Winners and losers of the Swiss sports business 2018

Ringier CEO Marc Walder sheds light on the relationship between sports and the media. FC St.Gallen President Matthias Hüppi and Steffi Buchli (My Sports) draw an interim conclusion from their first year at the new venue, and numerous sponsors such as ABB, BMW, Julius Bär, Samsung, SAP, Swisscom, UBS, Western Union and many more explain their sponsorship strategy. Jolanda Neff, fourth in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, represents the active Swiss athletes, among others, and takes her personal look back at the annual highlight in Lenzerheide.

No more major sporting events in Switzerland?

Swiss citizens said "No" to Sion 2026, rejecting the Olympic bid of Switzerland as a winter sports nation in the middle of the year. Roger Schnegg, Director at Swiss Olympic, will address the consequences at SPORT.FORUM.SWITZERLAND. What prospects do large sporting events still have in Switzerland? The attractiveness of cities and regions is to be increased by sporting events. The necessary processes and structures seem to be rejected by the Swiss population.Which costs arise from large events, explains David Dellea, Sports Business Advisory at PwC. Denmark shows with Sport Event Denmark, how reactances can be reduced. The organization's vision is to develop the country into a world-leading location for international sporting events. The CEO Lars Lundov provides insights into the strategies at SPORT.FORUM.SWITZERLAND. Are politics, the population and the organizers all pulling in the same direction? A positive Swiss example is offered by the region around Lenzerheide, which also achieves tourist goals with the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Sponsors want business cases

In the summer, Formula E swept over the streets of Zurich and gathered renowned sponsors such as ABB and Julius Baer. Also Viessmann took the road from skiing to the Formula E track. Are new sports leading to disruption in the Swiss sports business? While in Austria and Germany sponsorship is already seen by 25% of sponsors as opening up new distribution channels, in Switzerland the figure is only 3% (Source: Nielsen Sports).The Raiffeisen Group is one of the most active Swiss companies in sponsoring. The role that lead generation and customer conversion rates play in a company's sponsorship decision reveals André Stöckli, Head of Sponsorship & Events. Sponsor-driven sports dominate and attract more major corporations. But what will the sponsorship model of the future look like? Personalized fan targeting will dominate sponsorship decisions (source: PwC Sports Survey). Can traditional sports provide the infrastructure for this, or will they be overtaken by newly raised sports formats?Go to registration here.About SPORT.FORUM.SWITZERLAND :For the 24th time, the Swiss sports industry meets at SPORT.FORUM.SWITZERLAND in Lucerne. The congress brings together decision-makers from companies, clubs/associations, media and agencies. Over 650 brand and marketing managers attend the annual industry get-together to hear the latest news from the Swiss sports world.