>inside >days to go London 2012 on the run-up to the Games
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Winter tourism is a priority for FIS chief
Vincent Gaillard on his hopes for SportAccord
The>Daily
your guide to what’s happening today at the Québec city sportaccord convention www.sportaccordconvention.com
friday, may 25, 2012
issue 5
see you all next year in saint petersburg
deal USOC Chairman Larry Probst (right) next to IOC President Jacques Rogge
Picture: Marc-Antoine Jean
IOC and USOC in revenue accord T he International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced yesterday at SportAccord Convention that they had finally reached a revenue-sharing agreement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal, which will come into effect from 2020, will restructure how sponsorship and broadcast rights revenues are shared between the IOC and USOC. The new arrangement will also define new levels of contribution to be made by the USOC towards administrative costs in running the Games. “This is a very happy moment for the IOC and I believe also for the USOC,” said IOC President
Jacques Rogge. “This has been a very long process. We started negotiating in 2005 – also at a SportAccord Convention meeting in Berlin. The beginning was a bit difficult, but it accelerated and we have come to this very good conclusion. “The USOC is an absolutely crucial pillar in the Olympic Movement,” Rogge added. “This agreement lays a cornerstone which will provide the foundations for the continued growth of the movement and our shared values, not just in the United States but around the world.” The USOC’s Chairman, Larry Probst, said the agreement “works for all parties” and suggested the deal had “removed a roadblock” from the United States’ hopes of bringing the Summer or Winter Olympic Games back to the country.
@saconvention
“I think it’s premature to talk about our strategy, as we’ve just signed this agreement,” he said. “But we hope this has removed a roadblock from a successful bid from the United States. We have board meetings scheduled for June and I’m sure that will be a significant topic of conversation.” Scott Blackmun, Secretary General of the USOC, added: “This agreement demonstrates the commitment of the United States and the USOC to the worldwide Olympic Movement. “We look forward to working with the IOC, our fellow National Olympic Committees, the International Federations and our national federations to strengthen the Olympic Movement and enhance the resources available for athletes around the globe.”
Saint Petersburg, a city steeped in culture, was introduced to delegates yesterday as the host of the 2013 SportAccord Convention. The Russian city, a thriving hub of more than five million inhabitants, will stage the 11th annual SportAccord Convention next year. The home of more than 50 theatres and opera houses and countless top musicians and artists is one of the most highly-regarded cultural centres in the world. Delegates will be in for a treat next year as the 2013 Convention, to take place from May 26-31, will coincide with a worldfamous festival. “The SportAccord Convention delegates will be able to enjoy the White Nights Festival near the end of May,” said Yury Avdeev, Chairman of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports at the Saint Petersburg Government. “Russia will host major events in the near future, such as the SportAccord World Combat Games in 2013 and the FIFA World Cup in 2018. Saint Petersburg is one of the biggest sporting destinations across the whole continent and it hosts international events of the highest level. “The Lenexpo International Convention and Exhibition Centre will accommodate all the needs of SportAccord Convention. “It has a capacity of 2,800 and will be the main venue for the event, situated nearby to the most popular tourism sites.” Avdeev added that he believes the city’s experience of hosting major events will be illustrated when SportAccord Convention arrives next year. “I’m sure that the experience of Saint Petersburg, combined with the 10 years of SportAccord Convention that have taken place, will lead to a great result. “I invite you all to attend SportAccord Convention in Saint Petersburg and hope that all delegates will enjoy it.”
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Minister happy with London 2012 ticketing A
s another batch of tickets for the London 2012 Olympics went on sale this week, UK Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson declared he was satisfied with how the ticket-selling and distribution process had unfolded after earlier problems. Speaking at the ‘Interview of the Day’ at SportAccord Convention, Robertson argued that with so many people wanting tickets – 6.6 million have been made available for these Games – he believes the process has gone very smoothly. “When you talk about ticketing, you never hear from the pleased people who’ve got them,” said Robertson, referring to the ticketing complaints that have been levelled against the London Olympics organisers. Some fans have complained that they didn’t get the tickets they had hoped for, but Robertson insisted that given the high demand, the system that was used to assign them was the best method. London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) Chairman Lord Sebastian Coe pointed out that the organisers were really in a no-win situation, as many commentators argued in the early stages of the process that tickets sales would move at a crawl due to the recession. “Some of the erudite scribblers telling us six months earlier that we’d never sell any tickets, because we were in economic freefall, are the ones sitting there saying we really should have been able to foresee the
olympics Hugh Robertson (right) next to Lord Coe level of demand,” said Coe. “I don’t think we could have done it differently, given the extraordinary level of demand.” At a session later in the day to mark the countdown of 64 days until London 2012, LOCOG’s Director of Sport, Debbie Jevans, explained why there are more tickets available for this Olympics than in Beijing four years ago, despite the omission of two sports from the programme. “We looked back at previous Games and looked at the hockey semi-finals, and half wanted to watch one game and half wanted to watch the other,” she said. “So you had half the stadium that was sometimes disengaged or empty and not watching those two semi-finals. So
a stronger voice Related Sports and Entertainment President and CEO Matthew Higgins warned at SportAccord Convention yesterday that social media was rendering the traditional newspaper reporter obsolete. Higgins was speaking at the panel session, ‘Fan power: Are they customers or stakeholders, and who decides?’ “I think, to some extent, the democratisation of content has given fans a stronger voice and at the same time it’s diluted reporters and officialdom. You can’t control the conversation, you just moderate it,” he said. Geoff Molson, President and CEO of the Club de Hockey Canadiens Inc., explained that when it comes to the relationship between fans and their teams,
they “want to feel respected. It’s not necessarily that they want to control what’s going on.” Molson revealed that he had joined the social networking site Twitter earlier this year, but added that he doesn’t tweet often. “I spend most of my time listening to what [the fans] have to say,” he said. An abundance of easily accessible information about their favourite teams and their voracious appetite for those facts means the fans of today “are extremely knowledgeable,” according to Brian Grey, CEO of Bleacher Report Inc. “We have a joke around the office that in a lot of cases a lot of our contributors probably know their teams better than they know their jobs,” he said.
