IMG World Congress of Sports Moves to Miami in 2009

After a truly memorable program in March at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point, California, the IMG World Congress of Sports will be moving back to the East Coast in 2009. The world-class Mandarin-Oriental, Miami will be the site of the 2009 World Congress and plans for the program are well underway.

"In addition to the excellent feedback we received on the content, the overarching message from attendees this past March was that they loved the resort setting, the warm climate locale and all of the quality networking time that the '08 World Congress offered," explains Richard Weiss, publisher of SportsBusiness Journal. "The location we've chosen for the 2009 Congress enables us to have all of those elements."

Initial plans for 2009 are to expand, even further, the networking time built into the agenda, and to continue to incorporate new session formats and entertainment components into the program.

The 2009 agenda is under development, and in the weeks and months ahead, the Congress website will feature numerous announcements related to speakers, sessions and program activities.

To take advantage of the EARLY REGISTRATION offer please click Register Online.

Over 500 Industry Executives Converge on West Coast Resort
for 7^th Annual World Congress

With over 500 sports executives on hand, a speaker faculty featuring dozens of the industry's thought leaders, unparalleled networking and the beautiful St. Regis Resort as a host hotel, the 7th annual IMG World Congress of Sports had a discernible buzz from start to finish.

During the program's opening session on March 12, a half dozen top industry executives discussed and debated issues ranging from the economy's impact on the sports business to the "spygate" incident. Other highlights of the day included a one-on-one interview with DirecTV head Chase Carey and a keynote address from U.S. Olympic Committee chairman, former MLB commissioner and 1984 Time magazine "Man of the Year" Peter Ueberroth. The final session of the day was a thought-provoking crisis response roundtable in which a cross-section of industry personalities -- as well as former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer -- were quizzed on their action plan for a mock crisis situation taking place in Mexico City on the eve of a major international sporting event. In keeping with the goal of maximizing networking time for all attendees, the day concluded with a two-hour outdoor reception sponsored by Bank of America.

Day two hightlights included a no-holds-barred sports media discussion featuring top decision makers at ESPN, Fox Sports, HBO Sports, Turner Sports and the NBA, as well as interviews with two Hollywood titans with major sports interests: New York Giants owner Steve Tisch and Major League Soccer Seattle franchise owner Joe Roth.

In addition to the rich content, the entire St. Regis property was alive with World Congress activity during what has become known as the two biggest days in sports business. Sporting News Radio broadcast live from the Congress exhibit area, the Sports Emmys once again held their nominations press conference, and SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily streamed interviews with speakers and other VIPs over a specially-developed Web site.

"This year's Congress had it all," said SportsBusiness Journal publisher Richard Weiss. "We had great content, great
production, great networking and a packed house from start to finish."

To view complete World Congress coverage, as reported by SportsBusiness Daily, please click here.

Scenes From the 2008 IMG World Congress of Sports