TEAMS Europe Announces Speaker Roster

TEAMS Europe has announced its speaker roster, which includes leading experts from global organizations including the National Football League, the International Olympic Committee, World Rugby, the International Tennis Federation, LaLiga, Major League Baseball and more. TEAMS—the world’s leading conference and expo for the sports-event industry—unites sport event organizers with destinations, venues and suppliers interested in hosting or supporting their events. The conference will return to the ExCeL Center in London, June 27–29, 2023.

TEAMS Europe debuted in 2022 following the model of the TEAMS Conference & Expo in the United States, which will celebrate its 25th year, October 2–5, in The Palm Beaches of Florida. TEAMS Europe will unite European and North American sport organizations with destination representatives from around the world. In addition to business development through a marketplace with pre-arranged appointments, the conference will feature educational sessions focused on some of the most significant events and issues in the industry today, as well as networking opportunities including an Opening Celebration on a ship along the River Thames.

“Our successful launch of TEAMS Europe last year proved that the European market is searching for the type of business development, education and networking that we have pioneered in North America,” said Jason Gewirtz, vice president of the Sports Division of the Northstar Meetings Group, the organizers of TEAMS Europe, and executive editor and publisher of SportsTravel. “The caliber of this year’s speaker roster speaks to the respect the conference has already achieved and is indicative of the thought-learning we seek to offer to our attendees this year and in the years to come.”

On the heels of Major League Baseball’s return to Europe with the MLB London Series, MLB’s Vice President of Global Business Development Charlie Hill will join NFL UK General Manager Henry Hodgson for a session on how North American professional leagues have found new markets in Europe and beyond. MLB first played regular-season games in London in 2019 and after a several-year break will begin the first of several consecutive years in London June 24–25 at London Stadium. The NFL has recently announced that it will play five regular-season games in Europe across the UK and Germany in the upcoming 2023 season.

The first day of the conference will also feature a case study on the upcoming Rugby World Cups. The session will include World Rugby Executive Committee member Bob Latham, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Managing Director Sarah Massey and John Eades, the UK managing director for DAIMANI, which will provide hospitality to the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France, September 7 through October 28.

Other sessions at TEAMS Europe will include a deep dive into how the International Olympic Committee maintains best practices at its Olympic Games from host city to host city. IOC Manager of Insights and Learning Trofym Anderson will be in conversation with IOC member and International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty discussing how the efforts benefit host cities and athletes alike.

International branding will also be a topic of conversation as leagues and teams seek to improve their international profiles. Javier del Rio from LaLiga will join Elevate Sports Ventures Chief Business Officer Shawn Doss in conversation about how the best organizations are increasing their business in new markets.

Legal issues will also take the forefront in a custom-curated session from the top sports attorneys at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLC. Attorneys Steve Smith and Marc Trottier will break down the key legal differences for sports organizations operating in North America and Europe and what organizations need to be aware of before launching events in those destinations.

The conference will close with a forward-looking approach to sustainability, a topic of increasing relevance to the events industry in general and the sports industry in particular. Alex Smith, co-founder of The Sports Sustainability Group will join Nour-Eddine Boufertala, the head of procurement from the England and Wales Cricket Board, Ali Russell, the managing director of Extreme E, and Kate Suddards, director of business development for sport at CTM, in a conversation about what organizations can be doing now to make their events and travel as sustainable as possible.

TEAMS Europe is also a media partner of Global Sustainable Sport, whose founder Mike Laflin, will also announce a new initiative for sports organizations looking to do more in the area of sustainability.