we’ve split them in two.” She also used the example of beach volleyball events. In previous Games some sessions were upwards of eight hours long and tired fans wouldn’t stay for the entire day’s events. For London, those events have been split so that they are not as long, which organisers hope will result in a better atmosphere for both fans and athletes. Beach volleyball will have three separate sessions a day in London. “If you were about the fifth, sixth or seventh match taking place, you were playing to an empty stadium,” she said. “We made a commitment in Singapore [when London won the Games] that we would have the stadia full.”
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actualitÉs infostrada’s busy week
Infostrada Sports Group, a Bronze Partner of SportAccord Convention, has enjoyed a busy week in Québec City. The sports information company, with the assistance of Convention staff, arranged more than 30 meetings with key ‘targets’ and also benefited from what Chief Executive Philip Hennemann said was a “superbly organised” event. “The range of keynote speakers, and the space for the exhibition were of the highest standard,” he said. “It is important to provide plenty of opportunities for networking, and SportAccord Convention 2012 delivered that. The Convention has provided the opportunity for us to explain the range of services we can offer to IFs, events and the media.” Check out www.infostradasports. com for more information about Infostrada’s media solutions.
A tale of three cities: Three of Finland’s biggest cities – Helsinki, Tampere and Lahti – have joined forces in a bid to attract major sporting events to the country. Under the banner, ‘Finland, for the love of sport’, the cities have opted for a joint approach, rather than an individual one. “We want to give people the opportunity to enjoy sports in Finland. It’s a huge part of our love of sports,” said Perttu Pesa, Tampere’s Director of Sports. Saila Machere, Helsinki’s Event Director, added: “This is the first time that we’ve been to [SportAccord] Convention while representing different cities. We support each other, we are not competing.”
make a difference change Mel Young
H
omeless World Cup President and Co-Founder Mel Young yesterday called on all those involved in sport “to do something” to help fix society’s problems. Speaking at SportAccord Convention on the topic ‘Socially responsible sport – who, why and how much’, Young - and his fellow panellists – believe that sport’s enormous power isn’t being used. He said: “We, sports and corporate, all have responsibilities to do something. It’s in all of our interests to create change. By using sport, you can create that change.” Dr. Timothy P. Shriver, CEO of the Special Olympics, agreed, saying: “It’s never done. Whoever says it is, is oblivious to the world. People are trying to do it, though. I think the issue of socially responsible sport implies that they have a duty to do the right thing.” However, former National Basketball Association star John Amaechi, now an organisational consultant and highperformance executive coach, pointed out
results overview
Focus on sustainability WITH
During the last five days, the Convention Centre eco-advisor has collected and displayed day-to-day information on waste management on the Convention Centre’s LCD Screen System. Data was added up every day until last night. Here are the results, indicating the resources saved through recycling and composting during the event:
that there are problems with sport becoming a game-changer. “The way coaches behave right now with children is unacceptable,” he said. “If you really want to deal with these issues, the people we have dealing with them need to be better and we need more of them.” Amaechi believes that top sportsmen and women need to take on more responsibility, as they can influence the general public. “Elite athletes can be extremely powerful,” said Amaechi. “It depends on what they say and them not being hypocrites. Right now, it’s a tiny minority. Their engagement with real people is tiny. With great power comes great responsibility.” Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of UK Sport, revealed that her organization had already recognized the influence these top athletes can have on the public and were now using them as role models. “We use elite athletes to try to capture the children and young adults who are on the verge of withdrawal from school. We train them and help them tell their story to inspire young people to face their barriers,” she said.
Resources saved EQUIVALENCIES Water: 37,895 litres 57 hours spent in the shower Energy: 13 gigajoules 21 months of watching TV Recycled paper 23 trees and cardboard GHG emissions: 8 trips between 4.3 tons Montreal and Québec City
World Governing Body for the Sport of Cheer 103 National Federations on All Continents 3.5 Million Athletes World Championship with 70 Nations
IPC Unveils 2012 Campus: The International Paralympic Committee, the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement, unveiled its learning environment, which has been developed for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, at SportAccord Convention yesterday. The OPC Academy Campus 2012 is a new IPC initiative to provide a learning focus and connection point across various Education and Knowledge Transfer programs being run throughout this year’s Paralympic Games. “The Paralympic Games allow societies to evolve for the benefit of people with a disability. We actively encourage this evolution by creating new initiatives,” IPC Chief Executive Xavier Gonzalez said.
