2020 Europe Conference: Brands, Sports, and Esports

Registration and Information Desk Open

Networking Coffee

Welcome Remarks

INTA CEO:
Etienne Sanz de Acedo, INTA (United States)

Setting the Stage

The Conference co-chairs will help set the stage for the next two days by providing an overview of the content, including the importance of looking at traditional sports and esports together.

Traditional sports continue to impact our lives on a daily basis: with the excitement of numerous tournaments and championship games, the influence of players around the world, and the intersection of social issues in the sports world, such as equal pay for players. It is estimated that football (soccer) has a global followership of more than 4 billion fans and viewers. Nothing can replace our passion for traditional sports, but the booming esports industry is tapping into a new generation of video game fans, players, and formats, with more the 395 million viewers—and counting. With the increase in esports participants, there has also been an influx in revenue, as brands are recognizing the value and potential of this fast-growing industry.

Co-Chairs:
Kristin McNulty, Intel Corporation (United States)
Daniel Zohny, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (Switzerland)

Keynote Speaker: Andy Stalman, TOTEM Branding (Spain)

Andy Stalman is considered one of the world’s leading brand experts. With more than 25 years of experience, he has developed projects in over 20 countries on five continents. As a result of his talent and charisma, as well as his work and influence in the world of brands, Andy is known globally as “Mr. Branding.”

Andy is currently co-founder and CEO of TOTEM Branding, considered one of the most prestigious branding companies. He is also a lecturer and regular speaker at business events across the world from Spain to other countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America and is considered one of the “top 100 lecturers in Spain” according to the prestigious consultant Thinking Heads. He is also a visiting professor at prestigious business schools and a consultant for companies around the globe. Andy is the author of a popular blog and the bestsellers ‘BrandOffOn. Branding the Future,’ which is considered one of the most influential books of the 21st century, as well as, ‘HumanOffOn: Is Internet changing us as human beings?.”’

Andy’s talk will focus on the role of emotions and values in sports and esports. How brands are building a new relationship with fans, and in turn, how fans are demanding brands to commit to go beyond the usual and make a more positive impact on the community and the society. He will touch on brands and social responsibility, sustainability and discuss the thinking that we are not in a change of era, but in an era of change. Andy will also talk about how passion is transforming fans into main characters of sports events and esports competitions.

Networking Coffee Break

Session 1: Beyond the Playing Field: The Legal and Operational Issues for Planning and Executing a Sporting and Esport Event

Major sporting and esport events involve thousands of participants, multiple countries, millions of attendees/viewers and a myriad of legal issues. For example, an Olympic Game features 11,000+ athletes from more than 200 countries, over 1 million attendees, and close to 20 million viewers. From a regular season game to a large-scale championship series, the success of the event is not always gauged by who wins or loses; oftentimes, details off the playing field absolutely matter and can even make or break an event.

Speakers from both traditional sports and esports industries will discuss the interplay between operations and the legal side—everything from logistics to marketing, to advertising, to partnerships, and legal teams. Speakers will discuss the challenges for brand owners when executing an event, no matter if it’s a traditional sporting or esport event. Some common challenges to be discussed will include:

• The role of legal and other partners in the planning, promotion, and execution of the event.
• Insights on choosing a venue, building a budget, getting customer buy-in, executing the logistics, etc., while highlighting the similarities and differences between a traditional sporting and an esport events.
• What organizers, brand owners, and video game publishers need to focus on to protect their intellectual property including licensing agreements – – the must have/nice to have/deal breaking provisions
• Broadcast terms and conditions (exclusivity rights) and potential issues with sponsors.

Moderator:
Marc Muraccini, Ubisoft Entertainment (France)

Speakers:
Servane Fischer, Ubisoft Entertainment (France)
Eduardo Castillo, Gomez – Acebo & Pombo (Spain)
Garth Towan, International Olympic Committee (Switzerland)

Session 2: Building a Successful Brand

Speakers will share their thoughts on building a brand from the perspective of the athlete and the sports business. Panelists will discuss their experiences, best practices, and lessons learned while sharing their insights on how to build a successful brand. Speakers will dive into:

• Creating and protecting an event brand from conception to clearance, reprogram, and maintenance.
• Building a brand in traditional sports from the player’s perspective—legal issues, personal marks, image rights, and sponsorship.
• Why is it important to go through this exercise (higher chances of sponsorship and merch deals, etc.)
• At what point should the lawyers get involved?

