Host City: What are the hot topics on the agenda at SPORTELAsia this year?

Laurent Puons: It appears that the industry is very concerned about their media rights and current developments in OTT.  We have received many requests on these topics and have worked out a very good selection of panels that will shed some light on these issues, especially concerning the Asian territories.

Host City: From your perspective, how does the sport marketing and media industry in Asia compare with that in the rest of the world, in terms of technology use and market demographics?

Laurent Puons: Asia is the home of many exciting emerging markets and leading technology providers. Sports fans across Asia have a diverse variety of platforms to consume sports content, and the fact that the majority of the world’s population lives in Asia provides international stakeholders in sport with an opportunity like no other. The challenge of unlocking the potential of Asia is knowing which specific technology is the best for each sport, in each country and its respective culture.

Host City: Some are concerned that the audience for traditional sports is ageing; what kind of sports content will become more dominant in the future?

Laurent Puons: That is a good question and difficult to answer. It all depends on the available broadcast platforms. Sports television or media is dominated by traditional sports, led by European football and of course the networks must provide content their audiences want to see and their advertisers want to invest in. As these dominated slots are becoming rare, other sport suffers and lacks visibility. Due to new technologies and OTT platforms, new and dedicated channels can be built and offer fans the opportunity to see their sports on different platforms. I believe that MMA is on the rise and eSports is returning because of these new opportunities.

Host City: Why is it so important for event rightsholders to attend major conferences in Asia?

Laurent Puons: As mentioned before, more and more Asian nations are developing more media opportunities and in result of that it is important to be present in Asia to deal and control rights directly. For this reason SPORTEL helps the industry with this spring convention, enabling the elite rights owners to deal direct with different Asian territories and build their business. SPORTEL will always be upfront and centre when it comes to building business opportunities for the sports marketing and media industry. That is what SPORTEL is historically known for.

Host City: What are the main challenges and opportunities facing the sports broadcasting sector right now and how is SPORTELMonaco addressing these questions?

Laurent Puons: The main issue the industry faces these days is that the world is becoming smaller for everybody. Broadcasting is not only a territorial effort, but with new technologies that enable broadcasting and streaming via internet and social media, territorial and legal matters have become a major headache for rights owners. Broadcasters are facing more and more competition from OTT providers and classic broadcasters must face the reality of extinction, although many still don’t believe it.

The fact is however that audiences worldwide demand variety and freedom of choice. This, for the sport industry is of course a great development and opportunity! The more fans can be rounded up across the globe to see just one sports event, the greater the opportunity to build brand, event and merchandise deals in multiple territories globally.

It’s impossible to cram all issues into one conference, there is simply not enough time to address all at once, but during SPORTELMonaco we can definitively address issues such as OTT, social media and new developments in Asia, which will lead up to our next spring convention SPORTELAsia 2018, in Singapore.

Host City: SPORTELMonaco is now described as “The World Sports Marketing & Media Convention”, reflecting a wider remit than the traditional focus on broadcasting. Why have you changed focus in this way?

Laurent Puons: We haven’t changed our focus, rather evolved “with” the industry, as more and more technologies appear every year that enable events, productions and broadcasters to deliver more sports content to viewers and fans on a massive variety of platforms and change the content business significantly. Also this part of the industry is a lot more influenced by marketing objectives of agencies, federations and brands. In result it is of course a necessary and natural progression of SPORTEL to provide these business opportunities to our community. No other event, but SPORTEL can realistically provide this wide variety.

3/ How can SPORTELMonaco help rights holders to find new ways to reach audiences?

Laurent Puons: For close to 30 years, SPORTEL has always been part of the industry development. Our team knows the industry personally, which is why we never address them as clients but our “community”. We have open and direct dialogues, built on years of trust and know how, understand which companies do what and know what will happen before most in the industry do. This gives us the advantage to prepare and build real business opportunities for the community.

SPORTEL truly is on the frontline of the industry and together with international decision makers we are in the position to see the future of our industry and react accordingly.

Knowing your customer is essential for any business, whether that’s a sports or entertainment organisation staying attuned to the feelings of fans or a media organisation understanding the mindset of its viewers, readers and listeners.

In the digital age, customer data has grown exponentially. But who owns the most data? The retailer is the first port of call for most customers, so online retailers are sitting on a massive digital resource that has the potential to expand the reach of any content-producing organisation – particularly when sports and entertainment is increasingly distributed globally via a single channel: the internet.

The agreement between the International Olympic Committee and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is a perfect example of a partnership between an organisation dedicated to world-class content and another dedicated to reaching customers, in the world’s biggest and fastest growing market.

The deal, announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos and negotiated by Shankai Sports and Michael Payne, who set up the IOC’s TOP sponsorship programme in the 1980s, is highly innovative. In joining as the latest TOP Sponsor, Alibaba is said to be providing around US$1bn of financial support to the IOC over the next six Olympic Games. Alibaba becomes the IOC’s official provider of Cloud and e-commerce services as well as partnering with the IOC’s online Olympic Channel.

The sponsorship deal is said to have been conducted independently of Alisports, which already partners with a number of other sports organisations to deliver sports directly to fans via Alibaba’s own online channels.

Retailers are traditionally not producers of content, but they are starting to occupying this space. Amazon is already distributing online television direct to its customers – and if the e-commerce giants do start to launch their own sports events, the pressure on traditional sports organisations to assert the authenticity and integrity of their own properties will get even more intense.

