EXPLORE THE 2026 PROGRAMME

Thursday 12 March 2026
8:45 – 9:45
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Brands Meet-Up: Smart Marketing in a World of Automation

Click for more information

Invite Only
8:45 – 9:45
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Brands Meet-Up: Smart Marketing in a World of Automation

Click for more information

  • An invite only, private gathering of brand-side executives designed to stimulate new ideas and raise shared challenges
  • A facilitated, off the record discussion exploring the role of AI in brand marketing
  • Unearthing ideas to help deliver tangible business impact

Invite Only
10:00 – 10:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Broadcast Briefing: Forecasting the Future of Media and Communications

Click for more information

Melanie Dawes

OFCOM

10:00 – 10:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Broadcast Briefing: Forecasting the Future of Media and Communications

Click for more information

  • How and why new media habits are being formed – and the implications for sport
  • Tactics for making sense of a rapidly evolving digital landscape
  • Online safety: how organisations should tackle new challenges around privacy and technology

Melanie Dawes

OFCOM

10:00 – 10:45
The Loft (2nd Floor)

The Road to B Corp: How to Set Your Organisation on the Right Track

Click for more information

Jeff Dodds

Formula E

Chris Turner

B Lab UK

10:00 – 10:45
The Loft (2nd Floor)

The Road to B Corp: How to Set Your Organisation on the Right Track

Click for more information

  • Formula E and B Corp unite to tell the story of how the motorsport series set a new global standard for sport
  • Making and measuring your contribution: How to set your ogranisation up for success and unlock previously unsee value
  • A leadership approach to prioritising profit and purpose, and how to take your team with you

Jeff Dodds

Formula E

Chris Turner

B Lab UK

10:30 – 11:00
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Leading From the Front: Staying Dynamic and Focused in Fast-Moving Industries

Click for more information

Paula MacKenzie

PizzaExpress

Hannah Brown

Brentford FC

10:30 – 11:00
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Leading From the Front: Staying Dynamic and Focused in Fast-Moving Industries

Click for more information

  • Honing the skills and attributes required to manage up, down and side-to-side in fast-moving sectors like sport and hospitality.
  • Instilling a common culture across dispersed and international teams.
  • Understanding what the consumer wants and when – the story of the Pizza Express record label and knowing when to diversify revenues

Paula MacKenzie

PizzaExpress

Hannah Brown

Brentford FC

11:30 – 12:10
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Be the Lead: Sport’s Cultural Bloom – Why Relevance is the New Reach

Click for more information

Kayode Bola

Hypebeast

Yafeu Downes

Meta

Sharlotte Ritchie

Universal Music

11:30 – 12:10
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Be the Lead: Sport’s Cultural Bloom – Why Relevance is the New Reach

Click for more information

  • What makes a truly culturally-relevant partnership and how to build one
  • Why inclusion and impact are now table stakes for business credibility
  • Making the step from sponsorship to cultural co-creation

Kayode Bola

Hypebeast

Yafeu Downes

Meta

Sharlotte Ritchie

Universal Music

12:10 – 12:40
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Powered by AI: How to re-engineer and re-energise your content offering

Click for more information

Mario Dughi

Unilever

12:10 – 12:40
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Powered by AI: How to re-engineer and re-energise your content offering

Click for more information

  • How Unilever built out and scaled up a network of AI-powered content studios
  • Hiring lessons: identifying the right skillsets to localize and personalize content with AI
  • Mixing in-house digital content capability with agency solutions – and finding the right balance

Mario Dughi

Unilever

* Lunch Break *
13:30 – 15:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Challenger and Emerging Sports: Life in the Attention and Revenues Dogfight

Click for more information

Phil Batty

Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Ross Hutchins

International Tennis Federation

13:30 – 15:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Challenger and Emerging Sports: Life in the Attention and Revenues Dogfight

Click for more information

  • How smaller, emerging, more resource-limited sports can survive and thrive as football squeezes the oxygen out of the industry
  • Turning problems to opportunity: creative thinking, clever collabs and upending traditional models
  • Doing more with less: working with finite resources and engaging fans with less disposable income

