The seventh edition of Sportaccord 2009 will take place from March 23-27, 2009 in Denver, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains of the United States - the first time the international convention for the world of sport is being held in North America.
The Sportaccord brand has been updated with a new logo and a new tagline which sums up the mission of Sportaccord as an event and a communications platform – Share Sport. The vibrant new website gathers all our online information and services together in one place, including the Sportaccord Networker Tool and Sportaccord TV.
Sportaccord 2009 will take place at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Centre. Following Sportaccord 2008 in Athens this year, with sold-out attendance of 1500 delegates from 500 organisations around the world, Sportaccord in Denver will again enable the sports community opportunity to come together on a global scale, in an exclusive and unique environment, to build relationships, exchange knowledge and develop ideas.
Sportaccord Executive Director Anna Hellman said, “One of our goals is to highlight a wide variety of sporting regions throughout the world. After several years in Europe and then two years in Asia, it was time to move to another continent. The US sports industry is enormous, extremely varied and wide-ranging, and run quite differently than it is in the rest of the world, so we thought it was important to be there. Denver is an exciting, beautiful place, home to at least seven professional sports teams and has had an extremely pro-active programme for bringing sport to their city. We are really looking forward to holding the event there in the Rockies.”
Sportaccord Week will feature a dynamic exhibition, numerous networking receptions and top-level conference sessions, including the new City Forum, as well as the annual general meetings of the Sports Governing Bodies.
Sportaccord has already confirmed the renewal of four Gold Sponsors for Denver. It will be the sixth year in the top sponsorship tier for IEC in Sports and the fifth year for both Contemporary Group and GL Events, while the Macau Sport Development Board returns for a second year.
Sébastien Brunet, Head of International Development of GL Events, said: "Sportaccord has allowed us to build brand awareness and develop our network within the sports community. Not only in order to find business opportunities, but also to better serve this industry, through a better common understanding. Sportaccord is the place where companies and federations speak the same language"
Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer of Event Scotland, which has again renewed as a Silver Sponsor, said: “We are delighted to be involved with Sportaccord for the sixth consecutive year, and our third on the sponsorship tier. Throughout this time we have found the opportunity to meet, discuss and network with leading figures from the biggest sporting events in the world an extremely worthwhile exercise. Indeed, during this time we have successfully managed to develop and enhance Scotland’s reputation to a point where we are now recognised as a professional and flourishing major event destination. The opportunity that Sportaccord presents to us, to continue to communicate that Scotland is the perfect stage for events, is why we are delighted to be continuing our involvement with Sportaccord for 2009.”
