The MLS was the protagonist of the first day of the Social Football Summit. Within the panel “Growth, Fan Culture and Experience: MLS”, Nick Zini, Vice President Partnership of Inter Miami, spoke: “Compared to 1994, we have a different structure,” he explained, speaking about the American football movement, “and now our fans can have real clubs to support. We have taken a step forward compared to the past, when we used to support South American clubs like Boca and River’.
Following this line of reasoning, Cory Bildstein, Head of Partner Solutions & Insights, noted: “We now have the chance to give the younger generation a club, a franchise to support. Now the average MLS fan is 37 years old: a younger fan base than in other American sports. This puts us at an advantage in that our fans are more loyal to the brands’.
One of the central themes of the panel, of course, was the landing of Leo Messi at Inter Miami: ‘To calculate his ‘impact’,’ Zini pointed out, ‘we will have to wait until the end of the season to account for all types of revenue.
For now there are tangible and intangible factors that demonstrate Messi’s impact.Among the tangible ones there are 3 factors of clear growth: in ticketing, sponsorship and hospitality’.Then Zini joked about the difference between the US and Italy: ‘The match experience is purely US-based, and our fans have four fan zones, partly organised by the club and partly by the brands’.
The focus of the panel then fell on the large bouquet of events to be organised by the United States: the 2024 America’s Cup, the 2025 Club World Cup, the 2026 World Cup for National Teams (in collaboration with Mexico and Canada), and the Olympics scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028.A huge opportunity for American sport.
Zini (Inter Miami): ‘On Messi’s impact there are 3 tangible factors’
The Vice President Partnership of the American franchise spoke at the Social Football Summit 2023
Tebas (LaLiga): ‘Support the Superleague is totally wrong’
The President of the Spanish top league spoke at the sixth edition of the Social Football Summit
Allazeez (Saudi League): ‘We want to be the main hub of world sport’
Arab football was also the protagonist of the sixth edition of the Social Football Summit: the Chairman of the Saudi League spoke about projects and strategies of the Middle East movement
‘Stadiums are the key to the future of football’: Ajax and Eintracht cases at SFS23
The topic of facilities closed the first morning of the sixth Social Football Summit 2023, bringing two important international experiences to the centre of the narrative
De Siervo (Lega Serie A): ‘Piracy takes 300 million away from Italian football’
The topic of piracy featured prominently on the Football Stage of the Social Football Summit 2023, also involving Liberatore (Agcom) and Amati (Almaviva)
Uva (UEFA): ‘We invested 82 million for the sustainability of Euro2024’
UEFA's Director of Social & Environmental Sustainability talked about how the continent's top football body will approach sustainability at the European Championships next June
Interview with KIKE LEVY
Hi Kike, this is not your first experience at the SFS, you have already participated several times as a goal representative, but this one will certainly be more special as you will have the role of presenter of one of the stages. What does an event like the Social Football Summit leave you with? I am really looking forward for the Social Football Summit this year, and as you said, this year will be special for me leading one of the
Interview with VITO PACE, CMO eBay in Italy
Why have you chosen to position yourself in the sporting arena and specifically in football? eBay positions itself as a marketplace of passions: we embrace and share the interests of our community, offering our users everything they want to feed and enrich their experiences. We asked ourselves what was the most popular passion among Italians, the one capable of capturing their attention the most: research and observers tell us that in Italy today football is followed by 34 million people, 57%
Interview with Paola Marinone
Hi Paola, this is not your first experience at the Summit, but this will certainly be more special given that you will have the role of presenter of one of the stages. What does an event like the Summit leave you with? I'm very happy to be back at the Social Football Summit and especially to have an active role as a presenter. I appreciate its evolution in the topics discussed as well as being more and more international, with speakers
Mosaico Studio and Social Football Summit together again for the sixth edition of the football industry’s most eagerly awaited event, which transforms the Stadio Olimpico into an event hub with a modern and avant-garde look.
This important collaboration adds to the already rich portfolio of Mosaico Studio, which has curated events of national and international scope over the past year. We talk about it with Felice Castrignanò and Luigi Bartone, CEO of Mosaico Studio. To begin with, tell us what Mosaico Studio is, what it does, and what distinguishes the company. Luigi Bartone: “Our story began like all good stories, with a chance encounter between different professionals, but all united by a passion for communication and architecture. From