AS Roma Chief Paul Rogers, Enyadike, Leo light up Africa Digital Sports Conference

The Africa Digital Sports Conference (ADSCon2019) ended on Saturday, September 21, at the Four Points By Sheraton with a lot of highlights for delegates who came in from all over the country and beyond.

After Day One that was filled with speeches and panels, Day Two was the icing on the cake as it featured leading sports digital strategists like Paul Rogers, Head of Strategy of AS Roma Football Club, Emeka Enyadike of Digital Sports Africa and Mario Leo, founder of Germany’s RESULT Sports who took three impactful masterclasses and highlighted the opportunities for sports clubs, federations and entrepreneurs in the digital world.

Working with the theme, Monetising Sports in the Digital Era, the Africa Digital Sports Conference was a gathering of sports leaders, media and content creators, telecom executives, sports management students and entrepreneurs.

Lolade Adewuyi, Chief Strategist at CampsBay Media and founder of the Africa Digital Sports Conference said that the aim of the first edition had been fulfilled. “We successfully brought attention to the opportunities in the digital space that can make sports thrive in this part of the world.

Our delegates were left inspired by the case studies and the practical experiences of our industry practitioners. It encouraged sports leaders and management hopefuls to create innovative solutions to our industry’s challenges,” Adewuyi said.

Some of the leading industry experts in attendance were Honourable Nduka Irabor, Director of the League Management Company, Barrister Francis Orbih, President of the Nigeria Badminton Federation and Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Prince Adewale Oladunjoye, President of the Nigeria Triathlon Federation and Tournament Director of the Lagos Open International Tennis Championships, Mr Babs Ogunade, Vice President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Mrs Ayo Omidiran, a former Member of the House of Representatives, Mr Phemmy Adetula, PRO of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Mr Ademola Olajire, Director of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation, among many others.

Case studies from the sports industry came to fore with Anthony Okeleke of Lost Child Media narrating how the startup turned the traditional Hausa boxing sport of Dambe into a YouTube phenomenon having 100,000 subscribers and 20 million views in just two years via their channel Dambe Warriors. DK Aghaji, Africa Manager of Australian content production company, Inverleigh, spoke about their digital plans for content in Africa where they are actively promoting the EFC mixed martial arts sport.

The emerging sports OTT market was touched upon during a panel that was hosted by broadcaster Deji Omotoyinbo with panellists Seun Methowe, Head of African Partnerships at DAZN and Bolanle Afuye, Head of Digital at 9mobile. Koye Sowemimo of Temple Sports Management and Eyitayo Olayemi of Neuklos delved into the opportunities for corporate organisations to market to Generation Z in the digital era during a panel moderated by Deji Faremi of Tre Gong TV.

Three Nigerian sports startups making use of digital platforms were profiled in a session hosted by Andrew Randa. Gbenga Salu of Naijafootballers, Dare Lawanson of RefPredictor Interactive and Robson Omasheye of Fastlane Motorsports/Road X Championship spoke about the opportunities that they have made use via digital platforms. It was an eye-opener for the many young entrepreneurs who attended as they saw the potentials in the digital space for a variety of sports.

The Africa Digital Sports Conference was supported by GPC Media, RESULT Sports, Digital Sports Africa, The BusyBuddies, Adzinga Media, Soccernet, Udu Consult, STAR lager, Brila FM, Complete Sports, Goal.com and Athletics Africa.