FIFA and UEFA in media focused workshop at Soccerex 2008

FIFA and UEFA will address the latest media issues affecting the football industry as part of the inaugural International Football Club Summit at Soccerex 2008.

The panel entitled ’21st Century Football – Broadcasting Platforms, Media Rights & Web 2.0′,
brings together experts from FIFA, UEFA, French Football League (LFP) and Host Broadcast Services (HBS).

This exclusive session will feature Philippe Le Floc’h (Marketing Director, UEFA) discussing UEFA’s innovative media rights strategy for the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League 2009/2012 and the revenue increase linked to the extended media platforms. He will discuss
the success of this project and the future revenue implications this will have for clubs.

The segmentation of media rights is now prevalent throughout Europe’s domestic leagues. This can be seen in the French Football League and Bundesliga, where the media rights packages have been broken down into separate mediums and sold off individually. A recent example of this is the mobile and internet media rights deal struck between HBS & LFP for the coverage of France’s Ligue 1. At Soccerex, Francis Tellier (CEO, HBS) and Redha Chibani (International Development Manager, LFP) will divulge the benefits such deals bring to the fans and how HBS will deliver 300+ games live to mobile handsets and the web. HBS successfully rolled out a similar new media broadcasting contract for the FIFA 2006 World Cup and will discuss the benefits such a service can provide when applied to a full season of domestic football.

Completing this session will be a keynote address from FIFA’s newly appointed Head of New Media, Matt Stone. In his role for FIFA he is charged with making sure football’s world governing body continues to evolve with developments in the new media sector. Stone will utilise this workshop at Soccerex as a chance to address the football industry on FIFA’s new media strategy and how they are embracing Web 2.0 as a means to improve their interaction with their audience.

The Media workshop is one of six workshops that will focus on the key revenue streams available to football clubs (Media, Stadia, Law & Finance, Player Development, Licensing and Sponsorship). Each session will feature 90 minutes of networking, debate & a key note address from the leading figures in each of these industry sectors.

Soccerex 2008 will take place between 23 and 26 November in Gauteng Province, South Africa.