1 - 3 December 2020 | Virtual Summit
Live, direct and digital: The future of sports broadcasting
A destination sports OTT event: Igniting conversation, relationships, and action
Innovation has been the hallmark of 2020. With unforeseen disturbances, the sports broadcasting market has been forced to reconsider and adapt on the fly. This has caused a rapid adoption of remote broadcast technology, a reconsidering of live right’s value, revisiting archival footage, as well as rebuilding commercial and marketing strategies amongst many other changes.
This year’s OTT Summit will pivot around three main themes – Strategy, Content & Technology. Join us to gather insights on how industry leaders overcame challenges in these areas and how they see the state of the industry moving forward.
Key Themes
Strategy
Evaluating commercial and marketing approaches for driving revenue in the current OTT landscape.
Content
Understanding viewing habits and providing entertainment relevant for when and where fans are consuming sports.
Technology
Enabling continued enjoyment of sports content amidst new challenges and empowering the future of broadcast experience.
Previous Speakers
Veronica Diquattro
Chief Custom & Innovation Officer
Veronica Diquattro is the Chief Customer & Innovation Officer and is responsible for all aspects of delivering a seamless customer experience including product development, brand, programming and editorial curation of content. Veronica also oversees DAZN’s businesses in Italy and Spain, as she did in her previous role as EVP, Southern Europe. Prior to DAZN, Veronica was Managing Director of Southern and Eastern Europe at Spotify, after leading the launch of the music service in Italy and key markets in Latin America. She also worked on the launch of the Android Market and Google Play in Italy for Google.
Micky Lawler
President
Micky Lawler, President of the WTA and former Octagon executive, is driving the value of women’s professional tennis to unprecedented heights, from kicking off 2018 with the biggest investment to date in women’s sports with the WTA Finals ten-year deal in China, to 2019’s $14M record prize money including the largest winning check in the history of professional tennis (men or women). Throughout her tenure, Lawler has launched WTA Networks, reimagining the league’s digital and social platforms and has inked global sponsorships with luxury brands such as Porsche and Moroccanoil. Lawler, a certified interpreter fluent in five languages and mother of three, has also led a dedicated front to generating new fans by securing innovative rights agreements with content networks like iQiyi, Amazon Prime and Tennis Channel. She also led a groundbreaking partnership with SAP analytics to put WTA on the data-driven cutting edge.
Melissa Brenner
EVP, Digital Media
As Executive Vice President, Digital Media for the National Basketball Association, Melissa Rosenthal Brenner leads the development, oversight and implementation of the NBA’s global digital strategy and social media portfolio across multiple media platforms. In that role, she has forged groundbreaking deals with leading social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, found innovative ways to incorporate social media throughout the league’s wide array of assets, and helped NBA partners maximize social media opportunities with the league.
Additionally, Brenner manages the league’s relationship with Turner Sports relating to NBA Digital, where she is responsible for the development and oversight of NBA TV, NBA League Pass, NBA.com and various NBA mobile content offerings. In recent years, Brenner oversaw the rollout of a variety of new digital offerings including single game availability of NBA League Pass, phone- and tablet-optimized streams through NBA Mobile View, fully produced weekly games in virtual reality, and the league’s first real-time fantasy game, NBA InPlay.
Under her leadership, the NBA has built one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 1.4 billion likes and followers combined across all league, team and player pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Sina and Tencent. Brenner has been instrumental in the NBA’s achievement of many milestones in the social media space, including the first professional sports league to partner with YouTube (2005) and Facebook (2007).
In 2016, Brenner was recognized as “Top Digital Executive” at the Cynopsis Social Media Awards, while the work of her group was honored as “Best in Sports Social Media” by SportsBusiness Journal. In 2013, Brenner was named to AdAge’s “Women to Watch” list.
A member of the NBA family since 1997, Brenner has worked in the Consumer Products Marketing, Advertising and Marketing departments. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Brenner lives on the Upper West Side with her husband Joe and their two children, Sadie and Jack.