Phil Batty

Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Ross Hutchins

International Tennis Federation

Wednesday 11 March 2026
9:00 – 9:45
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Leading in Sport – Women in Sport Breakfast

Click for more information

Chloe Walton

Professional Leadership Coach

9:00 – 9:45
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Leading in Sport – Women in Sport Breakfast

Click for more information

  • Connect and network with senior women from across the sports industry – and beyond
  • Explore further opportunity, equity and growth for C-suite women working in sport
  • An energising session on leading for the future
  • Invitation Only

Chloe Walton

Professional Leadership Coach

10:00 – 10:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

The (New) World Order: Global Trends and What They Mean for Sport

Click for more information

Chris Grant

14A Conversations

Sir Andrew Mitchell

Former Shadow Foreign Secretary

10:00 – 10:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

The (New) World Order: Global Trends and What They Mean for Sport

Click for more information

  • Managing through turbulent times: how big political and economic shifts
  • How international businesses navigating complex geopolitics
  • Long-term societal changes: attitudes and habits under the microscope

Chris Grant

14A Conversations

Sir Andrew Mitchell

Former Shadow Foreign Secretary

10:00 – 10:45
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Immersive, Inventive and In-person: Turning Live Events into Truly Memorable Experiences

Click for more information

Judith Owens

Titanic Belfast and TBL International

10:00 – 10:45
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Immersive, Inventive and In-person: Turning Live Events into Truly Memorable Experiences

Click for more information

  • Amplifying IRL experiences with impactful digital presence
  • Making more of venues: the arena as media studio
  • Blending in partners to build more creative productions

Judith Owens

Titanic Belfast and TBL International

10:30 – 11:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Board Meeting: What Makes a Great Chair-CEO Relationship?

Click for more information

Liv Garfield

Two Circles

Chris Boardman

Sport England

10:30 – 11:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Board Meeting: What Makes a Great Chair-CEO Relationship?

Click for more information

  • Investigating the best dynamics for a fruitful partnership
  • Judging the moment: when to step in and when to sit back?
  • What does a CEO need from a Chair, and what does a Chair expect from a CEO?

Liv Garfield

Two Circles

Chris Boardman

Sport England

10:45 – 11:30
The Loft (2nd Floor)

The Power of Audience Connection: Monetising Content and Driving Revenue From Readers

Click for more information

Liz Wynn

The Guardian

10:45 – 11:30
The Loft (2nd Floor)

The Power of Audience Connection: Monetising Content and Driving Revenue From Readers

Click for more information

  • How The Guardian generated over £100 million in digital reader revenue through meaningful connection, careful packaging and high-value products
  • Why fuelling subscription growth through continuous evolution and refinement is the key to success
  • Driving brand connection and converting a mindset of supporting into 1.3 million digital recurring supporters

Liz Wynn

The Guardian

12:00 – 13:00
The Loft (2nd Floor)

The Ultimate Planning Session: The People, Process and Presentation of Major Infrastructure Projects

Click for more information

Tim Norwood

Gatwick Airport

12:00 – 13:00
The Loft (2nd Floor)

The Ultimate Planning Session: The People, Process and Presentation of Major Infrastructure Projects

Click for more information

  • Leading teams and stakeholders through major infrastructure projects Gatwick Airport’s transformation.
  • Pacing major projects and how to take major stakeholders – internal and external – along with you on the way.
  • Managing and prioritising through multi-year planning and delivery processes, and inspiring government, fans and partners.

