The Sport for Business Sport and Data 2025 event took place yesterday at the Sandymount Hotel in Dublin, bringing together sporting and business leaders with an interest in the impact of data to hear and engage in discussion with a great lineup of speakers.
The conversation was already buzzing over coffee and pastries when we called the full house to order and handed the microphone to Stephen O’Leary of Olytico to kick us off.
Anyone who saw Stephen speak to our Social Media Event a little over a year ago or he reads the work of the Olytico team in our Monthly look at Irish Sport on Social Media will have had their notebooks open and pens poised as he gave us six key takeaways from the power of collaboration, to the importance of looking at the right metrics, of not being afraid to learn from others (with credit given), to never simply pack away good content after one outing and plenty more.
Then it was Tom Fox of 53 Six to take to the stage and talk us through the ways in which proper segmentation, personalisation and creativity can transform the way in which organisations interact with their audiences.
Digital media have given us more power to know our customers than ever before and sometimes it can be the most simple of clues that lead to the biggest breakthroughs in attracting audiences to first like and then love a sport or a brand.
We were treated to a playout of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National team announcement from before the 2023 World cup which remains a class apart.
82 seconds of genius, accompanied by a soundtrack from Irish artist Lyra.
Gráinne Barry of leading global sports data provider Stats Perform and Ronan Jones of Whoop then joined Rob Hartnett on stage for a conversation about where Sporting and Fitness data has emerged from and where it is going.
We spoke of Limerick where both organisations have significant bases, of listening to their respective customer bases and of using data to get under the skin of our own consumption of sport and also literally under the skin of our own health and fitness.
Luke Byrne, Technical Director of Shelbourne FC was next up to talk about the importance of analysis when it comes to player recruitment, of allowing a club like Shelbourne with limited budgets to compete and beat rivals with deeper pockets not only in ireland but across Europe as well.
We finished the morning with a session with Colin Brett of Player Stat Data on what the strong Irish ecosystem in sports data can do to support and learn from each other.
Yesterday’s conversations before during and after the formalities indicated it is something that we can do more of so watch this space and please get in touch if you see ways in which it can happen. Remember every great execution begins with a simple question answered.
We were joined in the room by representatives of 1920 Worldwide, 53 Six, Ballincollig Basketball Club, Community Games, Diverse Sports Agency, Dublin GAA, Emu Publishing, Executive Venture Partners, Fabric Social, Future Ticketing, the GAA, Gaelic Players Association, Golf Ireland, Hockey Ireland, Horse Racing Ireland, the IDA, Irish Life, KPMG, Leinster Rugby, Munster technological University, Olytico, Onside Sponsorship, Orna, Paralympics Ireland, Playbook Sponsorship, Pelador, PlayerStat Data, the RDS, Shelbourne FC, Special Olympics Ireland, Sport for Business, Sport Ireland, Stats Perform, Swim Ireland, Triathlon Ireland, Technological University Dublin, Whoop and Wilson Hartnell.
We will be back with more in this area and others that unite our Sport for Business Community and watch out for how you can join us and play your part in the future.
The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations, including all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies.
Find out more about joining us
Further Reading for Sport for Business members: Sport’s 32 Items in the Programme for Government 2025-2029
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
We love doing events that bring together our existing and potential members, seeing what is possible when we work more closely together. Great feedback from yesterday and plenty more to come in the weeks and months ahead.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
Sports Tourism in April, another event to be announced for March and more to come.
MEMBERSHIP AND EVENTS
The Sport for Business community is made up of more than 300+ organisations. Our Daily content on the commercial world of sport is read by 40,000 readers each month. See below for our membership and our upcoming events.
The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations, including all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies.
