On April 7-11, SportAccord will hold its World Sport and Business Summit 2024 in Birmingham, UK. After four years of absence, what can cities expect this year?  

Birmingham, West Midlands will be a great experience for host city delegates. We will be at the International Convention Centre, right in the beating heart of the city, which is also at the heart of the UK – hence the event logo. People will be able to walk everywhere, enjoy the city and the special blend of social events, official meetings, cultural activities, and the conference programme and exhibition that SportAccord provides. We have a strong delegation of over 40 from the IOC, colleagues from Paris 2024, LA 2028, ANOC, and NOCs; all of the umbrella bodies and the whole extended Olympic family from around the world will be there. We have also made a big effort to attract non-IF rights-holders and we have a strong North American contingent including the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Falcons, and the New Jersey Devils.
It will also be a pleasure to have Mark Rein, the Vice President and Co-Founder of Epic Games, creator of Fortnite and Unreal Engine with us. Just a couple of weeks after concluding a $1.5 billion deal with Disney, Mark will be giving a keynote speech on how gaming is changing our media, our world, and our sports.
Above all, cities will find a warm welcome from their counterparts in Birmingham, rightly proud of their city and their success hosting the Commonwealth Games. And as ever, SportAccord will provide a uniquely efficient and effective way to make new contacts, arrange meetings and do business.

Connecting international sports federations with sport business stakeholders and host cities is the mission of SportAccord. What is the relevant “mix and match” combination to guarantee the success of such an event?

Every single rights holder needs to find cities, regions, nations to host their events. SportAccord presents an outstanding opportunity for them to access potential hosts. This has always been a key element of the event. With over 130 International Federations registered to attend along with a large number of non-IF rights holders this is a unique aspect of SportAccord, I don’t believe any other event has such a concentration. I think the ideal mix and match is to have a variety of cities in terms of size and available sporting facilities, from those with Olympic ambitions to small cities with specific sporting venues who will be targeting the rights holders relevant to those venues. This includes cities wishing to animate their centres, bringing sport to the people– and we have more and more rights holders with events that do exactly that, from BMX, to 3×3, and sport climbing to Formula E.

In the wide constellation of stakeholders and actors from the sports world gravitating to the Summit, how much importance is given to host cities? And what would be your specific message to encourage cities to participate in the SportAccord Summit this year?   

Host cities have always been a major part of the event and my specific message is: Don’t miss this opportunity to be in the same place as hundreds of sports rights decision makers. Also, Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from your more experienced peers who have been hosting events – perhaps the same events that you’re interested in. It’s not by accident that our partners this year, many of them long standing relationships, include cities and regions, Sport Event Denmark, Explore Edmonton, Tourism & Events Queensland, Sport Liverpool, and Thailand. In terms of message, I couldn’t put it better than Robert Fasulo, Executive Director, International Surfing Association: “In my various Olympic leadership roles, I have participated in every SportAccord since its inception in 2003 in Madrid. I consider this event an essential part of my yearly calendar and an invaluable hub for institutional meetings, business networking and reconnecting with the global sports leadership.”

We are very pleased that the World Union of Olympic Cities and SportAccord concretised a partnership in 2024. In this framework, the Union contributes to the programme of CityAccord, and will present a session on the festivalisation of sport events. In a nutshell, what kind of opportunities can federations find and bring in “festivalising” their event in collaboration with the host city?

Indeed, it is a pleasure to be partnering with the World Union of Olympic Cities and It’s been great working with Secretary General Mélanie Duparc.
I’m pleased we have the topic of festivalisation of sport events on the agenda for the CityAccord of the conference programme, on the morning of April 9^th this year. I think the concept of rights-holders working with a host city to increase the impact of their event by adding on non-sporting elements is something, we’ll see more and more of as cities seek more value and impact. For rights-holders, the benefit is that larger audiences will be brought into contact with their event and it is especially relevant to rights holders who have formats which work outside a stadium and can be brought into a city centre setting.
Also as part of CityAccord, cities will also want to hear Chris Boardman, an Olympic Gold medalist and Tour de France stage winner who as the head of Active Travel England is now in charge of making cities more user-friendly and in turn more economically buoyant by improving boosting physical activity and active modes of travel in them.
We hope to see many Members of the World Union of Olympic Cities in Birmingham. We are offering them a special discounted rate of CHF 1,250 for the full multiday pass (compared to CHF 2500 from 1^st March). To register, please click here.