14 March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E SPORTELAmerica was back in Miami at the JW Marriott Marquis hotel, with this year’s impressive theme, “Meet the Elite.” The three-day market and conference, which ran March 14-16, featured an exhibition floor and four panels, covering the sports agency business, distribution rights, VR and OTT technologies. During a pre-market interview with SPORTELAmerica’s vice president, Laurent Puons, and Sportel’s exclusive marketing agent, David Jones, it was announced that after 2018 the event’s spring edition will move to Singapore in recognition of the strength of the Asian market and of China in particular. In Singapore, SPORTELAsia will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel (March 13-15, 2018). It will return to Miami, though, in March 2019. Even though China seems to be in the midst of a buying spree of sports clubs and sports agencies worldwide, Jones doubts that the trend will be long-lasting. “It’s my personal opinion that China doesn’t have the expertise to run such diversified sports groups. What I’ve learned at Sportel is that politics is an integral part of the sports business, and that’s another area in which the Chinese have deficiencies,” he said. At SPORTELAmerica, China was present with only six China-based companies, however the country registered massive participation from Chinese-owned sports powerhouses, such as Infront and MP & Silva. In Miami, Infront Italy was represented by its president and CEO, Luigi De Siervo, who pointed out that his division generates 50 percent of the group’s revenues. To the question of why SPORTELAmerica’s dates aren’t closer to those of NATPE Miami — since both events could take advantage of a large pool of LATAMbuyers in the Florida city—Puons pointed out that buyers for each market are different, and those attending Sportel come not only from Latin America, but also from Europe, to acquire rights for LATAM sports. This edition of SPORTELAmerica included 35 exhibitors from 14 countries, comprised of program producers and distributors, such as Brazil’s Record TV, which was in Miami to showcase worldwide all-rights for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games; football leagues such as Germany’s Bundesliga and Spain’s LaLiga; sports agents like Infront; and federations such as the International Gymnastics. At the NBA stand, Miami Heat basketball player Justise Winslow made an appearance. Also in attendance was LaLiga’s president Javier Tebas, who introduced the Spanish top league’s digital strategy to increase the value of audiovisual rights at a conference. In total, there were over 600 participants, mostly from the U.S. (100 executives). With 68 people, the U.K. contingent was the second largest, followed by Germany with 20 delegates. Among the largest contingents from LATAM, Brazil was represented by 13 executives, and Argentina, with eight. Now in its 10th edition in the Miami area, SPORTELAmerica is organized by the Principality of Monaco. The convention started in 1997 and for four consecutive editions it was held at the Wyndham Hotel in Miami Beach. In 2001, it moved 30 km west to the Doral Golf and Spa Resort. In 2003, the event took a break from Miami, but resumed in 2007 at the Wyndham (renamed Miami Beach Resort). SPORTELAmerica took a one-year break in 2008, and from 2009 to 2015, it was held annually in Asia or in America. Now the event takes place every other year at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami, which is a popular venue, even though the hotel has a serious problem of cellular reception. The 2015 edition featured 689 attendees from 355 companies and 41 countries. Of these participants, 33 percent were buyers. The main SPORTEL event, held annually in Monte Carlo, is in its 27th edition and this year it will be held October 23-26 at the Grimaldi Forum. In addition, a new SPORTEL Summit, designed for decision makers in the sports marketing and media industry, will be held in May 2018 in Miami. Sales, Copyrights and Technology Challenges Addressed in Miami Sports in LATAM Sportel’s VP Laurent Puons, VideoAge’s Dom Serafini, Sportel’s David Jones Record TV’s Edson Pfutzenreiter Mendes, Delmar Andrade WWE’s Emilio Revelo and James McEvoy Infront Italy’s Luigi De Siervo LaLiga’s president Javier Tebas
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