There are not many venues in Dublin that have such exclusive glamour about them and the US Ambassador’s residence in the Phoenix Park never fails to wow on arrival.
Last night we were there for the first outing of the business of sport as part of the Embassy’s Creative Minds programme.
The room was packed for the panel discussion, led by Ger Gilroy and unearthing gems from Bernard Brogan, Fiona Slevin, Grainne Barry and John Kavanagh.
In a conversation that ran for just over an hour but could have gone on for four times that, each of the contributors created a lasting impression.
John Kavanagh spoke of the importance of simulations in the preparation of his fighters, of getting them prepared in advance for whatever might be thrown at them in the Octagon.
Touching on the importance of sport as a business as well as a sport he said that “as soon as you are being paid a dollar to compete in sport you become part of the entertainment world.”
“There are some fighters who simply don’t want to engage in the promotion but they won’t make the big money, no matter how good they are, and that’s fine, so long as they understand.”
Conor McGregor was different. “He always had a keen sense of his value and never undersold himself.”
“In the early days he would always say no to the tub of protein and a free t-shirt and he held out until the big money offers came on the table.”
“He also never stopped being himself, albeit in the different forms of fighter, showman and regular guy.”
When Grainne Barry became one of the co-founders of Sports Tech Ireland, the ambition was to position Ireland as a centre for the burgeoning world of sports technology and sports science.
“It is still in the very early stages of development but technology and performance are such an important part of elite sport already and that is big business.”
She is now taking on the role as Regional Operations Director EMEA for Stats, the US giant running data and analysis against most major leagues and sports around the world.
As she tours the world of high-level sport she will likely cross paths many more times with Fiona Slevin, the Chief Operations Officer with Orreco, whose blood marker technology and analysis is right at the cutting edge of sports performance.
“The next stage will be to bring that out to the wider public who are increasingly hungry for information about their own health and wellbeing,” she said.
Orreco also has a major emphasis on Women’s Fitness and performance and developed an app last year to help understand performance during the menstrual cycle, an area that has barely been touched before, despite its obvious likely impact.
Bernard Brogan is as smooth and professional an operator as any of the most highly trained US Stars. His recovery from knee surgery is going well and he hopes to play a part in Dublin GAA’s Championship run this season.
He also spoke of the importance of sport in terms of how brands see themselves as part of people’s lives. His Legacy Consultants, members of Sport for Business are growing stronger in that world and he will feature this week on Newstalk with Bobby Kerr looking at his other business venture Peptalk which is all about the wellbeing space.
US Sport is different from the rest of the world in many ways but the leadership it shows in terms of investment, future trends and more is vital for all sports to stay on top of. Having the US Embassy and the team of Charges D’Affaires Reece Smyth and Cultural Affairs Specialist Chris Visosky so tuned in can only be a winner for the Business of Sport in Ireland.
It’s a relationship which promises much more to come.
Sign up today for our free daily news digest covering the commercial world of sport or discover the benefits of becoming a full member alongside the many leading organisations whom we serve.