Speakers:
Lorenzo Litta, Spheriens (Italy)
Alessandra Sensini, Italian Olympic Committee and former Olympic Windsurfer (Italy)

Capsule Keynote: Building a Global Brand

Deanna Sheridan, General Counsel, Vice President and Secretary at Spartan Race (United States)

Spartan is more than a sport and a daunting obstacle course, it is a lifestyle brand and community, built on the values of grit and passion, open to everyone. Hear from Deanna Sheridan, General Counsel and Vice President of Spartan, as she offers a glimpse into how Spartan has evolved from a hugely popular obstacle course race event business to a fitness and lifestyle brand, offering other endurance events, apparel, nutrition, fitness events, and fitness and mindfulness training products. She will share her insights into the brand’s historical legacy and the company’s unconventional approach to brand success.

Networking Lunch

Capsule Keynote

David Reichelt, Creator of Color Switch (United States)

David will share his journey from combat medic to magician to self-taught mobile app developer, who after many failed attempts, launched the wildly successful game, Color Switch. With 200 million downloads and counting, Color Switch was the fastest game in the App Store history to reach 50 million downloads and was the #1 game in over 150 countries. David will share the many ups and downs of his fairytale story, and give insight into how he built his IP and Color Switch brand. Get a glimpse into the world of an indie developer who now manages a team of 12 who build new products under the brand during this engaging capsule keynote.

Session 3: From Good to Great: Best Practice Tips for Effective Sponsorship Collaborations

Sports and esports sponsorship is booming, and both industries are seeing more money being spent in these areas than ever before. Brand owners are aware that sponsorship deals are key to building brand awareness, and sponsoring an event in the sports and esports worlds allows brands to reach larger and newer audiences that they may not reach in other traditional ways. Speakers from the sponsor and organizer side will explore the details of sponsorship deals from the legal perspective in a practical way, covering:

• Regulations, governance systems, and pitfalls.
• How sponsorship agreements are structured and the interest of the parties.
• Contractual issues to be considered, such as conflicts between competition sponsors, club sponsors, and player sponsors.
• Definition on the sponsor’s brand associated with the sponsored entity (corporate name, product, and services).
• Creation, registration, and ownership of new and/or joint logos. Regulations of uses by each party of the agreement.
• Data safeguards.
• How social media is changing the game and the new benefits of substituting traditional advertising.
• How to combat ambush marketing.
• Co-branding, merchandising, and image rights.
• Preparing your marketing team for the legal impact of business decisions, not only when negotiating, but also when activating sponsorship benefits.
• The need for “legal training” for the business and marketing teams.

Moderator:
Anna Guix, FCBarcelona (Spain)

Speakers:
Christian Duran, Duran-Corretjer, S.L.P. (Spain)
Alex Junco, Nike, Inc (Spain)
David Trassler, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (Switzerland)

Fireside Chat with José Antonio Gil Celedonio, Director General, Oficina Espanola de Patentes y Marcas (Spain)

Join Etienne Sanz de Acedo as he interviews the Director General of the Oficina Espanola de Patentes y Marcas, Mr. Gil. Get answers to your top ten questions to the Spanish office about trademark issues in the sports and esports industries.

Session 4: Trend, Set, Go! Revenue Streams via Streaming Platforms, Social Media, Influencers, and Fan Engagement

Recent marketing trends show that influencer and social-led marketing campaigns are incredibly effective for connecting with a community. What trends are experts seeing in these realms? What does this mean for brands? Given the viral nature of this marketing form, what can be done to better guide the message?

• Looking ahead, which marketing channels (for example, Instagram and TikTok) will be big in 2020? What other marketing channels are people using? Why is Twitter dominating sports news? How do esports fans engage with one another over social media?
• Are brand influencer relationships more strategic than traditional ones, and does the community drive decisions, for example, through community votes? What about macro-, micro-, and mega-influencers?
• What is user-generated content (UGC) and where does UGC fit into the marketing landscape? How does one satisfy the demand for authentic content?
• How will brands distinguish themselves in light of increasing competition?
• Are there limits to trademark rights, copyrights, and image rights?
• How is the message controlled when implementing crisis communication? How do you prepare for the worst?
• What do you do about fake followers?