John Brody
EVP & Head of International
| John Brody is Executive Vice President, Global Sales & Head of International at WWE. He previously held senior leadership roles with the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the Boston Celtics. As head of WWE’s Global Sales and International divisions, Brody is a key member of the company’s senior management team, responsible for providing strategic vision for WWE’s Sales and International operations on a global basis while expanding WWE’s media partnerships. As part of his International responsibilities, John oversees WWE’s regional General Managers around the world, including UK, Ireland, Asia-Pacific, Greater China, Europe, Africa, Middle East, India and Latin America. He is a three-time winner of Sports Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award, and member of the publication’s Hall of Fame. Brody is an honors graduate of Tufts University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1995. |
Craig Hepburn
Head of Digital Transformation
A senior digital marketing executive with over 20 years of digital media and technology experience across both B2C and B2B. Craig has an extensive and deep knowledge in developing and executing digital transformation and marketing engagement strategies that have a proven record in improving business performance. Craig is a focused and passionate change agent who strives to build world class teams that transform, innovate and disrupt legacy marketing models.
Elizabeth Corbin
Head of Advanced Advertising
Bio Coming Soon…
Scott Doyne
SVP, Data Strategy & Insights
Scott Doyne is Senior Vice President of Data Strategy and Insights for Turner Sports, responsible for leading the expanded use of data and insights to enhance the division’s ability to deliver greater fan experiences, strengthen the core business and support new revenue streams.
Previously, Doyne was Senior Vice President of Product Strategy for Turner, overseeing a team that advanced the state of consumer centric, data informed products across all Turner business units.
Doyne has also served as head of Business Operations for NBA Digital and NASCAR.COM, in which he has managed several award-winning products and business development partnerships. He started with the company as a CNN intern in the Summer of 2002.
Doyne earned his MBA in Strategic Marketing from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and his bachelor’s degree in sports management and communications, with honors, from the University of Michigan.
He lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children.
Chris Tyas
Head of Digital Products
| As Head of Digital Projects for the Eleven Sports group, Chris is responsible for managing Eleven’s OTT product roadmap and works with the local teams in each market to continually develop the platform.
Chris also project manages the launch of new markets and oversees the group’s programme of digital projects. Recent notable work has included developing an industry first shared viewing experience called ‘Watch Together’ and delivering an innovative integration with leading football platform ‘Onefootball’ to offer PPV matches in app. |
Advisory Board
Louisa Clark
Head of Business Development and Broadcast Partnering
Louisa has worked at BT (Consumer) since the evolution of BT TV and was heavily involved in the launch of BTSport after BT secured its first set of key rights for the Premier League. Working in Business Development across the BT business, but with a core focus on Sport and TV, Louisa has negotiated commercial agreements with all sizes of partners critical in delivering amazing customer experiences across devices and channels. Building long-term partnerships with rightsholders, broadcast infrastructure suppliers and social media partners with a view to developing new ways to deliver content (Subscription, Free-to-Air, Pay-per-view), whilst bringing value to consumers and the BT TV and BT Sport businesses. Born and raised in the north-east of England but living with her two children in Hertfordshire who keep her on her toes and in touch with what today’s younger consumers demand from content and the viewing experience.
Peter Bellamy
SVP, Partnership Strategy
Peter Bellamy brings 15 years’ experience of working in commercially focused roles within media, sports, entertainment and technology sectors. As the Senior Vice President of Partnership Strategy at Endeavor Streaming, Peter focuses on driving new commercial business initiatives as well as managing the company’s existing portfolio of clients working with them to define and deliver their go-to-market strategy, as well as in-life management and professional services. Endeavor Streaming clients include WWE, NFL, NBA, UFC, UEFA, BT, Abu Dhabi Media, Eleven Sports and EFL. Peter joined Endeavor Streaming as part of the acquisition of NeuLion in Spring 2018. Prior to NeuLion, Peter ran the commercial business at Saffron Digital, an early entrant into the OTT technology market, and before this worked at Sky focusing on commercialisation of Sky’s portfolio of news, sports and entertainment services.
