As a four-time Olympic medalist who now works full-time navigating the intersection of sports and technology, Angela Ruggiero preaches a simple message.
If global companies are not fully integrating technology into their everyday business, they not only run the risk of falling behind the times and their competition, but they could face missing out on major opportunity.
That’s why Ruggiero, the co-founder and CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, has partnered with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
to produce timely and relevant conference tracks that will be at the center of CES® 2018.
CTA, producers of CES, will again provide consumer technology executives and strategists with the knowledge to properly work their way around and through the ever-changing global technology landscape.
This year’s event, which will be held from Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas, will include more than 3,900 exhibitors that will launch products over 24 different platforms. The event offers business leaders a platform for innovators of all sizes to better build their brands.
But according to Ruggiero, who was part of four U.S. women’s Olympic hockey teams and who now serves as the chair of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission, global sports companies must remain keenly aware of how ever-changing technology impacts not only their business, but the business of sport itself.
“Sports technology is disrupting sports – it’s changing the game for everyone,” Ruggiero said. “It’s something that everyone has to be aware of.”
New to CES 2018 is the CES Sports Zone, which showcases how established technology giants and promising start-ups alike are exploring new ways to support athletes and athletic performance. From data-driven performance measurement and injury prevention and wearables, technology is making its mark in the sports industry.
As the event does each year, CES 2018 will tackle a myriad of timely topics to keep business leaders at the forefront of the industry.
As part of the four-day event, CES 2018 will include the Sports Innovation Technology Summit – a two-day program presented by CTA and The Sports Innovation Lab – the country’s first research company focused solely on sports and technology.
The Sports Innovation Technology Summit is a forward-looking conference track that focuses on the practical future and that paints a portrait of what sports will be in the years to come. Topics included in the summit will center around five vital tracks including the quantified athlete, immersive media, next-generation sponsorships and engagement, smart venues, and esports.
In each area, Ruggiero chooses to look at the way technology is disrupting sports as a positive model of change.
Innovation, she said, forces the hand of sports companies to get better and accelerates change as sports teams, leagues and federations fight to remain relevant. And at a time when sports franchises find themselves in competition not only with other teams, but with other entertainment options, Ruggiero insists technology must be part of the solution to remain ahead of the curve.
“Yes, it’s a risk if (global sports brands) don’t (use technology),” Ruggiero said. “But it’s also a massive opportunity to leverage what’s out there – to leverage how you engage your fans, to leverage how you support your athletes on the field of play, to leverage how you’re reaching your audience globally is all done through technology now.”
In addition to the conference tracks included in the Sports Innovation Technology Summit, Turner Sports will also present Sports Business Innovation (SBI), which convenes leading executives and influencers with a focus on the ways technology is disrupting and accelerating the business of sport.
SBI, which will also operate inside the CES Sports Zone, will center around three topics of conversation:
- Accelerating opportunities for members of underrepresented communities and identifying the next generation of stars
- Fragmented content landscape and the shift in distribution and content platforms
- Player-generated content and the consumer need for behind-the-scenes access
The headlining panel of SBI will feature Turner President David Levy, WNBA President Lisa Borders, Twitter COO Anthony Noto, UEFA Marketing Director Laurent Epstein and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash.
As part of SBI, Turner will program the two-day conference track that will include live discussions, a live ELEAGUE showcase and TNT’s Emmy Award-winning Inside The NBA broadcast team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.
The wide array of conversations that will take place over the four days remains at the core of the CES mission, Ruggiero said. Given the vital role that technology plays as global sports brands continue to flourish, providing shared space for the more than 170,000 visitors that are expected to attend CES 2018 is all part of why the annual event remains so relevant among executives and innovators.
“It’s a full-time job to know what’s out there let alone to interpret what’s out there and understand how the market is changing and why the market is changing,” Ruggiero said.
“To have a global destination and really focus the conversation on sports (technology) is really the vision of CTA and CES and creating the CES Sports Zone.”
Both the Sports Innovation Technology and Sports Businesses Innovation conference tracks are included with your CES registration. Be sure to register for the show today and learn how technology is changing our industry.