Aggreko eyes London: Aggreko, a Silver Partner of SportAccord Convention, is gearing up for the London 2012 Olympic Games. “At Aggreko we are well advanced with our preparations for providing temporary power and energy services for the 2012 London Olympics and we are looking forward to playing our part in making the Games the huge success it promises to be,” Aggreko International’s Director of Major Events, Julian Ford, said. Québec City has been Aggreko’s sixth SportAccord Convention, and Ford said that this year’s event had provided an “excellent foundation to develop both existing and new relationships with key stakeholders is the business of sport”.
PRESENTING TODAY FOR 2012 SPORTACCORD MEMBERSHIP Thank you for the great interest in the Sport of Cheer!
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news
the Spirit of Sport Awards Sylvana Mestre, Chairperson of the International Paralympic Committee, picked up an individual award while three worthy causes were also honoured at the Spirit of Sport Awards at SportAccord Convention yesterday. Mestre won the individual award for her work in the fields of sport and disability. A former guide for visually impaired skiers, she co-founded Play and Train, an organisation that works with athletes with disabilities and their families. The three project awards were handed to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM), the International Military Sports Council, and Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), the World Chess Federation. FIDE’s ‘Chess Brings Freedom’ program, which targets Brazilian children, teenagers, inmates and addicts in attempts to improve their situation, picked up the top project award. Second place went to the ITTF’s Women’s Development Program. Implemented in 48 countries, the program was created to empower women and foster gender equality using the sport of table tennis. The Peace Games, organised by the CISM, took home third prize. Seven thousand athletes from roughly 100 different countries competed in 23 sports during the Games, which took place in July 2011. SportAccord Council created the Spirit of Sport Award in 2002 to recognise those SportAccord members who use sport as a tool for positive social change.
TV is still king issue Peter Bayer
T
elevision is still where the money is, despite the advent of social media, according to a top Eurosport executive. Olivier Fisch, Managing Director of Eurosport Sales and Eurosport Events, made this declaration during a roundtable discussion entitled ‘Survival of the fittest – adapting your sport to a changing world’ at SportAccord Convention. “Television has, for the last 10 years, extensively improved with new technologies, new statistics, new cameras,” he said. “You can find cameras on athletes themselves. It’s very impressive the way we cover sports.” However, Fisch feels that alternative sports, such as snowboarding, aren’t big enough to attract television viewers. Scott Guglielmino, Senior VicePresident of Programming and Global X Events for ESPN Inc, disagreed, saying snowboarding is “incredibly relevant” and pointed to the fact that 60 million people tuned into this year’s Winter X Games. Peter Bayer, CEO for Innsbruck 2012, the Host City for the first Winter Youth Olympic Games, took issue with the commercial motives of some companies,
although he had no problem with their strategy when they invest in existing sports, or individual athletes. “If they are taking a sport that athletes might invest their career, their life and their heart into, I think it’s the wrong way to just look at sport as a commercial entity, where you basically take a sport, suck it [dry] and spit it out,” he said. Haroon Lorgat, Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), spoke of how cricket is now practically unrecognisable from the game of five years ago following the advent of the fast-paced Twenty20 format. Lorgat revealed that some players and some key members of the ICC’s board weren’t initially keen on the 20-oversper-side game, but they eventually came around to the idea. Strategies implemented in Twenty20 are now being seen in the longer formats of the game, namely one-day internationals (ODI) and Test matches. Lorgat disclosed that the ICC was also looking at other ideas to revive interest in ODIs and Tests. “If you stand still, the competition today or the changing patterns of the consumers themselves will simply just put you into the dinosaur era,” he explained.
professor issues technology warning SEE YOU SOON FOR THE gREaTEST SHOW ON EaRTH
instructing the audience to never use the Professor Jan-Anders Månson, President phrase “technology-doping”, as he claimed of the International Academy of Sports it implied dishonesty and Science and Technology cheating. (AISTS), warned at The AISTS President SportAccord Convention called sports “guinea pigs yesterday about an inherent of technology”, with new “hidden risk” when dealing materials and designs often with technology in sport. arriving first in the sports Månson, who was industry. addressing a conference “I have been working with session on the subject ‘When three federations that have innovation challenges sport’, been hit by technology,” he sympathised with athletes said. wanting to use the best “To see how they act and equipment possible in order innovation Professor also get exposed is very to obtain the best results. Jan-Anders Månson interesting and a learning “Is it the athlete or the experience for me.” equipment? Be very, very concerned when Normally when new technology arrives we deal with technology,” said Manson. on the scene, Månson said it takes 10 to 15 “If I were an athlete, I would use the years to hit the market, but he added: “In best stuff. You train for years, you suffer, sport it takes one to two years.” you use the best.” Månson was stern in
EXPERT MaJOR EVENTS TEaM To consult and guide at every level of event management To find out how to unlock London w: londonandpartners.com/majorevents e: majorevents@londonandpartners.com t: +44(0)20 7234 5800 Major Events Strategic Partners
Gerrit Middag, Marketing and Events Director at Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the International Cycling Union, said: “One of the big challenges within road cycling is first of all to finance the events and even more importantly to convince everybody to close down the city centre, because that’s where we want to be.” For the full interview, scan the barcode or visit http://bit.ly/MvtaiQ .
