Tuesday - Wednesday, December 7–8, 2010
Many of the most powerful executives in US racing participated in the inaugural Motor Sport Business Forum held in 2009 in Orlando during PRI Trade Show Week, instantly creating one of the most important business events on the annual motorsports calendar. Approximately 260 attended.
Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of ISC, was a keynote speaker, as was Bobby Rahal, who announced his new historic racing series. Zak Brown, founder the renowned racing marketing firm, Just Marketing, was the conference chairman.
Organized by IM2 Events, the forum allowed executives of racing sanctioning bodies, professional race teams, race promoters, major sponsorship companies, media firms and others an opportunity to share their insights into how motorsports is evolving and how to best prepare for a more successful 2010. IM2 Events produces similar conferences in Monaco, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and elsewhere. The event returns to Orlando in 2010 on December 7-8. For more information, go to www.msbforum.com/northamerica.
Just a few of the executives in attendance were:
- Steve Phelps, chief marketing officer of NASCAR
- Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL's commercial division
- Tom Compton, CEO of NHRA
- Hunter Nickell, president of SPEED
- Ed Goren, president of Fox sports
- John Wildhack, EVP program acquisition and strategy for ESPN/ABC
- Marshall Carlson, president of Hendrick Motorsports
- Bud Denker, executive vice president marketing for Penske Racing
- Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway
- Bea Perez, senior vice president integrated marketing for Coca Cola
- Kim Green, COO of Andretti-Green Racing
- Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
"We are very pleased with the initial number of delegates for our first North American Forum," said Simon Berger, founder and CEO of IM2 Events. "The initial participation is very encouraging and is actually slightly more than the first edition of our flagship Monaco Forum which has now grown to over 700 delegates for this year's event.
"The Motor Sport Business Forum here in Orlando has been a great success," said Zak Brown, conference chairman of the event and CEO of Just Marketing International. "I think being here along with PRI is fantastic. To be able to bring the industry leaders of the highest forms of professional racing to Orlando and tie that in to PRI is a great fit for everyone to learn more."
Michaelian said, "At the conclusion of the first day I thought there was a lot of good insight, I thought the list of participants was exemplary and one of the reasons I wanted to participate is because I felt not only that we had something to contribute but also that there would be a good dialogue, and I think the expectations were easily met.
"I think the important things that we were looking for were the state of the sport and the vision that people had going forward, some of the sanctioning bodies and others, and also listening to what the sponsors are looking for in terms of return and value," continued Michaelian.
Additional racing industry figures at the Motor Sport Business Forum included:
- Roger Edmondson, Grand-Am president
- Jamie Davis, Versus Network president
- Lenny Daniels, Turner Sports COO
- Hank Adams, Sportvision CEO
- Kevin Thomas, vice president strategic marketing for Roush Fenway Racing
- Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing manager
- Michael Waltrip, MWR owner
- Martin Whitaker, Bahrain International Circuit CEO
- and many more.
"The first day was really focused on the various racing series," Brown noted. "We had all the industry leaders out, and they talked about the state of their sport, where it's going and kind of the state of the industry, and therefore the economy.
"Day two was a bigger focus on sponsorship activation and how the commercial side of the sport works and ultimately the measurement of it," he continued. "We've been able to provide a full experience of how the sport works all the way through the sponsorship and what the sponsors get out of it. That really gives everyone a 365 degree look on how professional motorsports works."
For more details or to register visit: www.msbforum.com
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