4th International Frankfurt Football Summit

The football conference, which was initiated in 2015, takes into account the increasing internationalization of football and, as the »International Frankfurt Football Summit«, addresses the economic and media challenges of football. At the Football Summit, the topics “New markets in football business”, “Marketing in the digital age” and “Professionalisation of structures” will play an important role. The conference, together with its partners, is to be developed into an international meeting place at the Frankfurt football venue.

The hashtag for the event is #FootballSummit.

On the eve of the conference there will be an exclusive reception at the Villa Kennedy.

Speakers

Mark Abbott

Mark Abbott

Mark Abbott

President and Deputy Commissioner, Major League Soccer

The architect of Major League Soccer’s business plan, Mark Abbott was named president and deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer on June 19, 2013. He has been instrumental in many of the League’s accomplishments since he became the organization’s first employee in 1993, three years before MLS’ first season. As president and deputy commissioner, he leads and manages all areas of League operations and competition, including product strategy, player relations, strategic planning and communications. Abbott also leads a new business development group to address new areas of opportunity for the League and Soccer United Marketing.

Along with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Abbott is the league’s primary contact in discussions with potential investors and expansion cities.

Abbott was the principal author of the League’s business plan, ultimately approved by FIFA as a legacy of World Cup USA 1994, the most successful World Cup in history. He played a primary role in creating the League’s structure and negotiating with the initial investor-operator group.

As the League’s senior vice president of business affairs, he played a key role in the launch of MLS in 1996, earning the League the “Sports Industrialist of the Year” award from the Sports Business Daily industry publication. Abbott was promoted to chief operating officer in 1997 and became MLS president in 2006. He was named to Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 in both 2001 and 2002.

Prior to joining MLS, Abbott practiced law as an associate of MLS Founder Alan I. Rothenberg with Latham & Watkins, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and commercial law.

Abbott earned his law degree in 1989 from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Abbott was the Managing Editor of the California Law Review. Abbott is a 1986 graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Foreign Service degree in international economics, cum laude, and an honors certificate in international business diplomacy.

Christoph Biermann

Christoph Biermann

Christoph Biermann

sport-journalist; Columnist, 11FREUNDE

Fredi Bobic

Fredi Bobic

Fredi Bobic

Member of the Board, Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG

Fredi Bobic, Jahrgang 1971, ist ein ehemaliger Fußballprofi und seit dem 1. Juni 2016 Sportvorstand beim Fußball-Bundesligisten Eintracht Frankfurt. In seiner aktiven Zeit spielte er u.a. für Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96 und Hertha BSC. Für die Nationalmannschaft absolvierte er zwischen 1994 und 1998 sowie 2002 und 2004 37 Spiele. Seit dem 14. Oktober 2012 fungiert er als LAUREUS-Botschafter und Schirmherr von KICKFORMORE.

Jochen Breyer

Jochen Breyer

Jochen Breyer

TV Host, »Das aktuelle Sportstudio«, ZDF

Jochen Breyer has presented »Das aktuelle Sportstudio« of ZDF since 2013. He was hosting the Champions League evenings together with Oliver Kahn and anchor of the Football World Cup 2018 at ZDF. Moreover, he has been presenting the ZDF morning magazine since 2011 and produces socio-political features.

Bild©imago / foto2press

Marc Brost

Marc Brost

Marc Brost

Head of the Berlin Office, DIE ZEIT

Marc Brost has been the head of the Berlin office for DIE ZEIT since 2010. Prior to this position, he had been a reporter on economic policy issues for DIE ZEIT in Berlin. Born in 1971, he studied economics at the University of Hohenheim from 1991 to 1997. After completing his studies, Brost spent two years as an intern at the Georg von Holtzbrinck School for Business Journalists.
He has been an editor at DIE ZEIT since 1999; he was deputy head of the business department between 2002 and 2007. Brost has been recognised on numerous occasions for his journalistic work including the Georg von Holtzbrinck prize for economic journalism (2001), the Ludwig Erhard Prize for economic journalism (2003) and the Theodor Wolff prize (2006).

Bild©Anatol Kotte

Arunava Chaudhuri

Arunava Chaudhuri

Arunava Chaudhuri

Sport-Consultant und Journalist

Seit über 20 Jahren arbeitet Arunava Chaudhuri in der Sportmedienbranche mit besonderer Erfahrung im Bereich Online-Journalismus für die von ihm selbst gegründete Firma IndianFootball.Com. Außerdem ist der gebürtige Remscheider mit indischen Wurzeln als Korrespondent und Fußball-Experte für TV und Radio tätig.