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actualitÉs
fina tribute to dale oen
T
he Fédération Internationale de Natation, the International Aquatics Federation (FINA), is hoping to pay a tribute to Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen at the 2012 London Olympics, following his tragic death at the age of 26 in April. FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu revealed at yesterday’s SportAccord Convention that he is in discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about acknowledging Dale Oen, who suffered a cardiac arrest while attending a training camp in Arizona. “It’s very, very unfortunate that things like this happen,” said Marculescu. “We have had a moment of memory and celebration at various events recently, and we will probably try to do the same in London. We are discussing with the IOC about having such a moment, because he was preparing for this event.” Although Marculescu stressed that Dale Oen’s death was an isolated incident, FINA is proposing new health and safety guidelines for athletes. “Our medical committee is currently working on guidelines to put to the national federations on what they have to implement for this new medical check for athletes,” he added. FINA has also remained active on the technology front in the regulation of swimsuits
MOMENT Cornel Marculescu (left) and tragic Norwegian star Alexander Dale Oen worn by its athletes. After a huge number of world records were broken using non-textile suits coated with water-repellent nanoparticles, the federation banned the swimsuits and levelled the playing field. “We have passed through the period of transition when the manufacturers tried to get whatever advantage possible for the swimsuit,” said Marculescu. “This has been behind us for a long time. We have established a very clear process every year.” “Today for us the top priority is that the technology is controlled and that all swimmers have access to this technology. The most important thing is that there is no advantage. “This year July 1 is the deadline to present swimsuits for 2013. The deadline for this year’s swimsuits was July 2011. All the swimsuits will have a stamp, which is FINA-approved, and will be checked before every race. You will not be able to swim in a swimsuit that has not been approved by FINA.”
>catching up with: FRANÇOIS-RÉGIS PICOLET, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR OF GL EVENTS, A BRONZE PARTNER OF SPORTACCORD CONVENTION
‘The business model is one of integration. We own the event’ The Daily: For delegates who may not know you, how is GL Events involved in sport? François-Régis Picolet: “GL Events is one of the main players in world events, as its name suggests, acting in three main market segments. GL Event Exhibition owns and organises 250 trade and public shows every year; GL Events Venues runs congress centres, convention centres, arenas and event centres worldwide (we have 36 of them in 21 countries); and GL Events Live puts together all our offers to the market in terms of services. You name it - carpets, tents, grandstands, furniture, landscaping services, in fact all the services you need for an event to take place. The business model is one of integration. We own the event, we host it and we produce it.” The Daily: What kind of projects are you involved in now? FRP: “We are heavily involved at the moment in a major event in London, putting together temporary grandstands and structures, as well as all the amenities that go with the structures
– carpet, lighting, air conditioning. Up to now, we’ve hardly missed any major events, be it Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics, FIFA World Cups, Confederation Cups, Asian Cups, Commonwealth Games or Pan-American Games. We have been involved in all those major events since 1998.” The Daily: You have been involved in SportAccord Convention for several years. Why do you keep coming back? FRP: “We are very happy to be a sponsor of SportAccord Convention. “We have been participating as an exhibitor and a sponsor, gold and bronze, for many years, because we believe this is the platform to send a message out to the market as to what GL Events’ new offerings are, what the most recent events we’ve been involved in are and to understand what our clients’ requirements are. “It’s really about having two-way communication, listening to what organising committees need and showing them that we’ll continue to be by their side.”
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around the convention CHALLENGE Elite events, such as the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, must inspire tourism, according to FIS President Gian Franco Kasper (below)
fis president has tourism target
P
ersuading the public that they should be spending their holidays on the piste rather than the beach can be a tough task. However, to safeguard the future of winter sports, Gian Franco Kasper, President of Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), the International Ski Federation, knows it is a challenge that cannot be ignored. The head of the FIS is attempting to convince winter sports resorts to become more accessible to a broader demographic by making holiday packages more affordable. “Winter sports tourism is a big challenge,” he said. “Races are an instrument to promote winter tourism, but with cheap flights to the Caribbean and warmer places where there are guaranteed weather conditions, leisure skiers can be attracted
elsewhere. Owing to that, the prices have to be realistic at winter sports destinations.” One of the FIS’s leading projects, ‘Bring Children to the Snow’, is a multi-year campaign that was created five years ago to attract more youngsters to the slopes. For Kasper, the focus on youth is important if future generations of skiers are to emerge. “We have to do something for the next generation,” he said. “Children up to the age of 12 need to be able to get interested in skiing and they can only do that if some of the resorts lower their prices.” The Winter Olympics acts as a crucial hook for new skiing fans and Kasper was complimentary about preparations for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. He is also excited about the prospect of the 2018 edition being staged in the new market of South Korea, when Pyeongchang stages the
Alaska hopes for IFSS Sally O’Sullivan Bair, the Secretary General of the International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS), is hoping Alaska will be ratified as host of the 2013 IFSS World Snow World Championships next month. The IFSS rotates the event, which is held every two years, between Europe and North America. However, in the wake of the global economic downturn, the IF struggled to find an adequate host for next year’s showpiece event until Alaska submitted a bid earlier this month. A decision on whether or not to accept the bid will be made when IFSS officials meet from June 8-10 in Oslo, Norway.
“I had conversations with about three or four different destinations in Canada and one or two in the United States, but the bid from Alaska looks pretty good and they have hosted it before,” O’Sullivan Bair said. “It is really late to be arranging it, but we scoured all over North America and the places either didn’t have the money or the expertise to put on the World Championships. “We’ve had years when three or four bids have come in, but it’s been difficult this time. “There are key benefits to hosting the World Championships, though. The host destination will probably make three times their initial investment in terms of payback.”
