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Bali to host first ever Sportel Rendez-vous
The international sports industry's go-to marketing and networking event, Sportel Rendez-vous, is returning to Asia for the first time since 2020 on Feb. 23-24, hosted by Indonesia’s renowned island province.
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AC Milan's Spanish midfielder Brahim Diaz (top) dives to score a header against Tottenham Hotspur's English goalkeeper Fraser Forster during their UEFA Champions League match on Feb. 14, 2023 at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. (AFP/Marco Bertorello)
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fter a four-year hiatus, Sportel Asia is once again bringing together businesses and broadcasters in the sports industry from around the world at Sportel Rendez-vous Bali, hosted for the first time ever in Indonesia.
Major industry players and broadcasters are expected to attend the event, held at the Grand Hyatt Bali from Feb. 23 to 24.
Confirmed attendance has been received from 190 companies from 31 countries, including all national television stations across the archipelago, as well as ESPN and Fox.
Among the organizations holding broadcasting rights, FIFA, Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, J1 League, One Championship and Tour de France are expected to market their products at Sportel Rendez-vous Bali.
“As a future [economic powerhouse], Indonesia must be the place global televisions would come to,” Peter Gontha, CEO of satellite broadcaster Transvision, said on Monday.
For the past 30 years, Sportel events were held only in Monaco and Miami, the United States, so Bali is set to host the first international sports media and technology market event to be held in Asia.
Peter explained that behind Sportel’s expansion to the region was the Asian economy, which had “seen the most rapid growth” and would become a future power.
Elaborating, Peter said China had more than 14,000 TV stations and India had around 1,400, while Indonesia had around 50 national and regional TV stations.
“[These stations] need a lot of content, especially sports content, because that is the most watched one,” said Peter.
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On top of connecting broadcasters and sports organizations, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry expects Sportel Rendez-vous Bali to generate exposure for Indonesia as a tourist destination from the event’s “news value”.
“Sport events always attract many spectators,” said the ministry’s undersecretary for tourism products and event organizers, Vinsensius Jemadu.
“It’s a low-budget, high-impact promotion,” he added. “Much like music, sports is a universal language, all [market] segments enjoy it.”
Transvision programming and content development director I Putu Bidharma Satya said that another goal of hosting the event in Bali was to get Indonesian sports broadcast internationally.
“Our sports leagues, be it football or basketball, must be broadcast abroad, and Sportel is the right market to promote them,” he said.
Satya added that all Indonesian sport federations needed to attend Sportel Rendez-vous to meet with stakeholders in the global sports industry.
In addition to conventional sports, Peter revealed that e-sports also would be represented at the event. Given that Indonesia was home to countless e-sports athletes and fans, the sector had great market potential.
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Sportel Rendez-vous Bali is also set to exhibit new broadcasting technology that uses artificial intelligence to operate all processes without human workers.
