How Sports And Entertainment Industries Go Hand In Hand
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Today's sporting events welcome people of all ages and
backgrounds seeking more than just their share of action on the pitch. Crowds
at the biggest sporting events are placing more value in the entertainment and
pleasure they offer off the pitch, and businesses are quickly responding to
this.
Sport & Entertainment SolutionsGone are the days of
stadiums filled with statistic-obsessed teenagers and fans dressed head-to-toe
in sportswear. Event organizers in the region are rapidly revamping their
entertainment offerings at events in a bid not only to grow audiences, but to
enhance the overall experience. Sponsors are spending as much on their activation
budgets as they are on acquiring the event rights in the first place. The
commercial dynamics of sport and entertainment are more intertwined than ever
before.
Issam Kazim - CEO DCTCM, Ali Haidary - CEO SES, Horacio
Renna - VP Europe,Africa & Middle East at Feld Entertainment
The industry is developing entertainment-driven strategies
around its major sporting events on a global scale that is far superior than it
was a decade or two ago. Think Shakira at the 2010 World Cup, cheerleaders at
IPL Cricket, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl, and
Hollywood A-listers sitting courtside at the NBA– it is now impossible to keep
the worlds of sport and entertainment apart. People are buying tickets to
today's events expecting to be entertained and, with this in mind, the
responsibility of sports entities is evolving. It is no longer enough to win on
the court or on the pitch, but the need is ever greater to entertain off it as
well. And entrepreneurs in these industries can often enjoy the benefits of
having the upper hand over their larger, hierarchy-driven rivals in other
industries.
Promote adaptability
With new technologies developing on a daily basis, and the
fleeting trends of an ever more influential and younger consumer base, the need
to adapt is stronger than ever. Adaptability comes easier to businesses whose
decision-makers are fewer. As an entrepreneur, it is essential to allow a
business to not only react quickly to new trends, but to also take calculated
risks in predicting them. Developing an organizational structure that retains
flexibility in its decision making is imperative to successfully operating in
an industry as susceptible to change as the events sector is. Being
"adapt-friendly" or pre-empting your next strategic move (before you
are forced to make it), can pay real dividends to your long term game plan in
sport and entertainment.
Pursue your passionsOn a personal level, I remember vividly
my first ever football match. It was on a cool September afternoon at Highbury
watching Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0. The experience left an indelible mark and
I was forever hooked. I recall just as vividly my first ever "live
event", a Disney On Ice show a year earlier at London's Wembley Arena. I
sat in wonder and awe by my father's side as I watched Mickey, Minnie and all
the Disney characters that I adored skating before my very eyes. The flame was
lit and has been burning ever since. It is these same memories that I had
wanted to bring to the Middle East so that future generations can experience
what I did all those years ago and develop new memories of their own. After
recognizing that the GCC was missing authentic, high-quality family friendly
content, we signed a pioneering five-year exclusive agreement with Feld
Entertainment, the world's largest producers of family entertainment. This move
was only possible as a result of our business structure, which enabled us to
act quickly and seize the opportunity ahead of more recognized and larger
competition.
Last year, we officially rebranded from Sport Solutions to
SES, as the potential in the entertainment sector became more apparent. We saw
scope for a business that bridged sport and entertainment, and the mutual
synergies operating across both sectors. Ten years after taking a pioneering
role in the growth of sports marketing in the region, we have led the industry
yet again with the incorporation of entertainment in our ever growing and
varied portfolio.
Know your game Working with companies, brands and athletes
that you are passionate about encourages success from within. As a professional
marketeer and lifelong sports fan, it was a natural transition to start a
sports marketing agency, and it is this thorough knowledge based on a long
standing passion that has been my driving force ever since. Without a deep and
solid understanding of the sector, we would not have been able to accomplish
some of our biggest milestones, including negotiating Etisalat's
ground-breaking sponsorship deal with Spanish Football giants FC Barcelona and
Cristiano Ronaldo's unique brand endorsement agreements with Mobily and KFC.
The outlook for sports and entertainment in the GCC is
exceptionally strong, with pioneering, world-class infrastructure and
talent-driven initiatives placing the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in
particular, firmly on the world map with Expo 2020 and FIFA World Cup 2022.
Fuelled by a growing economy and underpinned by an unrivalled destination
proposition, the region offers some of the most exciting business climates to
operate in. Rather like the athletes that we work with, you have to know your
game, live and breathe it in order to succeed at it. You can rest assured that
challenges and hurdles will present themselves along the way, but with the
right motivation and commitment, the hard work pays off.
As an entrepreneur, playing the game is made that much
easier when you play by your own rules.