Games. “Sochi has had to start from scratch and develop things, but I believe it will be an excellent Games,” he said. “Several test events have taken place there and they have all worked well. A lot always depends on being lucky with the conditions, but we have no doubts. “Russia is a huge market and South Korea will be very interesting too.” Looking to the future, Kasper is hoping to see the 2022 Winter Olympics return to St. MoritzDavos in Switzerland. In 1948, as a two-year-old, the Winter Games came to his hometown of St. Moritz, although Kasper confesses he was too young to remember the action. “The National Olympic Committee still needs to make a decision on whether to bid. It would be nice to bring the Games back, but of course it would not be easy to win the bid,” he said.
JLT HAS ALL SPORTS COVERED
If your event is in jeopardy, then it appears that JLT Specialty Limited is the company to call on. Launched six years ago, the London-based organisation’s expertise and reputation in revenue protection and risk management has grown to such an extent that they now insure such top sporting events as the Rugby World Cup. “If an event can’t happen, for example due to dangerous disease, volcanic ash, missed flights or bad weather, that’s what we do,” explained partner Duncan Fraser. “Our client base ranges from the mega events to other annual events, many of them in sports and entertainment. “There was a significant issue last year with the New Zealand earthquake, which caused a lot of disruption in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup, a major sporting tournament. “No one wanted it to go wrong and we were proud to have dealt with that in a very professional way. It ended up being a very successful event.” The company has grown exponentially since its launch and Fraser sees an even brighter future ahead. “Our plans for the next five years are to be the leading professional advisor in the area of risk insurance,” added Fraser, who hopes his visit to SportAccord Convention will have helped in that aim.
“SportAccord Convention is an opportunity to let people know what we have to offer.” Although Lake Tahoe is about two hours away from California’s capital of Sacramento and about three and a half hours’ drive from San Francisco, Killoran feels the region has special significance to the area’s population. “It doesn’t matter if you live in the Bay Area, it doesn’t matter if you live in Sacramento or if you live in Reno in Nevada,” said Killoran. “Everybody feels a piece of ownership to the Lake one way or another. In so doing there’s an effort as a whole to bring events into the region that can bring benefits to the region as a whole.”
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standing London’s velodrome is one of the permanent structures for this year’s Olympic Games
IFs told sustainability is crucial
I
nternational Federations have “a fundamental role” in promoting sustainability, according to a leading executive of SportAccord Convention Sustainability and Legacy Partner CH2MHill. Peter Braithwaite, the company’s European Head of Sustainability, called on IFs and authorities to re-evaluate their policies and strategies with sustainability in mind. He said: “Many will not have to significantly change their approach, as sport is inherently sustainable from the social point of view, but the leadership needs to set the standards and show the way to achieving a more sustainable sporting legacy. In the long term, this is after all in the best interests of the sport itself. “Our message for the IFs and Candidate Cities is that sport can be the catalyst that makes cities truly great and sustainable. “Sustainability should be at the core of everything we do, no matter what our role is. Sustainability isn’t an add-on – it’s a way of life for
The official vehicle partner of
coalition wants games Fifty-two years since Squaw Valley became the first and so far only Californian host for the Winter Olympics, the Lake Tahoe region wants the Games to return. With that in mind, the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition (RTWGC) – made up of interested parties from both sides of the California-Nevada border – has been formed and has been at SportAccord Convention, working to bring top-level competition back to that part of the world. “Reno Tahoe wants to embrace sport. Obviously winter sport is important to us, but so is sport around the year,” said Jon Killoran, Chief Executive of RTWGC.
Le tour d’horizon
us, our children and our athletes!” CH2MHill has been involved with the Olympics for many years, but this year’s London Games will set a new benchmark for sustainability. Braithwaite explained: “In simple terms, the project for us has been about putting in place the foundations for the long-term regeneration of this part of East London – which happens to have a major sporting event in 2012! So everything we have planned and designed is for the long term. “The only permanent venues are those for which there is a need in this part of London, for example a world-class velodrome. Other venues are temporary, like basketball, which can be dismantled and reused post-Games, or can be reduced in size. “And of course we have created around 250 acres of new parklands on former industrial land, which after the Games will become the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – the largest new urban park in the UK for over a century.”
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talking point
>catching up with:
KICK-START Around the Rings’ Newsmaker Breakfast was a big success yesterday. The event was chaired by Ed Hula (far left), Editor of Around the Rings. Around the Rings is a Media Partner of SportAccord Convention
a permanent fixture
The London 2012 Olympic Games will give Eurosport the opportunity to showcase its year-round experience in covering a wide spectrum of sports, according to the broadcaster’s Global Communications Director, Heather Bowler. Eurosport will devote its entire output to coverage of the Games, which will run from July 27 to August 12, and will also make its 3D channel available to customers of Sky and Virgin Media in the United Kingdom. “With the Olympics, it’s important to look at things historically and think about our heritage in this area,” she said. “This will be the 12th edition of the Summer and Winter Games we have covered, and we were the first channel to cover the Games 24-seven. But with us, it’s not just about the Olympic Games – it’s about the Olympic sports. We love athletics and swimming, for example, and if you’re looking at the Winter Olympics, those sports make up a huge part of our offering. We spend five months of every year covering biathlon and Alpine skiing. We cover more than 150 sports each year, so there is great diversity. We have 650 people covering these sports all year round and in London there will be at least 100 of these reporters on the ground.” Eurosport’s multimedia offerings have developed and branched out across the world, with notable expansion in Eastern Europe, the UK and Asia in recent years. However, Bowler insists that television remains king for Eurosport. “Television is our core business, and [Eurosport Chairman and Chief Executive] Laurent-Eric Le Lay firmly believes that the best place to watch sport is on television,” she said. “However, the development of new media and the internet is important for what Eurosport does as a company. Eurosport has been around for so long and the media landscape is always changing. “We’re a powerful platform and 24 million viewers come on our screens at some point every day.”
