On 8 September, the Lewis Silkin Sports Business Group hosted its latest forum event, “The winning formula: sports as brands”, at which our esteemed panellists provided real insight on what makes a sports brand successful.
They were joined by:
- Bill Sweeney - CEO, British Olympic Association;
- Hussein Fahmy - Head of Legal and Commercial Affairs, Team Sky; and
- Luisa Fernandez - Managing Partner, BBH Sport.
Although the forum was hosted on a Chatham House Rules basis, given the positive feedback received we wanted to follow up by capturing some of the key points concerning:
- Scandals and threats
- Social issues
- Athlete power
- Grass routes
- Handling a crisis
Scandals and Threats
In recent times, the sports industry has been overshadowed by a number of negative stories, ranging from corruption, to doping, to fears over nations’ abilities to host major tournaments (just consider the empty seats at the Rio Olympics). These are all fundamental issues that require global cooperation to be addressed, however the view from our panel was that sport remains remarkably resilient with such stories having little tangible damage to fan engagement, or performance on the field of play.
In perhaps the biggest corruption story of them all, FIFA’s on-going tribulations have shown that there is a separation between what is being sold and who is selling it. The fans’ passion for, and therefore value (both commercial and otherwise) of, football, remains - despite the organisation’s deep-rooted troubles.
Meanwhile, Team Sky has continued to distinguish itself by trading on its “clean rider” mantra. To prove that a cycling team can be highly successful, without doping, was an opportunity that Team Sky has grasped to its huge benefit.
Sports cannot be complacent. The demands of sponsors are becoming more sophisticated and there are endless sponsorship opportunities to choose from, with brands increasingly seeking out alternatives to sport such as music and food events and community initiatives.
