Sportel, the annual international convention for the Sports Marketing & Media Industry, draws to a close in Monaco on Thursday October 27.
The 3-day trade show, held this year in the Grimaldi Forum, so allowing double the amount of exhibition space, brought together broadcasters, sponsors and athletes to discover the industry’s latest trends, to exchange ideas and to sign contracts.
One of the themes this year was that of sport and social media, with conferences dedicated to Twitter and Facebook. As Sportel’s General Manager, Amparo Di Fede, explained, “These two networks collect a lot of content about sport because this is what fans tend to discuss the most when they use social networks.”
Other themes included how to generate revenue using the new technologies of Virtual and Augmented Reality, and the first-ever SPORTEL Law conference, which examined the legal issues related to sports broadcasting and copyright.
HSH Prince Albert II, Honorary President of Sportel commented that, “With increasing amounts of available footage, the question of rights in sport also arises. This is an area that all professionals are greatly interested in, given the significant economic considerations involved. Administering image rights, managing sponsorship contracts and forecasting risks are all issues that require a complex and critically important arsenal of legal tools to regulate the sports-business market.”
Among the personalities making up the jury were footballer Djibril Cissé, Olympic boxing champion Estelle Mossely and Paralympique champion Richard Whitehead, with Donovan Baily, former Canadian Olympic 100 metre champion, as this year’s jury president.
The Sportel Autobiography Prize went to International rugby legend Dan Carter for “Dan Carter, The Autobiography Of An All Blacks Legend”. Carter said that the message he wished to convey through his book was that “ I lived a very simple life from a small country town and through hard work and sacrifice I was able to live my dream. So hopefully it can inspire other people to follow their dreams. I also wanted to show how difficult things can be mentally from having setbacks like injuries and dips in form.”
Other awards on Wednesday night included the Peace and Sport Documentary Prize, won by Speed Sisters, and the Sport Book Prize from the Monaco Olympic Committee which was presented to Bob Martin for “1/1000th: The Sports Photography of Bob Martin”.