The Future of Football '24 (1st Edition)
Join us for an exciting event brought to you by a collaboration between two leading universities. This unique partnership brings together the best of academic minds and innovative ideas, promising a stimulating and enriching experience for all attendees.
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About the event
- Date: September 4 and 5, 2024
- Local: Center for Didactic Activities 3, Campus Pampulha UFMG - Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais - Brazil
Tickets
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Objective
To bring together the thought leaders of the global football community to discuss and debate the future of sport, with a focus on the ways in which technology and data-driven decision-making can be leveraged to deepen fan engagement, build culture, lead to competitive advantages on-the-pitch, and create value for clubs’ communities — fans, players, leaders, sponsors, and owners.
Background
The world is changing on many levels. Globalization of the sports business continues to reach new heights, with football leading the way. The pace of development of new data sources and analytical techniques is revolutionizing global football, both on and off the pitch. On the business and marketing side, global football is undergoing significant change. The attitudes and values of fans are evolving, presenting opportunities to create and expand the “culture” around our football clubs. New technologies are enabling deeper insights into fan behaviors and new techniques to intensify fan engagement are emerging. On the pitch, the proliferation of new and emerging data capture devices (wearables, doppler radar, optical and GPS tracking, hi-speed cameras, etc.), coupled with AI are having a dramatic impact. In September 2022, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) debuted a conference dedicated to the technical data science aspects of football performance. The conference further expanded in September 2023, drawing nearly 300 attendees.
The September 2024 version
Held on the campus of UFMG, Future of Football is designed to expand the conference in two ways:
- By expanding the geographic reach to broader regions of Brazil and South America and beyond, drawing participants, panelists, thought leaders, and attendees from the global football world
- By adding a day focused on the business of football, to include sessions on fan engagement, revenue generation, media landscape, sponsorships, and emerging streams — topics for which all football clubs are seeking new learning
The Event is Co-produced by two Esteemed Academic Institutions
- Computer Science Department at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) is a leader in Computer Science in Brazil. It has one of the best graduate programs in the country, with professors who are leaders in their respective fields. In sports, specifically, it has the first-ever Brazilian sports analytics lab (SALab), with 15+ students. The lab has published research in academic and industrial venues, organized two editions of the FAME event, and organized an elective undergraduate course on data science applied to football that is currently being offered for the second time.
- NYU Tisch Institute for Global Sport is the global leader in sports business education. NYU is the world’s most global University, with global centers in 13 major cities around the world. The NYU Tisch Institute for Global Sport has over 600 students, undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including the #1 ranked sports business graduate program in the world. As part of the School of Professional Studies, the Tisch Institute has deep industry connections and partnerships with sports brands all over the world, with a dedicated focus on the global football
The Program — The Future of Football
- September 4, 2024 — The Business of Global Football (NYU Leading Day)
- Panels and Speakers Topics, with a focus on revenue generation and building brand loyalty:
- Fan Engagement, Media, and Partnerships — deepening clubs’ relationships with fans and ways to monetize the engagement
- Creating Value for Partners and Sponsors — identifying the key elements of a strong value proposition for partners and sponsors
- Multi-club & Multi-sport Ownership Model in Football — Exploring the synergies and shared-service model from owning multiple football clubs
- Women’s Football — women’s football is expanding at a rapid pace. We explore the forces driving this acceleration.
- Case Study — Strategic Global Partnerships — A collaboration between FC Bayern Munich and Club Tigres
- AI and Data-Driven Decisions — the emerging role of AI in football and the ways it is changing the business of football
- Leadership and Innovation in Football — best practices regarding ways to create value for all stakeholders
- Evening networking reception and dinner for speakers, faculty, and special guests, which will provide an opportunity to expand everyone’s global network
- Audience, Partners and Guest speakers
- Confirmed participation includes leaders from brands, leagues and clubs, including — Gemini, FC Bayern, the Premier League, La Liga, Liga MX, Club Tigres, Atletico Mineiro, FIFA World Cup 2026, Alibaba, and AlphaPlay AI.
- Members of other organizations have expressed interest, including Cruzeiro, MLS, Montevideo City Torque, Bundesliga, Blue United, World Cup 2026, Betano, NWSL, and others.
- Panels and Speakers Topics, with a focus on revenue generation and building brand loyalty:
- September 5, 2024 — FAME: Football Analytics and Modeling Experience (UFMG Leading day)
- Full day of applications of technical tools to enhance decision-making on the pitch, ranging from player evaluation and selection, to in-match strategies. This will include innovate applications of generative AI to aid clubs to be more competitive. Topics include:
- Executives — bridging the gap between executive decision making and quantitative insights
- Scouting — how data can support not only the evaluation of players but automate and enhance the talent identification process in a club?
- Match Analysis — exploration of opponents’ traits and strategies that can be uncovered using data
- Performance–how can data give insight into the physical load players exert in training and matches?
- Predictive models in football–What are some of the challenges of creating models in football and how should insights be communicated to non-technical
stakeholders?
- Clubs and Brands who have confirmed interest in participating — Flamengo, Palmeiras, Atletico Mineiro, Red Bull Bragantino, Botafogo, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Ceará, América MG.
- Full day of applications of technical tools to enhance decision-making on the pitch, ranging from player evaluation and selection, to in-match strategies. This will include innovate applications of generative AI to aid clubs to be more competitive. Topics include:
Who Should Attend?
- Executives from football clubs who want to hear and learn from others in the global football and sports industry, while building their professional network
- Students who aspire to work in football or have an interest in the topics discussed
- The event will be supported by NYU, UFMG, and sponsors, with a modest admission cost for students and professionals’ registration by invitation