I landed in Twickenham last night and lucked out with a place just a short walk from the stadium. Arriving the next morning, you can’t help but be struck by the entrance to Leaders. Walking through the tunnel and out pitchside to those giant “LEADERS” letters never loses its magic. This year felt extra special, knowing the Red Roses had just lifted the Women’s Rugby World Cup here at the weekend. Sitting in the stand before it all kicked off, I spotted people in the upper tiers still cleaning up from the celebrations. A nice reminder of what sport at its best can do.
With a complimentary bacon butty in hand, I headed straight for the Creative Stage.
The first session was with Manchester City Women and Revolut. Deborah Wajsbrot from Revolut explained why their partnership works: DNA alignment. Revolut are disruptors and they wanted to partner with a team who had that same energy. Charlotte O’Neill from City described themselves as the noisy neighbours, constantly challenging the establishment, which made them a natural fit. What I loved most was Charlotte explaining how they take the time to understand the players’ interests and then work with brands to create activations the players actually enjoy being part of. It’s such a simple but powerful approach, and one every club and rights holder should be adopting.
Sticking with the same theme, FIFA and Rexona (or Sure in the UK) took the stage. FIFA have overhauled their model, breaking it down into men’s, women’s, esports, and clubs, rather than a one-size-fits-all sponsorship. It means brands now have more targeted choices, and Rexona jumped on the women’s opportunity straight away. With only 100 days before the Women’s World Cup, they still managed to deliver 400 activations across 50 countries, which is staggering. Emily Heath from Rexona summed it up perfectly: “It’s great to be a partner, but the hard work starts once the contract is signed.” So true, and something far too many brands and rights holders forget.
I then switched over to the Tech and Innovation Stage. Skarpi Hedinsson from the LA Rams and Disney, alongside Luis Ureta from Sportian, spoke about transforming the stadium experience through tech. The most interesting part was how data is now at the centre of everything. Better fan experiences aren’t just about entertainment, they’re about collecting meaningful data that drives commercial value for clubs and brands. As Skarpi put it, knowing the fan early leads to more monetisation.
That theme carried over into the next session on sports fan data with Claire Kelly from Gemba, Tanya Scherbina from Mercedes-AMG Petronas, and Ross Antrobus from LIV Golf. Claire’s opening stat floored the room: only 27% of tier one rights holders say they can draw meaningful customer data from their partnerships, 14% of tier twos, and none from tier three. Zero. Her point was clear: clubs and rights holders need to fix their “leaky buckets”, use the vendor data they already have access to, and most importantly, connect all of their different data points into one cohesive view. Tanya from Mercedes added a great point about the importance of tailoring content to different fans. There isn’t just one fan sat on the other side of the screen, and the brands who get this right will be the ones who win.
After lunch (and yes, Leaders know how to feed you), I made my way to the Headline Stage for Birmingham City’s owner, Tom Wagner. As an Aston Villa fan, I felt a bit like a spy in enemy territory. Wagner is a fascinating character though, charming, funny, and very good at holding a room. He spoke about why they invested in Birmingham, the challenges they faced, and his vision for the city. Some of it was eyebrow-raising (including him saying he cheers Villa on), but you can’t deny the ambition behind his plans for Birmingham’s sporting future. I’m just not sure whether it’s actually realistic (but maybe that’s just the Villa in me coming out?). I had to get a quick TikTok video in about this one on my sports marketing channel, so if you want to watch that head here as I go into a bit more detail.
The final session of the day was on creativity, consumers, and commerce, featuring Heineken, Babybel, and jewellery brand D. Louise. What stood out here was how each brand approaches partnerships through cultural vibrancy. Rajeev Sathyesh from Heineken talked about finding rights holders that match not just the target audience but also the brand’s philosophy. For their brand Fosters, that meant darts, a sport that perfectly matches their ethos of dropping the façade and just being yourself. Babybel spoke about seeking positive, unifying platforms like the African Cup of Nations or Tour de France. And Olivia Jenkins from D. Louise highlighted the power of female athletes as inspirational brand ambassadors.
The conversation then shifted to influencers and creators. The consensus was clear: athletes aren’t always the best fit for content, and influencers often land messages better because it’s what they do day in, day out. One line stuck with me: “Treat creators as creative directors.” Letting them bring their authentic selves into the partnership is where the magic happens, rather than forcing them into a branded straightjacket.
As the first day wrapped up, I’m about to head off for some more networking. I did meet TikTok’s head of sport sponsorship Nina Tsimpouli earlier who told me how much she loved our work with TeamViewer and the F1 Academy, this was probably the highlight of my day as it’s always so nice to see how our campaigns are landing in the industry, if you want to read more on that one, Lucy wrote a great post here.
Day two looks just as strong, with Spurs’ and England’s James Maddison speaking about TikTok and Richard Masters sharing his take on the future of the Premier League. If day one was anything to go by, there will be plenty more food for thought (and probably a few more bacon butties too).
