Olympians, marketers mingled at PR Daily co-hosted event in Paris
The hot topics of discussion included capitalizing on Olympic fame and women in sports.
Dozens of athletes and executives gathered in Paris to mix, mingle and discuss the ongoing Olympics, NIL marketing and more as part of a networking reception hosted in partnership by PR Daily, Green Buzz Agency, Axios and MOGL.
For five hours, participants sipped champagne and custom cocktails, mingling with current and former Olympians from sports including triathlon, handball and rowing.
“This was a really well-put on event, in a really nice, intimate location. Got to meet a lot of great people and had a great time,” said Ebiye Udo-Udoma, a member of the U.S. handball team.
Among the hottest topics of discussion at the event was how the athletes in Olympic events, which shine brightly every four years but then recede in the face of dominant sports like American football and baseball, can capitalize on their intense but often brief fame.
Tod Plotkin, founder and CEO of Green Buzz Agency, cited the overnight fame of Stephen “Pommel Horse Guy” Nedoroscik, who helped the U.S. men’s gymnastics team to an all-around team bronze – and became a viral meme.
“How does he continue that for months and carry on and turn that into some sort of profitable, revenue generating thing?” Plotkin mused.
Women’s sports were also a major conversation. Women have nearly achieved 50% gender parity at the games for the first time, NPR reported. Many of the this year’s biggest stars are women, including gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky, both old hands at the Olympics. Back home in the United States, women’s basketball continues to grow in popularity, driven in part by superstars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, both of whom are sitting out these games, leading to a unique opportunity in women’s sports for marketers.
“This was a great opportunity to meet cool people but also just learn about what other people are doing that’s related to sports, to health, to technology and this global initiative of athletes, sports and people who love sports,” said Christian Brown, founder and CEO of Blimish.
Sounds like it was a great event. Happy to see the pioneers of NIL for student athletes, MOGL, was in the house!