Concepts of ‘Mobile first’, ‘Smart Stadiums’ and ‘Big Data’ on the agenda of the first edition of the Symposium on technology and sport
The first Sport Technology Symposium, hosted by FC Barcelona, has been a huge success, where total of 320 professionals from all around the world were able to enjoy talks by representatives of the business and digital departments of different clubs and North American sports franchises. The forum featured representatives of the NBA in the form of the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic; of the NFL, with the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys; as well as European football, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma and Liverpool in attendance, as well as representatives of the Spanish Liga and the German Bundesliga.
The event, aimed at professionals from the sector, reasserted the impact of technology on the world of sport. It specifically focused on three of the most essential trends for understanding the present and future of the sports business: Big Data, Smart Stadiums and Mobile first. These were the issues that the speakers dealt with along with the general public, who were able to join in the conversation via social networks using the #FCBSportstech hashtag and whatsapp.
The event was organised by FC Barcelona in collaboration with the ESADE Business School and Oracle, one of the leading companies in the technology area. he idea being to offer a global forum to debate technology and data analysis topics in relation to sport and business performance, with a particular focus on football.
This forum for debate and business shall be held every November on the FC Barcelona premises, and aims to become a benchmark for assessing the changes in the business paradigm that have been brought about by the use of technology in professional sport. The next Sports Technology Symposium will be held on 10 and 11 November, 2016.
The Club’s CEO, Nacho Mestre, opened the day by welcoming the guests. The day was divided into two well-differentiated components. The first was focused on technology applied to sporting performance and the other on technology applied to the business model.
Statement by Nacho Mestre, CEO of FC Barcelona:
“Through the success of the Sports Technology Symposium, Barça has once again demonstrated its capacity for the organisation of quality events involving leading opinions and the professional sports sector. Under the Barça name, professionals from every continent have come together to analyse the impact of technology and sport.
The scope of the changes that technology has caused in the professional sports business means that forums like the one we have inaugurated today shall be established as new references for sports business and communication”.