Moderator:
Allison Rothman, Morrison Rothman LLP (United States)

Speakers:
Tanya Fickenscher, Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. (United States)
Gunnar Karnath, line+circle (Switzerland)
Paulo Parente M. Mendes, Di Blasi, Parente & Associados (Brazil)
Allison Rothman, Morrison Rothman LLP (United States)

Wrap Up and Ask Me Anything

Networking Reception

Registration and Information Desk

Networking Coffee

Welcome Back

2020 INTA President

Ayala Deutsch, NBA Properties, Inc. (United States)

Fireside Chat with Professor José Manuel Otero Lastres, Broseta (Spain)

Professor Otero is one of the most recognized commercial law experts in the country and a respected reputation in the field of Industrial and Intellectual Property. As a past member of Real Madrid’s Board of Directors, Professor Otero will share his experience working with the brand and explain the Real Madrid strategy which is based in the exploitation of its intangible assets and it is without doubt a great success.

Session 5: Sports-Related Hot Topics and IP Cases: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Speakers will focus on recent case law in traditional sports and esports and share their insights on the following issues:

• Exercise and competitions—their rise, legal issues (copyright issue with music).
• Contractual issues, in particular sponsorship agreements and advertising campaigns.
• Broadcasting rights.

Moderator:
Carolina Pina, Garrigues (Spain)

Speakers:
Manuela Macchi, Keltie (United Kingdom)
Inés Gete, MediaPro (Spain)
Xavier Bassas, MediaPro (Spain)
Ricardo Fischer, Arent Fox LLP (United States)

Capsule Keynote:

Jose Antonio Martin Otin “Peton,” CEO of Bahía Internacional (Spain)

José Antonio Martín Otín, more well-known as “Petón”, CEO of Bahía, Sports Representation Agency, has held several high level positions in the sports and entertainment industries, including Director de Aragón Exprés in Huesca, Director of Radio Heraldo, Director of Radio Huesca SER, Director of Atlántico, producer of A3 Media and is currently an occasional columnist in different national newspapers, commentator of the COPE Network in History and Sports programs , international football commentator at A3 Media, Tertulian of El Chiringuito de Jugones in La Sexta and Es Radio. Before his career took off, he was a professional footballer for 18 years, ten of them with SD Huesca and the last with AD Alcorcón. He is the author of several books related to different issues: football stories (Football has Music and others), Generation of 27 (The Despair of Tea, from the figure of Pepín Bello for Editorial Pretexts), writers of Bohemia (Tomás Borrás) and Carlos Matallanas’ fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Who said giving up?).

Session 6: The Impact of Technology

Sports viewership is at an all-time high, but how fans view their favorite sport, how the younger generation engages in sports, and how fans interact during the game is changing. This panel will discuss current technologies on the market that enhance the telecast of your favorite sporting event, as well as how brands are changing their approach to engaging with viewers during events.

• How do fans currently engage with sporting events, and what information can we glean from other types of content, for example, social media, gaming, etc.?
• What types of technologies will influence how fans of the future interact? Will the experience be more personalized, data-rich, and social?
• What role does data have, and who controls it?
• What legal and other impacts does technology have on sports viewership?

Moderator:
Tuan Le, Intel Corporation (United States)

Speakers:
Eduardo Carbonell, GLHF Agency (Spain)
Roxanne Chow, International Olympic Committee (Switzerland)
Ignacio Trujillo, OWQLO Tech Smart Sports Connector (Spain)

Capsule Keynote: Women in Sports

Rebecca (Bex) Smith, Global Director of Women’s Game, COPA90 (United Kingdom)

Bex Smith first came to prominence as a World Cup and Olympic footballer representing New Zealand, and culminating her club career winning The Triple with VfL Wolfsburg as UEFA Champions League, German League, and German Cup Winners before her retirement in 2013 (due to a knee injury). During her time as a professional footballer, she earned degrees in Economics, Spanish, an MBA and a Masters in Psychology.

Bex successful career has taken her from the pitch to the offices of FIFA as Manager of Women’s Competitions and Strategic Planning, onto a freelance sport consultant role, and an Executive Producer role. Bex is now Global Director of Women’s Game for COPA90, the world’s largest independent football media business. At COPA90, Bex oversees the commercial, editorial and marketing delivery of a business-wide initiative of the women’s proposition to normalize women’s football and women in football, as well as fans, into coverage of the sport. She developed COPA90’s proposition for potential partners and brands for the 2019 Women’s World Cup and a larger future-facing women’s football initiative involving world-renowned footballers.