Le débat Matthew Clarke, Consultant to DB Schenker
>catching up with:
jeff webb, president of the international cheer union
‘We had to provide enhanced instruction’ The Daily: When, where and how did the Sport of Cheer begin? Jeff Webb: “The Sport of Cheer started in 1898 at a sporting event in the USA when a student named Johnny Campbell began to lead the crowd in ‘Cheers’ and ‘Chants’. Voilà, the sport of Cheer was born!” The Daily: Most people assume that Cheerleading is a female-dominated sport. Is this a correct assumption? And if so, why? JW: “It is correct. Females currently make up 85% of our athletes, but this wasn’t always the case. “In the beginning, the Sport of Cheer was actually male dominated, but during the great conflicts of the late 1930s and 1940s, many males were away serving in the US military and women athletes quickly assumed the majority within the Sport of Cheer.” The Daily: We must ask, were you once a Cheer athlete yourself? JW: “Yes, I ‘cheered’ for the University of Oklahoma in the late 1960s. Also, in 1974 I founded an organisation called Universal Cheerleaders’ Association (UCA) and we introduced new ways of making Cheer athletes more successful at entertaining and leading crowds at sporting events.”
The Daily: Can you give a specific example of how you did this? JW: “Yes, we specifically enhanced athletic Cheer techniques incorporating the use of poms, signs and megaphones!”
The Daily: What was your greatest challenge at that point? JW: “There were two great challenges. First, we needed to find ways of demonstrating the new modern version of Cheer to a much larger group of young people. “Second, because Cheer was very athletic and technical, we needed to provide enhanced instruction to assure that the Cheer athletes were safe.” The Daily: How did you address those challenges? JW: “For the first point, we developed a Cheer Competition format and placed it on ESPN. Uniquely, the Sport of Cheer and ESPN grew up together. “For the second challenge, we developed specific technique and training programs for athletes and coaches to assure Cheer continued to be both athletic and safe. “We also developed a training organisation for Cheer coaches called the American Association of Cheer Coaches and Administrators (AACCA). “Today Cheer has a very safe record. For instance, in the US only men’s and women’s swimming are listed as safer.”
The Daily: For delegates at the SportAccord Convention who may not be aware, DB Schenker has been increasingly involved in sport since the turn of the millennium, hasn’t it? Matthew Clarke: “There were two defining points for DB Schenker in sport. The first was when the company became an official service provider for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The second one was when the company signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee in 2003. Both of these points provided a tremendous platform in the world of sport.” The Daily: DB Schenker is a global operation, and the sports eventhosting industry is increasingly global in its outlook, which must be beneficial to the company... MC: “The staging of major events really is now a global proposition, and I think that has been reflected in the bidding cities for the 2020 Olympics, for example. This year DB Schenker is a service provider to Euro 2012 and is involved in the London Olympics and other world championship events. The calendar is always busy around the world.”
A blueprint for success T
he emergence of Twenty20 cricket over the past decade has been one of sport’s most astonishing success stories so far this century. However, some fear that the burgeoning popularity of the 20-overs-per-side spectacle could ultimately damage the more traditional forms of cricket. Haroon Lorgat, the Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council, is no such doubter. During his tenure he has witnessed the explosion of Twenty20 and, as he prepares to hand over the reins to fellow South African David Richardson upon the conclusion of his four-year term at the helm next month, he remains convinced that the newest form of the game can complement rather than cannibalise Test and one-day cricket. “We are privileged to have three viable formats of the game at international level – Test, oneday international and Twenty20 – and each is successful in its own right,” Lorgat said. “Having these three formats is a huge
winners England’s Paul Collingwood (left) and Kevin Pietersen celebrate World Twenty20 success in 2010
opportunity that offers our fans, sponsors and broadcasters different possibilities, ranging from five days of unfolding drama to all of it happening in one day or, if time is of the essence, to simply three hours of speed and action.” Just two years after the very first international Twenty20 cricket contest in 2005, the ICC launched the World Twenty20 tournament in 2007 in South Africa.This year, the fourth edition of the competition will take place in Sri Lanka. “This event will be televised live across Europe and North America and will be larger than the Olympic Games in the Indian subcontinent,” Lorgat said. However, Lorgat, a former allrounder who was denied the opportunity to represent his country on the international scene due to apartheid, does acknowledge the need to maintain the right balance between the different forms of the game. “The success needs to be managed and depending on how all of us collectively manage the game, these three formats can certainly
9 market Haroon Lorgat with the Twenty20 trophy prosper,” Lorgat added. “I don’t believe that Twenty20’s growth needs to be at the expense of the other formats. “We monitor this closely and, to date, of the hundreds of millions of fans around the world, the vast majority are interested in all three formats. “In fact, our challenge is to migrate new Twenty20 fans to the longer formats of the game.” Packaging a sport so the contest runs for three hours – rather than up to five days in the case of Test cricket – offers obvious commercial advantages, and several sports are attempting to replicate Twenty20’s success by adapting a traditional form of a sport to make it more spectator and viewer-friendly. For cricket, the challenge is to encourage new followers of cricket through Twenty20 to explore the other attractions the sport has to offer, according to Lorgat. “The key to any new product is for there to be a market and to meet the needs of the market,” Lorgat said. “Twenty20 cricket was a natural response to meet the greater demand on people’s time but yet satisfy their passion for the game. “Twenty20 is a great new attraction and an obvious vehicle to promote and develop the game, particularly in those territories where cricket is not yet a mainstream sport. “It has clearly had a huge impact in a very short timeframe across the entire world.”
