SBJ Behind the Scenes: Brand Innovation Summit presented by Paragon Leave a comment
It was a whirlwind week in sports business highlighted by the PGA Tour-Saudi PIF merger, Lionel Messi’s upcoming move to MLS and a changing of the guard at the top of the Notre Dame athletic department.
Any one of those developments would dominate the news cycle in a normal week, and they all happened within a three-day span. At the same time, top marketers from across the business gathered in Chicago for SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit, presented by Paragon Marketing Group.
A record crowd of nearly 600 attendees packed into the main ballroom at the Ritz Carlton Hotel for the opening of the event on Wednesday morning. They were greeted by SBJ Publisher & Executive Editor Abe Madkour, as well as Rashid Ghazi, president of Paragon.
When Madkour turned over the stage to Ghazi, he started his remarks with some breaking news of his own. “I don’t know if you guys heard about the merger yesterday, but it’s huge news with the Saudis,” Ghazi said. “They bought Front Office Sports and SBJ and they’re combining them.”
The crowd erupted in a laughter, and even Madkour smiled and said, “That was fun.”
Ghazi, who flew from L.A. to Chicago to be at the opening of BIS, landed at 1am local time and was in top form on stage just a few hours later. “Thank you for having me and thank you for not putting the event on my anniversary,” he said. “Last year, this was on my anniversary, so my wife, a client and six of my staff members all had dinner together, which was really romantic.”
There was some actual news that came from the stage Wednesday morning when Ally Financial’s Andrea Brimmer, during a presentation that wowed the crowd, also let everyone in on a new event that will take place in Charlotte on Nov. 9. The inaugural Ally Tipoff will feature two teams from last year’s Women’s Final Four when Iowa (with Caitlin Clark) and Virginia Tech play at the Spectrum Center.
“It’s going to be broadcast on ESPN and we’re going to build a whole weekend around it,” Brimmer said. “So, it should be pretty cool. And that logo looks pretty badass.”
Also check out Brimmer’s cover-story profile from earlier this year.
Some of the more interesting comments came from CME Group CEO Terry Duffy, who sat on a panel with LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. CME Group has been a longtime partner of the LPGA and when asked by moderator Abe Madkour what he thought could be headwinds impacting the growth of the LPGA, he mentioned potential future issues around players and cited the situation around transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
Also, when asked his first thought upon hearing about the PGA Tour-PIF news, he said, “Human rights.”
(l-r) SBJ’s Abe Madkour, the LPGA’s Mollie Marcoux Samaan and CME Group’s Terry Duffy
Unsurprisingly, Kendall Coyne Schofield had plenty of fans that wanted to speak to her after her panel on women’s sports being a smart investment.
Some were fans of her play with the U.S. Women’s Hockey team, including winning gold in 2018, but most were Chicagoans that swapped origin stories with Schofield and her husband, Broncos offensive lineman Michael Schofield, who, like his wife, is from the suburbs south of Chicago.
Two well-received case studies were presented Wednesday afternoon, when Dick Podiak, VP/marketing and communications at Old Dominion Freight Line, outlined how the company entered into sports sponsorship and put together a national program around college sports and saw great brand lift.
It was followed by Patrick Sullivan, chief marketing, sales and revenue officer for Sugarlands Distilling, who talked about how the company embarked on a partnership marketing strategy with sports leagues and teams to grow Sugarlands into a national brand. For more on Sugarlands and its development, read SBJ’s cover story from last August.
The all-out effort award goes to … Luker on Trends SVP Donte Scott, who attended Day 1 of the event, but drove back the 300 miles to his home in Detroit to see his oldest son pitch in the regionals against the defending state champs. His son came through, pitched well, got the win and went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.
On Thursday, there wasn’t a train early enough to get back to Chicago, so Scott got up early and drove back to Chicago for Day 2. Great effort!
Day 1 ended with a full-group discussion, facilitated by Abe Madkour, where attendees stood and spoke of their biggest takeaways from the day.