Tim Norwood

Gatwick Airport

12:00 – 13:00
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Open Access: The Future of Ticket Distribution

Click for more information

Shaun Stewart

Viagogo

12:00 – 13:00
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Open Access: The Future of Ticket Distribution

Click for more information

  • Lessons from the travel sector: Making sense of a tech-driven ticketing revolution
  • How an open distribution model empowers event owners, venues, and disrupts live events ticketing
  • Making ticketing work for you: real-time data, global access and a frictionless fan experience

Shaun Stewart

Viagogo

* Lunch Break *
14:30 – 15:00
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Bringing Data to Life: Learnings from the Met Police

Click for more information

Darren Scates

Metropolitan Police Service

14:30 – 15:00
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Bringing Data to Life: Learnings from the Met Police

Click for more information

  • Explore how the Metropolitan Police Service collect, make sense of and apply large volumes of data.
  • What leaders of organisations should know about data processes, risks and privacy.
  • Building systems – choice points and learnings on the approach to data insights and ownership.

Darren Scates

Metropolitan Police Service

14:30 – 15:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Getting Serious About Piracy: Can Sport Stop the Great Content Robbery?

Click for more information

Stephane Le Dreau

NAGRA

Tim Cooper

Premier League

14:30 – 15:30
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Getting Serious About Piracy: Can Sport Stop the Great Content Robbery?

Click for more information

  • Evaluating sport’s leakage problem and the motivations to tackle content theft
  • Why there needs to be an industry-wide approach to content protection
  • Unearthing tactics to identify risks, utilise technology and change habits

 

Stephane Le Dreau

NAGRA

Tim Cooper

Premier League

15:00 – 15:30
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Bringing Data to Life: How Transport for London Keeps the Capital Moving

Click for more information

Lauren Sager Weinstein

Transport for London

15:00 – 15:30
The Loft (2nd Floor)

Bringing Data to Life: How Transport for London Keeps the Capital Moving

Click for more information

  • How decisions are made and data is used to oversee millions of daily journeys on London’s transport network.
  • Translating vast amounts of data into intelligence, in order to drive genuine improvements and enhance planning and customer service
  • How TfL is using AI to help unlock further value from data

Lauren Sager Weinstein

Transport for London

16:00 – 17:00
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Artificial Intelligence: Preparedness, Storytelling and The Future of Brand Equity

Click for more information

Marco Iannone

Virgin Active

Craig Hepburn

AI Strategist and Builder

Tom Huggins

The Team

16:00 – 17:00
Workshop Stage (Ground Floor)

Artificial Intelligence: Preparedness, Storytelling and The Future of Brand Equity

Click for more information

  • An open spaces, interactive discussion designed combining expert perspective and real-life scenarios to help augment your organisation’s AI approach
  • Preparedness and operational adoption: what are leaders doing to help build habits, enhance business processes and accelerate product development?
  • Agentic AI and the future of brand equity: what does it mean for selling, marketing and the value of my brand?
  • Storytelling and commercialisation: what should my relationship be with AI’s major tech players and what should I sell or license to them, and what can sport’s role be as a showcase for what AI can do?

Marco Iannone

Virgin Active

Craig Hepburn

AI Strategist and Builder

Tom Huggins

The Team

17:00 – 19:30
Connection

Social Hour & Live Football Screening

Click for more information

17:00 – 19:30
Connection

Social Hour & Live Football Screening

Click for more information

Includes a live screening of Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal from 5:45pm.

WHAT MAKES LEADERS MEET: INNOVATION DIFFERENT?

With the 2026 programme below, tailored to the most senior executives across the sports business, here’s what makes this event unmissable for those at the heart of decision-making.

statistic icon
LIMITED CAPACITY
statistic icon
OUTSIDE-OF-SPORT PERSPECTIVE
statistic icon
MEDIA-FREE ENVIRONMENT
statistic icon
C-SUITE AUDIENCE
statistic icon
PEER-TO-PEER DISCUSSIONS
statistic icon
INTERACTIVE FORMATS

Apply To Attend

This is an invitation only event, with every participant approved to ensure they meet the senior leadership criteria below.

If you meet this criteria a member of the leaders team will be in touch.

Participant Criteria – to qualify for the event you must hold a current C-suite or Director level position at a team, league, brand, broadcaster, or service provider working with the sports industry.

In partnership with:

  • Partnership logo
  • Partnership logo