Lucas von Cranach

Lucas von Cranach

Managing Director, Onefootball GmbH

Lucas von Cranach, geboren 1977 in Arnsberg, studierte VWL und BWL unter anderem an der University of California, Berkeley sowie der London School of Economics und machte seinen Abschluss in BWL an der Technischen Universität in Berlin. Nach ersten beruflichen Stationen bei EM.TV, Bertelsmann Venture Capital, Siemens S.A. in Madrid und Golding Capital Partners war er zwei Jahre in der Horstmann Gruppe als Assistenz der Geschäftsführung aktiv. Im Jahr 2008 gründete der leidenschaftliche Anhänger des 1. FC Köln das Unternehmen Onefootball (damals unter dem Name motain) mit einem digitalen Produkt – eine Fußball-App für Smartphones und war somit Teil der ersten Startup-Gründerwelle in Deutschland. Mit dem ersten Release unter dem Namen „iLiga“ war die App die erste Sport-App in Apples iOS App Store und eine der ersten 1.000 Apps überhaupt. Im Jahr 2013 konnte von Cranach mit seinem Startup als einer der ersten in Berlin mit Union Square Ventures einen der Top US Venture Capitalisten für sich gewinnen. Von Cranach akquirierte in den folgenden Jahren weitere VCs wie Earlybird, Lakestar und TPG Growth, aber auch strategische Partner aus der Fußball-Welt. Den Weltkonzern adidas, die amerikanische Sportlervermarktungsagentur Creative Artist Agency (CAA), SAP-Gründer Dietmar Hopp & Familie, aber auch Persönlichkeiten wie der ehemalige adidas CEO Herbert Hainer und Jörg Kukies, vormals CEO von Goldman Sachs Deutschland und nun Staatssekretär im Finanzministerium, konnte er als Investoren und Wegbegleiter gewinnen. Elf Jahre nach Gründung, hat sich Onefootball zur weltweit größten mobilen Plattform für Fußball Fans entwickelt.

Kushal Das

Kushal Das

Kushal Das

General Secretary, All India Football Federation

A Chartered Accountant by profession Mr. Kushal Das spent his initial years with various International Companies like PwC, Glaxo & Shell. In 1996, he took up the position of CFO with IMG, a global leader in sports marketing and TV Production when they made an entry into India.
Since then he has over 20 years in Sports Management and Marketing including a position as CFO of International Cricket Council in Dubai.
He took up the position of General Secretary of All India Football Federation (AIFF) since November, 2010. His focus has been grass root and youth development and to professionalize and improve operational aspects. Developing infrastructure is also a key focus. Currently 3 AIFF Academies in the age group of 14-18 years are operational. Grassroots program havebeen successfully launched in 8 states. National youth leagues for under 13 and under 15 have been launched recently. India very successfully hostedthe FIFAU17 World cup in 2017 which has proved to be a game changer for the development of football in India going by the significant amount of interest it has generated. India has now bid for the FIFA U 20 World Cup in 2019. In 2014, the AIFF along with its commercial partner FSDL launched the first edition of the Indian Super League which was a big success and has brought in the visibility and viewership which Indian football needed so badly.Currentlythe focus is also on restructuring the existing leagues to make it a sustainable model as well as developing women’s football. The Women’s national league was launched in 2017.

Thomas Fuhrmann

Thomas Fuhrmann

Thomas Fuhrmann

Leiter, ZDF-Hauptredaktion Sport

Thomas Fuhrmann ist seit Februar 2017 Leiter der ZDF-Hauptredaktion Sport, in deren Verantwortungsbereich die Redaktionen »Das aktuelle Sportstudio«, »ZDF SPORTreportage«, »ZDF SPORTextra«, »ZDF-SPORTtäglich « und ZDF SPORT.de fallen. Davor war er bereits in verschiedenen Leitungsfunktionen für das ZDF tätig, u.a. als Leiter des ZDF-Morgenmagazins.

Cathrin Gilbert

Cathrin Gilbert

Cathrin Gilbert

Responsible Editor Soccer Department, DIE ZEIT

As Political Editor of DIE ZEIT Cathrin Gilbert has established the weekly football page for which she is still in charge. After a traineeship with BILD, the sports journalist worked for seven years with SPIEGEL. She organises the ZEIT Cup Night on the eve of the German cup final in Berlin.

Christian Gruber

Christian Gruber

Christian Gruber

Senior Director Client Sales und Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung, SPORT1 MEDIA

Christian Gruber war vor seinem Wechsel zu SPORT1 MEDIA Geschäftsführer bei der Layenberger Nutrition Group und von 2014 bis Mai 2017 Geschäftsführer Marketing und Kommunikation beim Sportwettanbieter Tipico. Der studierte Jurist und Germanist blickt auf über zwölf Jahre in der Kommunikation und im Marketing für die Fußballklubs 1. FC Köln, VfL Bochum 1848 und 1. FC Kaiserslautern zurück.

