SportNXT showcased Melbourne’s sport business credentials
11 Apr 2022
The who’s who of world sport administrators congregated in Melbourne for the inaugural SportNXT conference, which saw over 750 delegates and 70 pre-eminent sport leaders shape the future of sport.
Staged at Melbourne & Olympic Park’s state-of-the-art conference facility, CENTREPIECE, the three-day summit provided delegates extraordinary insights from – and access to – some of the most credentialled voices in world sport and business, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, US women’s national soccer team captain Megan Rapinoe, World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe and Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
SportNXT Chair Eddie McGuire said he was thrilled with the inaugural conference and couldn’t wait to return in 2023.
“It’s been gratifying for somebody who loves not only Melbourne and Victoria but sport.
“To be able to share all these ideas and provoke discussion going forward was what SportNXT was all about.
Speaking on stage following the final session of SportNXT for 2022 McGuire paid tribute to speakers and delegates: “To everybody who’s been up here on stage, from all the moderators, speakers and hosts thank you. They all have given so much of themselves and their time because they too believe in what’s going on.
“To our delegates, thanks for coming. It’s just been wonderful to feel the connection. There have been so many people in the room over the last two days who have such passion. So, thank you very much for that,” McGuire said.
McGuire revealed that the SportNXT concept was an idea generated by former Victorian Government bureaucrat Justin Hanney, McGuire and SportNXT director Bart Campbell and he paid tribute to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Minister Martin Pakula and the Victorian Government and the event premium partners Crown Melbourne and City of Melbourne for their assistance in making SportNXT possible.
McGuire said on and off the sporting arena, sport and recreation is the lifeblood of Victoria, injecting $9.2 billion into our economy and generating more than 70,000 full-time jobs from stadia designers to sports administrators.
He believes SportNXT provided the perfect opportunity to further promote the internationally renowned expertise of Victorian sport sector-based industries on a global stage and that’s what has been achieved over the last few days.
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