SINGAPORE: Sportel’s much-trumpeted return to Singapore didn’t disappoint. The two-day shindig at Orchard Hotel Singapore drew 370 participants from 220-odd companies across 35 countries — proof, if any were needed, that the Asia-Pacific sports media market is no longer a sideshow but very much the main event.
Held on 24-25 March, Sportel Asia brought the usual glorious scrum of broadcasters, rights holders, tech merchants and media types under one roof. The turnout skewed usefully commercial: roughly a third of attendees were content buyers, another third rights holders — the sort of ratio that keeps deal-makers in the room and lawyers busy afterwards.
The geographic split told its own story. Some 55 per cent of participants flew in from Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, with the remaining 45 per cent making the journey from Europe and the Americas. Singapore, sitting neatly at the crossroads of both worlds, did exactly what it says on the tin.
The buyers’ roster read like a who’s who of regional broadcasting muscle — Astro, beIN Sports APAC, Bilibili, Coupang Play, DAZN Japan, Fox Sports Australia, Stan Sport and a clutch of telcos among them. Whether they left with deals signed or merely appetites whetted, the conditions were ripe.
Off the exhibition floor, the conference programme chewed over the big questions: how European leagues crack the APAC market, the march of generative AI and cloud production, the thorny business of streaming piracy, and the quietly booming world of women’s sport in Singapore. Meaty stuff, served without too much waffle.
The event’s Pitch Perfect innovation contest handed five plucky startups — Phygital International, Bimovin, S.O. Casual Creative, Appear and Layer Cake — their moment in the spotlight. Layer Cake’s Padraig O’Donovan walked away with the prize: a full-access pass to Sportel Monaco in October, where the real heavy hitters gather.
Agnès Marsan, executive director of Sportel Asia, called Singapore “a strategic gateway” — which is diplomat-speak for: it worked rather well.
The flagship Sportel Monaco follows on 19-21 October. The warm-up act has concluded. Now for the main match.