Vincent Gaillard apporte son expérience de savoir-faire commercial chez Coca-Cola à son rôle en tant que Directeur Général de SportAccord
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>champagne on ice (2006)
> Shizuka Arakawa makes history by winning Japan’s first ever ladies’ figure skating gold in the 2006 Winter Olympics at Torino. >Shizuka Arakawa passe à l’histoire en remportant la médaille d’or aux Jeux Olympiques d’hiver à Turin en 2006. C’est une premiere pour le Japon en patinage artistique pour les femmes.
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SportAccord Convention is a high-profile meeting place that includes lots of different stakeholders in the world of sport. My intention is to interact with all of those different stakeholders and I am open to feedback from everyone.” Hatt has 15 years of experience at the cutting edge of corporate business and has spearheaded numerous strategic marketing initiatives on a global scale. Before joining Hoffmann-La Roche in 2007, Hatt served in marketing executive roles at fellow pharmaceuticals companies Novo Nordisk and then Lundbeck. During his tenure at Hoffmann-La Roche he was responsible for delivering literally hundreds of events and meetings around the world every year. Such experience outside the sports industry will allow Hatt to provide a fresh
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“There are new generations coming into sport and undoubtedly more people coming from other industries,” he added. “Big corporations have done a lot of really good work around good governance, transparency and sustainability. “Many in the not-for-profit sector can learn from that, and there is pressure from sponsors to improve governance practices. “Over the last 10 years IFs have opened up [to recruiting personnel from a nonsporting background], although there is still some resistance, but it is a positive shift as it can improve structure and management
“Similarly, the World Combat Games is a very solid concept, with 15 of our members involved. Bringing together diverse members allows us to develop interesting new concepts. “There are lots of ideas in the pipeline, such as a World Street Games and a Target or Precision Games, but of course we need to make sure there are markets for these events.” The multi-games projects are only one of the ideas in Gaillard’s in-tray, and he insisted that doping-free sport, social and environmental responsibility, good governance initiatives and integrity – including the fight against illegal betting and doping – remain key priorities in the coming year. “There are several balls to juggle, but we are getting in the groove,” he said. For Gaillard, having now settled in Switzerland with his family after several years of country-hopping due to work, his project to steer SportAccord through the next phase of its development is a long-term one which is being supported by the organisation’s long-serving president, Hein Verbruggen. “I couldn’t ask to have a better coach than Hein and he has been instrumental in helping me in this first year,” Gaillard said. “He can open doors and has spent so many years in the business, and not just with IFs. I have been very fortunate in that regard.”
irresistible. The 47-year-old, who served as an officer in the Danish army for more than two decades, has left his role as Global Head of Event Management at international pharmaceuticals company Hoffmann-La Roche to succeed Anna Hellman at the helm of the SportAccord Convention. Since January, Hatt has worked alongside Hellman to ensure a smooth transition when Hellman leaves for marketing company Além International Management Inc. following this year’s event in Québec City. Hatt has been installed as SportAccord Convention Managing Director, and he is relishing the challenge ahead. “Sport has always been close to my heart,” Hatt said. “I used to enjoy fencing when I was younger and I still play some badminton. Being a career officer in the army also involved a lot of physical activity.
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‘There are new generations coming into sport and undoubtedly more people coming from other industries’
processes and also add a bit more commercial knowhow.” According to Gaillard, SportAccord’s ongoing “hot project” centres on the development of multi-sport games. “We’ve got a lot of concepts for multi-sport games, but so far only two of them – the World Combat Games and the World Mind Games – have seen the light of day, so we are trying to develop the right business models,” he said. “The Artistic Games are being created and we are hoping to stage the first two editions of the World Beach Games in Brazil in 2013 and 2015. “Of course we need to find host cities for these events and create our own space, as it is a crowded schedule and the global economy still isn’t in great shape.” However, the multi-games model can provide strength in numbers for SportAccord members. As an example, the first edition of the SportAccord World Mind Games took place in Beijing in December, comprising the International Federations of Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi, and Gaillard is confident that new multi-sport events will emerge. Gaillard added: “The World Mind Sports Games was a perfect example of bringing together sports in order to make an event more appealing to sponsors, particularly with an online element that allowed members of the public to win a chance to play a friendly game against a ‘pro’ during the tournament in Beijing,” Gaillard added.
‘I have a background that will allow me to look at all aspects’
What will be the top game-changers in sport over the next decade?
