On November 16th-17th, the global football industry gathered in Durban (South Africa) for the first-ever World Football Summit Africa. If there was one common theme we took away from it is that  “there is massive untapped potential in the African football industry” but it needs to address the challenges that are blocking growth, one of the main ones being finding new sources of revenue.

There are three pillars within the commercial marketing model of football clubs: Merchandising, Matchday, and Sponsorships.

And it was precisely on this last one that there was an amazing panel on the live stage of WFS Africa where Kike Levy, Southern Sports Lead at Meta - Victor Williams, CEO at NBA Africa, and Kabelo Bosilong, Founder at SportSense gave a true masterclass on sponsorship and how African football clubs can address these challenges. Anybody can learn from this session, so we encourage you to listen in. You will learn about the importance of focusing on the fundamentals, the role that digital can play in gathering customer data while also amplifying digital activations, or how the player empowerment era is changing the traditional commercial marketing model.

Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

Today, we welcome Lindi Ngwenya, founder of Sisu Sports Management to the show.

Sisu Sports Management is a talent agency but with a different angle as they work with players/coaches from less well-supported areas of the game such as African Football, smaller European Leagues, and Women's Football.

Now they are also looking to provide African football talent with new opportunities in American colleges through their new digital platform, Uburu.

This was a great conversation that covered a lot of ground:

You can learn more about Sisu at https://www.sisusportsmanagement.com or follow them on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn

Lindi is also a speaker at the first-ever World Football Summit Africa, so you will see more from her on the live stage in Durban.

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

The start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is just 10 days away now and it seems like a perfect time to talk about the tournament from “the business” side. A few weeks ago in WFS Europe, we welcomed Khaled Al- Suwaidi, Director of Stakeholder Relations at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the live stage in Sevilla.

The masterful David Garrido carries out this interview with Khaled; no stone is left unturned.  They look at the objectives they have for the region after the World Cup, expectations on the pitch and off it, and the elements that define the fan experience but they also have time to tackle some of the most controversial issues that include safety, sustainability or equality and inclusion among others.

Our recommendation is for you to listen to the entire interview trying to be as objective as possible to understand the “rationale” behind some of the decisions. Then you may find yourself changing your mind once you listen to it, or maybe not! But at least you made sure you listened to both arguments and concerns!

The World Cup is not the only major global football industry event taking place next week. On November 16-17  World Football Summit will be in Durban for the first-ever WFS Africa. Some of the top sports industry leaders like Mr. Danny Joordaan (SAFA), Victor Williams (NBA), or Marcos Pelegrin (LaLiga) who we welcomed to the show for Episode 11  will join close to 80 speakers to help shape the future of African football

You can’t miss it. Head over to our website africa.worldfootballsummit.com and buy your ticket. Again, that is africa.worldfootballsummit.com.

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

Today, we welcome Ben Peppi to the show. Ben currently is Head of Sport at JMW Solicitors, one of the top law firms in the UK, but he has knowledge across so many spaces…athletes, investment, consumer brands, obviously sports law and startups.

Overall, this is a conversation about legacy. Specifically, about the pillars that build up an athlete's legacy after retirement: Investment, Partnerships, and Social Impact.

This was a true masterclass and we hope you get value from it too! But, a quick disclaimer, this conversation is not or should not be taken as financial advice. It is provided for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only.

Make sure you follow Ben on LinkedIn & Twitter (@BenPeppi).

Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

A couple of months ago, we published an article on our blog sharing 5 investment trends shaping football's future. These included multi-club ownership models, the entrance of American investors in European football, SPACS, technology, Women’s football, and technology.

These were key topics that were covered during WFS Europe. Today, we are bringing you a different kind of episode where we have “rescued” some of the best quotes from a few panels that hopefully, will help you get a better idea of where the industry is heading and how the experts understand these trends.

You will hear thoughts from several leaders including Alexis Ohanian, Julie Uhrman, Maggie Murphy, Andrea Ekblad, Javier Sobrino, and Jordan Gardner.

Enjoy!

You can read the article with 5 investment trends shaping the future of the football industry HERE

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

This week Marcos Pelegrin, Managing Director of LaLiga in Africa, visits The World Football Summit Podcast to share an overview of the role of LaLiga in Africa. We discuss:

This was a great conversation that helps get a glimpse into the potential Africa can play in the global football scene. Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

The year 2022 has been a remarkable year for women’s football:

Overall, the women’s game is driving more investment than ever before.

The question is…Now what? How can these dynamics fuel growth?

On this episode, we bring you a brilliant panel from WFS Europe where top-tier industry leaders help address these questions and many others.

Participate in a panel moderated by Kate Hamer from AxisStars which was a masterclass to understand the present and future of the Women’s game.

They discuss the need for Women’s Football to create “mental availability,” where the flywheel needs to start so it can grow the game further, the partnerships frameworks that must emerge, and other dynamics that need to happen to professionalize the sport even further

Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

Last week, during WFS Europe, Sevilla became the capital of the global football industry for two days. This week we wanted to bring you a special episode, taken from an amazing panel out of the 50+ that were available at the event. 

As technology evolves, the partnership model between brands and football clubs needs to keep pace, as it has evolved from "the brand" perspective, to the digital activation phase and the formation of communities in web 2, and we are now entering the era of web 3.

To understand this landscape, three fantastic experts join Fabien Arneodo (from eShot Labs) to shed some light on where and how the space will evolve in the new era:

This is a true masterclass for anybody in the industry as it provides a perspective from top-class clubs, brands, and sports properties. Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

In this week's episode, we bring you another conversation with a change-maker that is using football as a platform to drive social change. We sit down with Drew Chafetz, co-founder and CEO of love.fútbol , an NGO with a very clear mission: Giving kids a safe place to play football.

They currently have more than 50 projects across more than 15 countries and they have experience collaborating with some major brands including Manchester City, ESPN, Coca-Cola, and Amazon.

Some of the topics we talked about include the way they identify where to implement new projects, what they have learned from working with those leading brands, or the traits that business leaders need today.

Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.

If there is one thing that defines sports is the set of "emotions" it is able to create during live matches. Football fans around the globe can remember when, where or who they were with when a unique moment of a game took place. 

What if football clubs or broadcasters could capture such moments in real time and use them as a fantastic tool for fan engagement?

eShot Labs is a business doing just that and today, we welcome their co-founder & CEO, Fergus Leleu, and their CMO, Fabien Arneodo to explain why they believe that NFT technology enables football clubs and sports properties around the world to connect with their fans at a much deeper level leveraging from the power of emotions. In a world of fragmented attention, especially among the younger fans, and where reaching them is something that must be done almost instantly, eShot Labs offers sports brands the opportunity to create video NFTs in real time.

They also share examples of teams who are "playing" best in the NFT space, how they add the lever of emotion to an industry that so far has been about ego and speculation, why they are "platform-agnostic," and much more.

Enjoy!

World Football Summit is where the football industry meets.

This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world.

You can learn more about us on:

You can now buy your ticket for World Football Summit Europe, taking place on September 28-29 2022, in beautiful Sevilla (Spain).

Also, feel free to join us for our first ever World Football Summit Africa, in Durban (South Africa) on November 16-17, 2022.