Sport and digital to come together at Yankee Stadium
The world of sports will address the globe’s most pressing issues through cutting-edge digital strategy and campaigns when the greatest global gathering of sports teams and leagues around social change in history meets at Yankee Stadium on June 11. The transformative event will be staged by Beyond Sport, the global sports for social change organization.
Almost half of the world’s population is under the age of 24. Now in its fourth year, Beyond Sport United 2014 will explore the importance of engaging with this younger generation, and how digital and social media can be maximized by teams, leagues and brands to transform their business, their fan engagement and their wider communities. Social media powerhouses including Twitter and Google and some of the world’s most innovative online change initiatives, including Chideo and Prizeo, will share their expertise with brands and leaders of sports teams and leagues from around the world.
Senator George Mitchell, who spoke at last year’s Beyond Sport Summit, commented: “Youth disenfranchisement and youth unemployment are major issues for our global society, and the ability of sports to make a positive difference and drive young people to make change themselves should not be underestimated. The power of social and digital media to engage young people to drive social change has been proven time and again, from the Arab Spring to campaigns for human rights and female empowerment, and the opportunities for sporting organizations to make a genuine difference in this space are unquestioned.”
Beyond Sport United is backed by every US Major League, who collectively became the Founding Supporters of the movement in 2011. It showcases and develops the unique ability of sports teams to become the center of their local community, and emerge as hubs of positive influence and resource. The NHL, NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLS, NASCAR and MLB will once again meet at the event to further develop a multilateral approach to social change. Teams attending range from the Toronto Blue Jays to the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saint and Pelicans – and the event’s reach is not restricted to the USA.
Clubs and leagues from four continents have attended previous editions of the event, with the likes of Barclays Premier League giants Liverpool and Manchester City amongst a list of delegates that stretch from as far afield as the Australian Football League, South Africa’s PSL, the Israeli Premier League and Premiership Rugby, making Beyond Sport United one of the most international and influential business, networking and philanthropic events on the global calendar.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France, NBA Commissioner David Stern, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and MLS Commisioner Don Garber have all spoken at the event, and have joined with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to co-sign a unique letter acknowledging their member teams’ places as the cultural heartbeats of their respective communities, and vowing to tackle the responsibilities that come with that proud position.
“This pivotal role is one in which we take immense pride, but it does come with significant responsibilities,” wrote the Commissioners. “It is in recognition of this that we have placed the support of our organizations behind Beyond Sport United.”
“Every city has its unique challenges, but there is much we can learn from each other in terms of our overarching approach to community work and the impact it can have across a range of social issues from youth violence and crime to health to education. We have united to go beyond sport. And, through our collective commitment to this focused aim, there is much we can achieve together.”
Nick Keller, Founder of Beyond Sport, commented: “The ways in which sport can unite us develop and evolve on a daily basis, and the opportunities presented by the changing digital landscape of the world open a whole new spectrum to explore as we look to engage the next generation. Sport has an astonishing power to connect people and social media allows us to broaden and deepen those connections to dramatically impact our societies and communities.”
Major League Baseball; Major League Soccer; NASCAR, the National Basketball Association; the National Football League; the National Hockey League; and the Women’s National Basketball Association are Founding Supporters of Beyond Sport United – the first time the major US sports leagues have collaborated around the issue of sport and social change.
Beyond Sport’s Global Partners are Barclays, ESPN, TIME and Unicef.
Follow Beyond Sport on Twitter – @BeyondSport