Benedikt Hackl

Benedikt Hackl

Benedikt Hackl

Vorsitzender, Forschungscluster HR | Impulsgeber; Direktor, Forschungszentrum Management Analytics

Jens Hilgers

Jens Hilgers

Jens Hilgers

Co-Founder, BITKRAFT Esports Ventures

Jens is a Founding Partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, the world’s first dedicated esports investment fund. He is also Co-founder and Chairman G2 Esports, as well as Co-Founder and CEO of DOJO Madness, the leading esports data analytics startup.

Widely considered one of the godfathers of esports, Jens launched his first esports online services in 1997 and founded ESL in 2000. As ESL’s CEO for ten years, Jens grew the company into the world’s most prestigious esports brand and, along with it, paved the way for esports to go mainstream. In 2015, international entertainment company, MTG, acquired a majority stake in ESL, marking the first acquisition of an esports company by a traditional media organization.

Philip Holzer

Philip Holzer

Philip Holzer

Member of the Advisory Board, Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG; Former Partner and Co-Head, Goldman Sachs Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Bild©Tina Eck

Alexander Jobst

Alexander Jobst

Alexander Jobst

Mitglied des Vorstands, FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e.V.

Alexander Jobst studierte Sportökonomie an der Universität Bayreuth und stieg direkt nach seinem Studienabschluss im Jahr 2000 als Sponsoring Manager bei der Siemens AG ein.
Nach fünfjähriger Tätigkeit bei der Siemens AG bekleidete Alexander Jobst ab 2005 als erster Ausländer bei Real Madrid die Position des „Head of International Development“, bevor er im Jahr 2007 als Head of Sales zur Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) wechselte. Seit 2011 ist er mittlerweile als Vorstandsmitglied beim FC Schalke 04 tätig und verantwortet das Ressort Marketing.
Der Universität Bayreuth ist er treu geblieben: seit 2010 ist Alexander Jobst Mitglied des Wirtschaftsbeirats für den Alumniverein der Sportökonomie an der Uni Bayreuth.

Philipp Lahm

Philipp Lahm

Philipp Lahm

former football professional, football world champion and investor

Bild©Nadine Rupp

Sven Mislintat

Sven Mislintat

Sven Mislintat

Chefscout, Arsenal Football Club Plc

Seit Dezember 2017 ist Sven Mislintat Chefscout des FC Arsenal. Zuvor begleitete er mehr als zehn Jahre lang den Aufstieg von Borussia Dortmund. Das »Diamantenauge« des BVB war zuletzt als Leiter der Abteilung Profifußball verantwortlich für Scouting, Analysen und technische Neuerungen.

Moritz Müller-Wirth

Moritz Müller-Wirth

Moritz Müller-Wirth

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, DIE ZEIT

Moritz Müller-Wirth, born in 1963 in Karlsruhe, has been Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the weekly newspaper Die ZEIT since January 2011. In addition, he took over the position of Editor-in-Chief at Feuilleton from 2011 to 2013. The trained bookseller and publisher studied Politics and History in Freiburg, Munich and Rome, Italy. After three years of working at the “Focus“, Müller-Wirth continued his career in Berlin, writing for the “Tagesspiegel” between 1994 and 1999. Leaving the publishing house after two years as Deputy Head of the Culture department, he became the Feuilleton Correspondent of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“ until 2001. Shortly after, his career at Die ZEIT began, where he led the department Reisen/Leben (Travel/Life) for three years before becoming a member of the editorship in 2004. In 2015 he was awarded “Journalist of the year” (Sport Section) by medium magazine for his work with the former football player Thomas Hitzelsberger. Müller-Wirth is co-author of “Führungsspiel – Menschen begeistern, Teams formen, Siegen lernen“ that he wrote with Bernhard Peters and Hans-Dieter Hermann.

Bild©Michael Heck

Stefan Reinartz

Stefan Reinartz

Stefan Reinartz

former football professional; Co-Founder, Impect GmbH

Fabian Scheuermann

Fabian Scheuermann

Fabian Scheuermann

Vice President Product Operations & Strategy, Turtle Entertainment GmbH/ESL

Als Vice President Product Operations & Strategy bei Turtle Entertainment verantwortet Fabian Scheuermann die Produktstrategie der Electronic Sports League (ESL), des größten E-Sport-Unternehmens der Welt. Zuvor leitete er Restrukturierungs- und Strategieprojekte unter anderem für die Ströer Content Group.