Eric Garner, Director of Client Services, CH2MHill: “There is an extremely rapid growth of alternative media and a huge shift in how people want to access their information. I think it affects a younger generation and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Hélène Moreau, Director of Sales and Marketing, Groupe le perspective. “My long-term vision is to see Massif, Inc.: “Our greatest feat is to push our kids to do sport, in where the Convention can grow,” he said. the winter more than the summer. Our greatest competition will “So I will be exploring new opportunities. be to get them away from video games and out there practising the sports we represent.” I’m confident that we can build on the solid Rachel Simon, Project Manager, Commonwealth Games foundation of our established annual event. Federation: “We need people to keep investing in sport. For this, I “I have a background that will allow me think we need to provide higher education to people concerning to look at all aspects and I will leave no the benefits of sport. I think having more events can change that.” stone unturned in my pursuit of developing Wanda Posehn, Vice-President and Director of Tourism, Sports the Convention.” Tourism Saskatchewan: “Innovation in technology is changing Following the conclusion of this year’s the face of sport and will continue to do so in the next 10 years. It will depend on how we handle it.” event in Québec City, the focus will switch Ana Jesus, Marketing Manager, Active Network: “I think that to the 2013 SportAccord Convention in the new sports will be promoted through social media in the next Saint Petersburg, Russia, and Hatt is ready 10 years. It’ll be much easier than before, when there was almost to explore a number of new ideas for the no way to spread the word of a new sport coming along.” future. Hanne Sejer, Deputy Chief Executive, Sport Event Denmark: “There are so many interesting topics “I think we will see many more people participating in recreational sports. We’ll see a lot more people travelling for recreational discussed at the Convention, and perhaps events. We already see a lot of this in Denmark.” we could give some of those subjects more Cristen Marzula, Logistics Director, International Cheer ‘stage time’ in some way. We could possibly Union: “I think social media, on all levels, is a game-changer. It look at spin-off events. allows people to get news and info as soon as it happens and it’s “All of the International Federations stage something sport hasn’t seen before.” their meetings at the Convention, and Ed Burke, Owner, CEO, The Look Company: “We find that no one is talking about the green carbon footprint. No one in sport is perhaps we could support them in other putting a value on it. Energy consumption is getting much more areas. expensive and it’ll affect the way events are organized.” “But I will ensure that the Convention DEC_Bienvenue...10.04.12+ombre_Mise pageDirector, 1 12-04-11 Page1 RichardenBunn, World15:40 Academy of Sport: “New media, is not diluted in any way, as it has been digital media will be what affects sport in the next 10 years or so.”
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hadn’t communicated with them as well as we could have done.” Before joining CocaCola, Gaillard worked at North America’s National Basketball Association, but his latest career switch has followed a growing trend of executives who have moved into sport from a different – albeit related – sector. Sports administration is no longer as insular as it once was, and Gaillard believes sport can learn lessons from those who come from outside the sector.
is Hatt has revealed that the opportunity to steer the SportAccord Convention through its next phase of development was
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Vincent Gaillard is relishing his role at the helm of SportAccord, writes Rory Squires... incent Gaillard was given a taste of ‘the real thing’ during 13 years of service at the CocaCola Company. The 42-yearold spent his last five years with the soft drinks giant as Deputy General Manager of the company’s Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic operations. Now, 10 months on from taking the reins as Director General of SportAccord, the umbrella body for more than 100 of the world’s top International Federations, he finds himself at the cutting edge of sports governance. The transition from sports executive to administrator has been a challenge, but Gaillard has relished the opportunity to apply the same commercial acumen and bestpractice principles in new surroundings. “There has been so much to absorb and digest, and it has been a challenge to adapt to a very different culture and working environment in a different country,” said France-born Gaillard, who now works out of Lausanne in Switzerland. “There have been a lot of new things to put in place as it has been an important transitional year for SportAccord. “There were some turbulent times in terms of staff turnover, but at the same time there has been growth. “Initially, the key challenge for me was clearly to consolidate and stabilise things from a legal, financial and administrative standpoint. “We needed to provide a lot of reassurance to our members as perhaps in the past we
A smooth transition
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Challenge Vincent Gaillard
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a decade of sport/Une décennie de sport
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FAREWELL SportAccord Convention Executive Director Anna Hellman was presented with a Nordiques hockey jersey as a parting gift. She stands next to Québec Mayor Régis Labeaume
Farewell to Québec City!
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portAccord Convention Chairman Hein Verbruggen announced this year’s quiz winners during his closing remarks to signal the end of the 2012 Conference. The winners were announced after hundreds of delegates returned answers to 20 questions, which were distributed earlier in the week. Pierre Wessel won unlimited press releases for one year on SFC Press Point, courtesy of Sports Features. Walter Buse picked up a year-long subscription to SportBusiness International Magazine. Keith Calkins claimed a corporate subscription to Around the Rings for up to five readers. Ivan Dibos went home with one year’s free subscription to Sportcal’s Quarterly Magazine and one free copy of Sportcal’s Global Sports Index Report, as well as five press releases. Patrick Stalder won a voucher for 2,000 Swiss Francs towards a flight to Québec City and five night’s accommodation at the Delta Hotel in Québec City, courtesy of the City of Québec and
today at a glance friday, may 25 Meetings: 08:00-13:00 SportAccord General Assembly (400C) 09:00-13:00 IOC Executive Board Meeting (301AB) 14:00-18:00 IOC Executive Board Meeting (301AB) MORNING EXERCISE SESSIONS (06:15): Today: Group Run, Walk with a Purpose SportAccord Convention. Finally, the team of Eric Pilote and Jacques Petit won four tickets to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games BMX event on August 9, a prize kindly donated by the International Olympic Committee. Verbruggen closed the conference by thanking the City of Québec for a superb 2012 SportAccord Convention. See you all next year in Saint Petersburg!