VTB United League president Sergey Kushchenko took part in MARSPO, an international sports marketing conference, which was held today at Moscow’s Otkritie Arena. The focus of the conference was on best practices for increasing fan attendance.
Joining Sergey Kushchenko in a strategy session were Match TV general producer Tina Kandelaki, senior vice president and VTB Arena Park project manager Andrey Peregudov, FC Spartak vice president Nail Izmailov and HC SKA marketing and advertising director Olga Romanenko.
– We shouldn’t sell sports the same way we sell vacations, – noted Sergey Kushchenko. – If our goal is to fill an arena, we shouldn’t focus on outcomes and wins. Today, we emphasize other things. You have to create entertainment, make it a party, improve customer service. Then the fans will come to games. These days, it’s an important to take an unconventional approach, which helps attract a new audience. The VTB League’s All-Star Game in Sochi is a good example. It followed all the guidelines for an extravaganza. We invited real stars: L’One and Ivan Urgant. They’ve both got millions of fans on social media. We sold out four days before the game. It turns out you can attract fans to games in Russia and make money.
About MARSPO: The conference was held for first time in April 2016 and gained widespread recognition from the sports business as a well-run, effective event. The conference attracted more than 400 participants from 10 nations.
On April 12-13, leaders and experts in the field of sports marketing, including directors of top sports clubs, leagues, federations, sports arenas, successful sports managers, brand representatives, major media, marketing and communications agencies and many more will be in attendance.
The MarSpo Awards, which will recognize top performers in the field of sports marketing, will be presented for the first time. Experts in the field of sports marketing and management will determine the top projects and organizations that achieved major success in 2015-2016.
