Measurement Series #ESAwebinar #1: The role of the Rights Holder

My role as Head of Commercial at the Scottish Event Campus includes responsibility for Partnerships and Hospitality for The SSE Hydro – a 14,500 capacity live entertainment arena ranked in the top ten arenas globally by ticket sales, with over 1 million visitors each year. Our Partners include SSE, Virgin Money, Vodafone, Heineken, AG Barr, Capital FM and Eden Mill. The SSE Hydro is one of three venues on our campus, alongside the 3,500 capacity SEC Armadillo theatre and SEC Centre which offers over 22,500 sqm of exhibition space and hosts conferences for up to 3,000 delegates. SEC will be the host venue for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021.

I have been with SEC for 8 years, having previously worked in football for Heart of Midlothian FC and Bolton Wanderers, selling and activating partnerships with the likes of 188BET, Barclays, EA Sports, Umbro and Lassa Tyres. My interests include live music, lots of sport and eating out. I live in Glasgow with my wife and two young daughters.

Chris joined AEG Europe in February 2007. In his role as Vice President of International Partnerships and Strategy, Chris leads AEG’s international partner relationships as well as setting the strategy across AEG’s International Global Partnerships group that includes AEG’s Sports, Music and Venues division. Through this work Chris has also set up a 3^rd party consultancy division with in AEG working with clients including; FCB Barcelona, French Federation de Rugby, Battersea Power Station and Tottenham Hostpur Football Club.

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Chris overseas AEG’s multi-territory partnerships with American Express, DHL, Accor Hotels, Marriott, Toshiba and others activating across AEG’s Festivals and music tours, and venues including; The O2, Mercedes Benz Arena Berlin and Shanghai, ICC Theatre in Sydney to name a few.

Prior to joining AEG, Chris ran TUI’s sponsorship relationships across Football, Swimming and Ice Hockey as well the marketing of TUI’s Worldwide Touring brands. Chris lives in Hampton with his wife and two young children, aged 8 and 5, and whenever possible tries to sneak in a game of cricket or two each season.

Stephan Schröder is Senior Vice President of Global Brand Partnerships EMEA at ESL Gaming, the world’s largest esports company. In his current role, Stephan is responsible for all of ESL’s existing clients and for any new clients in the EMEA region.

Stephan has more than 20 years of experience in the sports and sponsorship industry. During his career, he has worked on various sports business trends and developments. Projects for brands, marketing agencies, rights holders and federations provided valuable insights into all areas of the entertainment industry, not only in Germany but in most parts of Europe and beyond as well.

Katie is Chief Communications Officer at FIA Formula E, the all-electric racing series conceived to play its part in the reduction of global climate change by accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles. Before joining Formula E, she was Managing Partner at ESA pan-European Agency of the Year WeAreFearless, a creative agency specialising in sport and entertainment.

Other roles include public sector as Marketing Lead for the British Council’s 200-market Shakespeare Lives anniversary campaign, and private sector specialising in marketing communications BMW MINI and Volkswagen and sponsorship communications at BP Castrol. Her role at Formula E signifies a return to the world of rights holders having started her career with a two and a half year stint at then FIA World Rally Championship global promoter and commercial rights holder, North One Television.

Sophie has been developing and implementing marketing strategies for the last 20 years with Director-level experience in financial services. 

She now runs Millharbour Marketing, a strategic marketing and sponsorship consultancy, focused on designing research-led business processes and tools for rights holders and sponsors that improve efficiency, relevance and commercial performance. 

Sophie is a Chartered Marketer, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, an ESA Board Director, an Advisory Board Member of the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London, a Lecturer and Strategic Sponsorship Programme Developer for Loughborough University London, an Advisory Board member of the Danish Sponsorship group ‘SPOT:ON Club’, a judge of the UK, Belgian and Slovenian Sponsorship awards, is a Business Ambassador (Partnerships Management) for School of Hard Knocks charity, co-founded ESA’s National Representatives workstream, and is an International Speaker on marketing and sponsorship topics.