FAI CEO David Courell, Teneo Sports Advisory MD Kelli O’Keeffe, British and Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley, and new Head of Women’s Rugby Strategy at the IRFU Lynne Cantwell are among the keynote speakers lined up for our first major event of the year.
The Sporting Year Ahead, in partnership with Teneo takes place at the Thomas Prior Hall in Ballsbridge on this morning, Thursday January 16th and will take place before a full house of leaders from across the sporting and business landscape.
Those unable to attend will be able to follow highlights shared from the room at #SportingYear2025
Here is the running order for the morning:
09:00 Arrival of Guests, Coffee, Pastries and Conversation
09:45 Opening Remarks from Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business and Kelli O’Keeffe of Teneo
09:55 Lynne Cantwell in Conversation
Lynne is the newly appointed Head of Women’s Rugby at the IRFU and is returning from a similar role with South Africa.
A Grand Slam winner and World Cup semi finalist as a player she returns ahead of a transformative year for the global game as the World Cup on English soil vies to break records in the game.
10:25 David Courell in Conversation
David was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the FAI in 2024.
He served as Chief Operating Officer of the FAI since February 2022 and as Interim CEO of the organisation from April 2024, stepping up to the top job in October.
We will be talking about facilities, investment, persuasion, performance and more in a one-to-one interview with Rob Hartnett.
11:00 New Faces in 2024
A shout out to some of those in the room taking on new roles across the Sport for Business community in the past 12 months.
11:15 Coffee Break and Networking
11:45 A Look Ahead to the Special Olympics Winter Games 2025 with George Fitzgerald
11:55 The Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Sentiment Index Deep Dive
Kelli O’Keeffe, Rob Pearson and Ellen McConville will take us through some exclusive research findings from the Annual Teneo TSSI report. Always some gems to be found here.
1230 Ben Calveley in Conversation
Ben Calveley is CEO of the British and Irish Lions and will lead the off the field preparations for next year’s Lions tour to Australia and for the first ever game the team will play on Irish soil at the Aviva Stadium in June.
From negotiating the trials of Covid in South Africa to the broadcast deal with Sky Sports for this summer, the hiring of Andy Farrell and the protection of such a valuable brand will all be on the agenda as he takes to the stage with Rob Hartnett for an in depth chat about his role and his leadership.
13:00 Looking Forward and Close of the Formal Proceedings
Among the 130 joining us will be representatives from Hockey Ireland, Titan Experience, Horse Sport Ireland, the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, Staycity Aparthotels, Wasserman, Paralympics Ireland, Aer Lingus, Vhi, Fáilte Ireland, Toyota, KPMG, AIB, Allianz, Greyhound Racing Ireland, Sports Direct, Electric Ireland, Core Sponsorship, Verve, Future Ticketing, Forefront Sports, Dublin GAA, Leinster Rugby, DP World Tour, Gymnastics Ireland, Diverse Sports Agency, The Hospitality Partnership, Flutter / Paddy Power, Ogier, PwC, Goal, BDO, Curragh Racecourse, Special Olympics, the GAA, Cricket Ireland, the IRFU, Clubforce, Legacy Communications, Golf Ireland, Hayes Solicitors, William Fry, 2Into3, Horse Racing Ireland, University of Limerick, the FAI, Trinity College, IWA – Sport, 1920 Worldwide, SSE Airtricity, Ripple Marketing, the Sandymount Hotel, Emu Ink, Teneo, the Federation of Irish Sport, Sport Ireland, Branding Sport, Nudge and more…
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All the tickets for the Sporting Year Ahead are now sold out. If you would like to register for any returns please email rob@sportforbusiness.com.
We will be announcing our next two events on Thursday morning.
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The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations, including all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies.