Scott Rose
SVP, Product
Scott Rose, Encompass SVP, Product, heads global products for the company. As an experienced product executive, he specialises in bringing to market linear broadcast and IP connected media platforms, ranging from linear playout (traditional and streamed), OTT / VOD and the monitoring of internet delivered media at the user experience level. With over 20 years in the industry, Scott has managed the growth of international playout facilities, delivered digital signage networks and launched numerous broadcast products including cloud solutions.
Carlo De Marchis
Group Chief Evangelist
Carlo De Marchis is the Group Chief Evangelist at deltatre and has joined the company in 1988; for 26 years now, he has experienced the highest levels of sport all around the world and participated to every step of deltatre’s impressive growth. Today, Carlo De Marchis leads the Company’s Product Strategy with an exclusive drive on Social Media, Multi-platform digital solutions and their interaction with the TV.
Maria Rua Aguete
Exec Dir, Media, Service Providers & Platforms
Maria leads the strategic development and manages the day-to-day operations of a team of analysts tracking the evolution of global service providers and operators. She created the team while at Screen Digest, now part of IHS Markit, following that acquisition in 2010. Their research on service providers leverages long-standing relationships with operators in all 70+ markets covered by IHS Markit, resulting in the most comprehensive source of television and operator market intelligence in the world.
Bhavesh Patel
Chief Digital Officer
Bhavesh Patel is currently the Chief Digital Officer at beIN Media Group based in Paris. He is working on building their next generation global OTT platform and driving innovation across the group. Prior, Bhavesh was an OTT strategy advisor for CBS Studios International and Verizon Go90, headed up Betfair’s US horserace wagering business, and led the launch of FOX Soccer 2 Go and NBA International League Pass.
Ben Lavender
Chief Product Officer
Ben joined DAZN in 2015 as Chief Product Officer. In this role, he oversees all product innovations and new features for the revolutionary sport streaming service that is available on over 96% of devices in all live markets. Prior to DAZN, he was at Amazon as product leader for the Amazon Video Store. Ben has also worked at LOVEFiLM where he was the Digital Product Director launching their streaming video service on web, mobile and TV devices; which was acquired by Amazon. Before this he was at the BBC where he created BBC iPlayer. Ben has been named as one of the top ten technology and Internet innovators in the world by The Observer.
Elsa Memmi
Vice President, Global Media Distribution
Elsa Memmi was appointed NBA Vice President Global Media Distribution, EMEA in 2013 and currently oversees the NBA’s media content distribution business across EMEA, licensing all media assets to TV and digital. She joined the NBA in January 2008, and was tasked with creating the International Media team following the NBA’s European headquarters’ move from Paris to London that year. The team of nine she assembled, boasting seven languages combined, looks after 70 broadcast and digital partners spanning over 134 countries who feature content in over 40 languages. Elsa plays a crucial role in maximizing the ways content is made available, maintaining a strategic focus on the development of digital offerings to partners, as well as direct-to-consumer, providing fans with myriad ways to experience the NBA. Under Elsa’s leadership, the NBA launched the primetime “NBA Sundays” initiative allowing fans in EMEA access to live games being played at a consistent timeslot of 9.30pm every Sunday and creating a regular appointment to experience a live game, inclusive of coverage of in-arena entertainment’s best moments.
"In less than three years, the SportsPro OTT Summit has developed into the world’s leading sports broadcasting conference. Across the three days in Madrid, you’ll hear from, meet with, and be inspired by the world’s leading broadcasters, rights holders and technology companies driving the greatest transformation sports consumption has seen."
"Excellent event, everything was top notch."
"Many thanks for a very good conference – very impressive, and best of all also very useful, high quality networking."
"Congratulations on an excellent and well organised and thought-off event! A must attend for anyone working in OTT!"
To see growth of the event to 640+ attendees in a year is a great achievement. I found the panels and attendees to be a strong mix across the industry and was encouraged by the auditorium location and the agenda format, which contributed to a more focussed audience and interesting discussions and debates Overall, a great event and the OTT / sports industry needs SportsPro.
The summit presented a very comprehensive breadth of speakers, leaders and innovators in sports OTT and really delivered an overview of the what’s going on in the most active area of innovation in sport.
