The inside track on SXSW 2017 with Richard Ayers & Richard Clarke [podcast]

With South By South West (SXSW) having taken place at the start of the month, I thought I’d bring in two people who are regular visitors to the event in Austin, Texas and who both spoke at this year.

Richard Clarke (Sports Digital Consultant) spoke about the lessons in soccer storytelling from MLS and Premier League. And Richard Ayers (CEO, 7 League) led a panel that included league champions Leicester City, Barcelona and Juventus titled “Campeones Campeones Olé Olé Olé! It’s Worse To Win“.

I wanted to find out about what makes SXSW so special and such a draw for teams, agencies and brands each year. I’ve never been to the event (for various cost based reasons) so wanted to be convinced that it is time well invested and why they take the time and effort to put together their talks for it.

At the start of the podcast I spend a couple of minutes going through the main digisport headlines from this last month. This includes Twitter’s livestreaming of Lacrosse, Snapchat’s deal with the AFL, adidas talking about an end to TV ads and Barcelona launching their ‘Innovation Hub’ to a big fanfare. For Leigh Moore’s tweet mentioned in the show, you can find it here.

What did I take out from talking to Rich and Richard?

  • That it’s about more than just sport, the opportunity to experience different stories and from different sectors is what makes it unique and intriguing.
  • A lot goes into putting together a talk for the event, including having to put forward your idea and it being voted upon by the SXSW community.
  • Took some tips on what makes a great event and also a great talk (always good to take stock and learn).
  • That VR is undergoing a bit of a reset as we get over the hype and figure out how it will be useful.
  • That eSports is still a big thing for the industry (and that most of it isn’t sports as we know it), and FIFA has difficulties with it not being the most viewer friendly of the games available.

You can follow Richard Clarke on @MrRichardClarke and www.mrrichardclarke.com.

Richard Ayers is found at @7League and @RichardAyers.

I am on @danielmclaren – do let me know your feedback and leave a rating/review/comment if you enjoyed it!

About author

Daniel McLaren
Daniel McLaren 820 posts

Dan is the Founder & CEO of Digital Sport. Can be found at sports industry events and heard every week on the Digital Sport Insider podcast. @DanielMcLaren

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