Post covid events: mask, distance, disinfection and sport

The new reality of post-covid-19 events has been the theme of the third session of the 10th Conference of the Master in Sports Management organized by the UPF Barcelona School of Management. Carles Murillo , director of the Master in Sports Management at UPF-BSM, welcomed this latest meeting: “The common denominator of these sessions has been to observe the consequences on sport since the declaration of the state of alarm to see the challenges of the future ”.

Added value to not lose audience

Murillo presented Luca Scafati , Director of Business Operations at Euroleague Basketball, who was in charge of giving the central presentation of the event. Scafati wanted to talk first about the tasks of his work: "Organize, manage the competition and try to make the business work in order to distribute resources to the clubs."

Scafati has continued to talk about how the clubs are managing the situation caused by the coronavirus, starting with the Final Four, which last year was not played: “We were among the first on the world scene to return the money from the tickets , which are quite expensive, because we value the trust of the fans ”. The expert has identified a future trend in events in communication, hygiene and safety: "There is a lot of mistrust in entering a pavilion, the communication of the measures is to give confidence to the fans."

Another current and future trend will be that the amount of money spent on entertainment will go down: “Do we have to lower prices? No, but everyone must be given the opportunity to enjoy the events. Season tickets will disappear, they are very expensive ”. What the expert points to is the customization of events with different modalities of a menu.

Digitization with streaming , contactless , access control or transactions will also have an important weight in the consumer experience in this type of events, as well as the experiences of virtual reality, according to the expert. "We must be honest, nowadays it is more comfortable to watch a game from the television than to go to the stadium, that's why personalization is the future," he concluded. Scafati foresees that when everyone is vaccinated there will be a honeymoon with live events, but then things will cool off and if added value cannot be offered, a large part of the audience will be lost.

Mask, distance, disinfection and sport

The day continued with the round table in which Felipe Toledo , Managing Director at TerraIncognita Sport; Marina Fernández , Marketing Services & amp; Events Management and Brand Manager at Ona Carbonell & amp; PR on YouFirst; Enrique García , Project Manager - L'Étape Spain by Tour de France at RPM-MKT and Carlos Ramírez , Brand Manager Barcelona at ISL and who has been moderated by Gerard Valldepérez , CEO Trust Sport Management and co-organizer of the UPF-BSM Master's Degree in Sport Management Conference.

Toledo spoke about how to manage a trialrunning event with anticovid security: "We were the first to host an event like the ultra Sierra Nevada with 1,800 people, always avoiding crowds and with all the necessary measures" .

Fernández continued to speak about all the events they had scheduled: "Last 2020 was a year of changes and adaptations, it was the first time in history that an Olympic event was postponed one year." Mask, distance, disinfection ... each sport has had to adapt its events: "As organizers we have done a second master to learn to work in uncertainty". This has led to bubble competitions, the rise of virtual or closed-door events, distance, food ban and a lot of security -temperature control, test, gel… -.

Fernández has detailed the challenges that the sector faces: “Maintain motivation for registrations, adapt to health regulations, efficient management of resources, reduced capacity, integration of digital platforms, security bubbles and greater openness towards technology and innovation in sports with streaming or online activities ”.

The next to speak was García, to talk about new forms of income after the covid: “It has been very difficult to answer this question. The new ones are very complicated, but we have been able to consolidate the ones we already had ”. According to the expert, the relationship has changed so that now more than sponsors are collaborators.

Ramírez finally spoke about the management of cancellations before the sponsors in his company, which is dedicated to organizing sporting events normally lasting 10 days in the United States: “We were clear that we had to cushion the blow and we have not organized for a year. no event, but we are still alive ”. Ramírez comments that the objective was “to avoid cancellations, because there was no cash to return the money. These events are planned with a lot of time and investment. ”

"With the suppliers we have encountered two situations, some that could not return the money and others that we could not pay" and in both cases the sincerity, negotiation and agreement were key to not lose trust. "Throughout the process we have strengthened the relationship with suppliers and customers, based on trust and we hope that in the future we will reap fruits and successes", he concluded.