Dr. Mark Schiffhauer

Dr. Mark Schiffhauer

Dr. Mark Schiffhauer

Chief Creative Officer, ZEIT Publishing Group; Managing Director, Convent Kongresse GmbH

Dr. Mark Schiffhauer is Chief Creative Officer of ZEIT Publishing Group and Managing Director of Convent Kongresse, DIE ZEIT’s event company (100% subsidiary). In this function, Mark is responsible for the B2B event and branded content business. Mark has over 20 years of experience in the global conference arena; he has held management positions in some of Germany’s leading event companies and has designed numerous events within global settings such as the World Economic Forum, the G20 Summit, South by Southwest or the Frankfurt Book Fair. He managed events with high protocol and security levels, among them the German World Bank Forum 2005, with Chancellor Merkel and the President of the World Bank Group. He holds a PhD in American Environmental History and lives with his wife and daughter in Frankfurt am Main.

Bild©Farideh Diehl

Christian Seifert

Christian Seifert

Christian Seifert

Managing Director, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH

Christian Seifert is CEO of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH for which he has been working since 2005. Moreover, he is a member of the Presidential Council of DFL e.V. and Vice President of the German Football Federation. Since 2018 he has also been Chairman of the World League Forum.

Bild©Katrin Denkewitz

Charlie Stillitano

Charlie Stillitano

Charlie Stillitano

Executive Chairman, Relevent Sports, LLC

Charlie Stillitano is an American sports manager and radio host. He currently works as Executive Chairman of Relevent Sports, the company that hosts the International Champions Cup. He also moderates a football show on the radio, which is broadcasted on weekdays.

Brian Sullivan

Brian Sullivan

Brian Sullivan

President & COO, Fox Networks Group

Brian Sullivan is President and Chief Operating Officer of Fox Networks Group (FNG). In this position, he has a broad operational role across FNG and directly oversees revenue and distribution for the Fox Television Group, FX, FOX Sports and National Geographic Partners. Sullivan joined 21st Century Fox in June 2015 as President & COO of Fox Networks Group’s Digital Consumer Group, where he led digital strategy for all FNG’s network brands, drove growth across FNG’s portfolio of authenticated streaming products, and harnessed digital opportunities around data, monetization and ad serving. In that role, Sullivan oversaw the introduction of a new streaming experience allowing live and on-demand viewing of FNG cross-network programming across all its authenticated apps including the first live primetime broadcast on an app in more than 200 markets nationally, and the first local ad insertion. Sullivan has served as a member of the Hulu Board of Directors since 2016, and joined the Board of Directors for National Geographic Partners in 2018. Sullivan a native of Philadelphia, previously spent nearly two decades in Europe in a variety of leadership roles in the pay TV arena. Before joining Fox, Mr. Sullivan was CEO of Sky Deutschland, Germany’s top pay TV provider, leading it through one of Europes largest ever media turnarounds and into an unprecedented period of growth, with the service’s customer base increasing almost 70% during his tenure. Previously, he spent 14 years at BSkyB, most recently as Managing Director of BSkyB’s Customer Group, using a specific focus on customers and innovation to help launch the original Sky Digital service, as well as Sky+, Sky HD, Sky Broadband and Sky Go, and driving the business to over 10 million customers. Earlier, Mr. Sullivan held various roles in the pay TV industry in the U.S., including time spent at Viacom’s Showtime Networks. He attended Villanova University, is married and has three children.

Bild©Gert Krautbauer

Stefan Thiele

Stefan Thiele

Stefan Thiele

Consultant, Egon Zehnder International GmbH

Stefan Thiele provides a range of services including executive and board search, leadership development, and leadership consulting. He is active in Egon Zehnder’s global Industrial Practice, with a focus on energy, and sport management. Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Stefan was Managing Director and CEO for various companies. Stefan has an MSc from the Technical University of Aachen, with a focus on energy economics.

Konstantin Winkler

Konstantin Winkler

Konstantin Winkler

Moderator, Sport 1

Konstantin Winkler moderiert verschiedene Esports-Formate auf SPORT1. Unter anderem kommentierte er die Weltmeisterschaft in “FIFA 18”, den FIFA eWorld Cup, live aus London. Auch beim Finale der TAG HEUER Virtuellen Bundsliga kam er zum Einsatz und war zudem Kommentator der ESL One 2017 in “Dota 2” auf SPORT1.

Bild©Ben Hoskins - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

In cooperation with

Partner

Sponsors

Media Partner

International Media Partner

Shuttle Partner

Impressions 2017

Sponsoring

Registration Services

Location

Villa Kennedy
Kennedyallee 70
60596 Frankfurt am Main

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