SpoBiS 2011: Europe's largest sports business meet to take place on 7-8 February in Düsseldorf for first time

14 forums, around 150 national and international top speakers, and Main Stage events involving top industry players form the framework for the conference being held at the CCD Congress Center Düsseldorf. Central themes this year include the planned central marketing of media rights for World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches, the marketing of top athletes, and sponsorship in motor sports.

UEFA Events boss, David Taylor, to present the central marketing concept for the first time

Hardly any other issue is currently causing as much of a stir as the Union of European Football Associations’ planned central marketing of the television rights for the World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches. The person responsible for realisation of this new marketing strategy with an estimated revenue potential of up to one billion euros is David Taylor. The CEO of UEFA's marketing subsidiary, UEFA Events SA, shall provide an exclusive outline of UEFA's new marketing strategy at SpoBiS 2011, and discuss it with Michael Lina, Head of Sports Marketing, ARD Sales & Services (AS&S); Danni Strich, Marketing Director, German Football Association (DFB); and Robert Müller von Vultejus, Managing Director, UFA Sports; amongst others (February 8, 11:00).

BVB trainer, Jürgen Klopp, and Jens Lehmann to discuss the marketing of top athletes

He's the first round trainer: Jürgen Klopp, who led Borussia Dortmund to the autumn championship in the football Bundesliga, is one of the top guests at this year's SpoBiS. Together with former national goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann; Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Bild newspaper, Alfred Draxler; and several others, he will discuss the hot topic of "Marketing vs. sporting achievement: How top athletes strike a balance between commerce and professional sport" (February 7, 16:15).

Mercedes GP CEO, Nick Fry, to analyse the economic situation in Formula 1

How is the economic development of Formula 1 looking? How do sponsors value this competitive market and the development of sponsoring in international motor sports? These questions shall be considered in the motor sports forum taking place on the second conference day (February 8, 14:30). Mercedes GP Petronas CEO, Nick Fry, will share his assessment of the economic situation of Formula 1, and present his strategy for the upcoming season. What's more, Porsche AG's Head of Business Relations, Florian Kurz, shall deliver a presentation on “Brand partnerships in motor sports”, and the outlooks for “Partnerships in Formula 1” shall be examined during a discussion round with guests including Tom Moser, Executive Vice President Strategy, Just Marketing International; Manfred Zimmermann, cmg Client Management Group; and Wolfgang Giehl, Deutsche Post AG.

High-profile discussion on the subject of “Sport and Sustainability”

The subject of sustainability has long been relevant to the field of sport, hence a look will be taken at this aspect of significance to professional sports for the first time during the SpoBiS within the scope of the “Sport & Sustainability” forum (February 7, 9:45). The SpoBiS will be supported by Presenting Partner, TÜV Rheinland, who wishes to expand its activities in the field of professional sports. The services offered by this globally-active corporation with 14,000 employees range from economic and environmental sustainability though safety in stadiums to quality management in promoting young talent. Forum guests will include Erwin Staudt, President, VfB Stuttgart; Peter Peters, Managing Director, Schalke 04; and Michael Kammerer, Managing Director, 1. FSV Mainz 05, who will discuss and analyse the subject of sustainability.

About SPONSORS Verlags GmbH

SPONSORS Verlags GmbH has published the SPONSORS specialist magazine, which is the leading German-language sports business publication, since 1996. SPONSORS presents data, background information, facts, figures, services and special reports on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. For several years now, SPONSORS has also organized numerous leading specialist conferences.

ESB Marketing Consult AG

With the ESB Europäische Sponsoring-Börse, the ESB Marketing Consult AG operates a leading German-language networking platform for the sponsoring and event industry. The ESB partner network brings agencies, consultants and service providers in the sports, sponsoring and event industries together with sponsorship decision-makers. Since 1994, ESB has also organised sports sponsoring conferences, including the ISPO Sports Sponsoring Conference. In 2004, the two companies joined forces to host the Sports Business Summit, SpoBiS (formerly known as the ISPO Sports Sponsoring Conference), which is held at the start of each year.