BuzzMyVideos

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

Dutchy Suite

Interview

Wickets & Wall Street: The business of the new ICC

Sanjog Gupta

CEO,

ICC

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

Alcock Room

Presentation, Revenue & Commercial Models

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

James Dunkley

Team Principal,

Majesticks GC

3:00 pm

Networking break

3:30 pm

Dutchy Suite

Panel

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

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

Dutchy 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

4:30 pm

Networking drinks

Filter

8:30 am

Dutchy Suite

Networking, Panel

SportsPro NEW ERA breakfast & networking

Laura Cordingley

CEO,

Chelsea FC Foundation

Sharon Fuller

SVP Sports,

OS Studios

Júlia Pimenta Salazar

Senior Lead Women’s World Cup,

Common Goal

9:15 am

Dutchy Suite

Panel

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

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

Dutchy 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

Dutchy Suite, Main Programme

Interview

HYROX: Building a global phenomenon

Christian Toetzke

Co-Founder & CEO,

HYROX

Nick Meacham

CEO,

SportsPro

10:45 am

Networking break

11:30 am

Long Room

Case Study, Challenger Sports

Beach volleyball reset: Choosing disruption over stability

Guido Betti

Chief Business Officer,

Volleyball World

11:30 am

Dutchy Suite

Media, Presentation

The state of play in sports media with SportsPro

Chris Stone

Community Lead,

SportsPro

11:45 am

Dutchy Suite

Case Study, Media

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

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

Dutchy 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

Mark Devlin

CEO,

Leyton Orient FC

12:10 pm

Dutchy Suite

Media, Presentation

AI: Shaping the future of sports streaming

Patrick Mostboeck

SVP of Fan Engagement,

Sportradar

12:15 pm

Dutchy Suite

Media, Panel

Revolutionising global fan engagement through cloud-native ecosystems

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

1:00 pm

Networking lunch

2:00 pm

Dutchy 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

Beth Barrett-Wild

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

ECB

2:30 pm

Dutchy 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

Dutchy 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

3:00 pm