Among them — the consistent need for communication from the property, agency and brand; the rise of new, niche-focused sports leagues, the benefits of a strong hospitality package in any sponsorship and the benefits of more purpose-driven marketing.
Before BIS officially started, attendees were invited to a WNBA game on Tuesday night between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky. Those who rode the buses from the Ritz Carlton to Wintrust Arena were treated to a 108-103 overtime win by the hometown team as well as a local-themed buffet on the Sky Deck highlighted by Chicago-style hotdogs and Italian Beef sandwiches.
Down on the court, the Sky’s Marina Mabrey led all scorers with 28 points. Aliyah Boston, the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick, scored a season-high 25 points for the Fever to go along with 11 rebounds.
BIS attendees took in a Chicago Sky game the night before the conference began
A reception on Wednesday was hosted by Athletes Unlimited, which included two custom cocktails (Top of the Ritaboard: tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup; and “Home Run” and Coke: rum, Coke, orange bitters).
In addition, AU athletes across three sports — lacrosse, softball, volleyball — made an appearance on stage and then came to the reception and took photos with attendees in front of custom backdrops. Athletes Unlimited also had a station where packs of Topps cards of the athletes were given away, and attendees had a chance to get them signed by the athletes in attendance.
ONE Championship’s Harishankar “Hari” Vijayarajan started off Wednesday morning at an invite-only breakfast discussing brand activations. NRG’s Jay Kaufman shared key audience trends for live sports. SBJ’s Abe Madkour facilitated the brand-only breakfast.
Others in attendance included: Laron Davis, the Bears; Bart Gallagher, Roku; Matthew Herek, BMO; and Jessica Muir, Comcast.
The speaker and VIP reception and dinner was at Time Out Chicago — an innovative dining concept with many food options, overlooking a gorgeous Chicago skyline and sunset. Attendees were treated to specialty cocktails and Mediterranean-themed appetizers before getting a dining card and choosing from the various food-court options on the ground floor.
Spotted at dinner were Genesco Sports’ John Tatum, Paragon Marketing co-founder Tony Schiller, Sugarlands Distillery’s Patrick Sullivan, Bojangles’ Jackie Woodward, U.S. Soccer’s David Wright, The Famous Group’s Andrew Issacson, Athletes Unlimited’s Jon Patricof, Deloitte’s Shawn Bryant, Molson Coors’ Justine Stauffer, Brutus Broth’s Julia Lauria, TikTok’s Harish Sarma, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois’ Jill Wolowitz, UCHealth’s Christina Hixson and ONE Championship’s Tai Morshed, among others.
There were over 150 people in attendance at the Women’s Sports Club/Ally breakfast, sponsored by Sports Innovation Lab.
The breakfast featured was a carefully curated table seating style that was designed to generate speed introductions and dealmaking. CEO Angela Ruggiero of SIL kicked off the morning and shared data points on the growth and strength of women’s sports and women’s sports fans.
Attendees were treated to surprise and delight items across both days of BIS, with a mix of items to take away and ones that could only be experienced by those at the event.
Items included:
- The LPGA hid three vouchers under seats for free clubs and a lesson from a professional golfer
- NASCAR hid five vouchers under seats for tickets to the debut Chicago Street Race and a mini commemorative helmet
- ONE Championship gave out gift bags with t-shirts and hats
- Pickleball wristbands and headbands from Margaritaville
- Moonshine sampler from Sugarlands Distilling (flavors: apple pie, banana cream pie, butter pecan, coffee & dark chocolate, hazelnut, orange, peach, peanut butter)
- Garrett Mix Popcorn (gourmet cheddar and caramel popcorn)
- Frito-Lay handed out chips before their session
- Brutus Broth handed out dog bone broth
- NASCAR had two simulators for attendees to take a turn at the wheel
- ONE Championship had its One World Title Belt on display
Thank you to all of our Brand Innovation Summit sponsors, as well as attendees!
We look forward to seeing many of you at our next the event, the invitation-only Thought Leaders retreat, presented by GreenbergTraurig, from July 17-19 in Ojai, Calif.