She has experience in strategic planning, sponsor relations, media relations and public speaking — not to mention being the talent and managing the talent. She also has a truly international perspective; she was born and raised in the United States, played international football for New Zealand (where her parents are from) and club football in Australia, Sweden, the U.S. and Germany, where she picked up four languages along her career.

Bex will share her story, experiences and mission to increase the visibility and reach of women’s football, while making a positive impact on society.

Session 7: The Battle Off the Playing Field: Enforcing Brand Rights in the Global World of Sports

The world of sports involves many “players”: the athletes, the team owners, the sponsors, the associations and the fans. One thing all of these players have in common is passion – -they are passionate for the brands – the athlete’s, the teams’, and the sponsors. This passion is a mainstay of sports – in fact, it fuels the business of sports. But as much as this passion is embraced and promoted, there may be unintended consequences in enforcement efforts.
Hear from key players and how they address such issues as:

• Who’s in charge?! Who has the right to enforce the brand rights and what role do the other players have in the strategic direction of the enforcement efforts.
• Tips and watch-outs when developing a global strategy for enforcement.
• How to effectively enforce rights when a fan is involved – tips to maintain your brand rights while at the same time maintaining your fan’s passion and support.
• New challenges and opportunities in the fight against counterfeits and look-alikes including ambush marketing.
• Enforcing IP rights in an online world.

Moderator:
Alberto Berton Moreno, Jr., Berton Moreno + Ojam (Argentina)

Speakers:
Stamatia Tsirozi, Red Bull GmbH (Austria)
José Antonio Moreno, ANDEMA (Spain)
Poonam Majithia, Chelsea Football Club (United Kingdom)
Lynsey Mulvihill, World Rugby (Ireland)

Networking Lunch

Capsule Keynote

Nuno Gomes, Former Football player and Sports Agency Consultant (Portugal)

Nuno Gomes, is a former Portuguese professional footballer that has represented Portugal in two World Cups and three European Championships. Gomes has spent his career playing for clubs around Europe, including Boavista, Benfica, Fiorentina, Braga, and Blackburn Rovers. After his retirement, Gomes joined SL Benfica starting as President Advisor of International Relationships, and then moving to General Director of the Youth Department of SL Benfica. He currently work as a sports agency Consultant.

Join Nuno Gomes as he takes us through his career, how he has built his personal brand and the challenges and opportunities along the way.

Session 8: Who Game the World?: Women in Esports

In the last decade, we have seen fantastic growth in terms of the number of women gamers (50 percent of all gamers in the world today are female). A recent study further found that women lead men in mobile gaming engagement, as they are more likely to register and spend money within mobile games. With that in mind, this session will focus on the following:

• Why is it important to position women’s esports as a “product” in its own right, and not a by-product or an add-on?
• How can brands better engage with women in esports? What type of marketing or branding investment is required to reach, understand, and engage this emerging audience?
• What is the intersection of traditional sports and esports for women?
• Which cross-sponsorship and business development deals work and which do not?

Moderator:
Allison Rothman, Morrison Rothman LLP (United States)

Speakers:
Nicola Piggott, The Story Mob (United States)
Allison Rothman, Morrison Rothman LLP (United States)

Session 9: Playing the Tactical Game: Esports and Creating an IP Strategy

Speakers will tackle the problematic topic of intellectual property (IP) ownership—game publisher vs. teams, leagues, and players—and debate both sides of the issue. Typically, a game publisher owns all IP rights and has control over teams, leagues, and players. Players currently have limited earnings rights with existing IP ownership rights. Speakers from various parts of the business will discuss the following:

• IP and esports: a complicated relationship as to ownership of IP.
• Reaching the perfect harmony: how to align the rights of all stakeholders, including publishers, tournament organizers, clubs, and players.
• The latest case law updates in the area of esports and IP ownership rights.

Moderator:
Mariam Sabet, Al Tamimi & Company (United Arab Emirates)

Speakers:
Andrew Cooke, Fnatic (United Kingdom)
Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh, Hogan Lovells International LLP (Germany)

Wrap Up