The English Premier League has sold its broadcasting rights in China for a record sum to online streaming service PPTV.

The Chinese internet broadcaster is paying US$700m for the rights to screen the 2019-20 season, according to an anonymous Associated Press source.

The figure dwarfs the US$145m reportedly paid by Super Sports Media Group for the broadcast rights to the Premier League for six years from the 2012/13 to 2017/2019 seasons.

"We were successful in our bid, but it hasn't formally been signed yet," PPTV spokesman Sun Xiaobo told Reuters.

PPTV is the media division of Suning retail group, which also owns Italian club Inter Milan and the broadcast rights to Spain's La Liga games live in China .

China is investing $850bn in sports by 2025 and is looking for global partners to develop its entertainment and cultural sectors.

The rapid development of sports, entertainment and digital media in China is high on the agenda at Host City 2016, which kicks off in Glasgow on Monday 21^st November.

Speakers from China include Wang Dong, Vice President of Alisports – which has the online broadcasting rights from World Rugby – and Olivier Glauser, CFO and co-founder of Shankai Sports.

Ten international sports federations (IFs) have agreed to broadcast their events on the IOC’s new Olympic Channel. 35 events hosted in all regions of the world will be broadcast in 2016, ranging from Olympic qualifiers, world championships, world cups, grand prix and more.

Racket sports feature prominently on the schedule, which includes 18 badminton and six table tennis events. The other eight sports represented are basketball, fencing, canoe, ice hockey, shooting, triathlon, wrestling and archery.

“We have received excellent feedback from broadcasters on archery’s coverage at Rio 2016,” said Tom Dielen, Secretary General of World Archery.

“The Olympic Channel gives an opportunity to build on the wide exposure Rio offered, even though the Olympics are over.”

According to the International Sports Press Association, such collaborations aim to complement the IFs’ current broadcast and distribution arrangements.

The Odense 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, for example, will also be broadcast on World Archery’s YouTube Channel and via selected broadcasters worldwide.

The Olympic Channel is working with the IFs to create innovative partnerships including event coverage, highlights, magazine shows, news coverage and original programming, with further announcements expected in the autumn.

“We look forward to working with our IF partners to help distribute their events and extend their reach to fans around the world. Placing a spotlight on Olympic sports and athletes outside of the Games themselves is one of the key priorities of the Olympic Channel,” said Mark Parkman, General Manager of the Olympic Channel.

“Launching the Olympic Channel with this event programming already in place ensures that fans will be able to continue their excitement of Rio and the Olympic Games all year long.”

The Olympic Channel is a new digital platform where fans can engage with Olympic sports all year round via mobile apps for Android and iOS devices and at olympicchannel.com. The channel launched on 21 August following the Closing Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Worldwide Olympic Partner Toyota Motor Corporation and Bridgestone Corporation have this week become the first Founding Partners of the Olympic Channel – the IOC’s a new digital platform that launches on Sunday 21 August following the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

The Founding Partner agreements have a four-year term extending through to the end of 2020.

Bridgestone, the world’s largest tyre and rubber company, became the first Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel on Monday, having been a Worldwide TOP Partner since 2014.

“Bridgestone has demonstrated its support for the Olympic Movement and belief in the Olympic values through its long-term commitment as a Worldwide TOP Partner, and through this new agreement we look forward to working closely with them to bring the Olympic Channel to fans around the world,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

Toyota signed as a Worldwide TOP Partner in 2015 and the IOC announced company as a Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel on Friday.

“We are delighted that Toyota, our newest Worldwide TOP Partner, will also support the Olympic Channel as a Founding Partner,” said Bach. “We look forward to strengthening our partnership through the Olympic Channel.”

The Founding Partners will support the development of the Olympic Channel to put content into the hands of fans anytime, anywhere, and on any device, according the IOC.

Through the relationship, Toyota will receive exclusive advertising opportunities and will work with the Olympic Channel team to co-develop inspiring and exciting content, the IOC said.

Bridgestone will serve as the presenting partner of the Olympic Channel’s “Against All Odds”, an eight-episode documentary series that demonstrates the very embodiment of the Olympic spirit and follows eight athletes. Each half-hour episode will focus on one athlete, offering a first-person account of a key turning point, and how personal will and determination helped them to overcome adversity and reach their goals. The first episode in the series will premiere on 21 August, when the Olympic Channel launches.

“This is a very exciting time for Bridgestone as our Worldwide Olympic Partnership marks the first truly global marketing platform in our company’s history, and the Olympic Games Rio 2016 – the first ever in South America – are our first as a Worldwide TOP Partner. It is fitting that we also are the first Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel,” said Masaaki Tsuya, CEO and Representative Executive Officer, Bridgestone Corporation.

“The Olympic Movement is universal and we continue to reaffirm Bridgestone’s longstanding support for sport and our belief that the core principles of Olympism – and the world’s greatest athletes – should be celebrated every day of the year.”

As a TOP Partner, Bridgestone is strengthening its commitment to the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Channel mission, outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, to reach audiences around the world, beyond the Olympic Games period, 365 days a year.

TOP Partner Toyota will support the organisers of future Olympic Games, the IOC and National Olympic Committees and their Olympic teams around the world. In line with Olympic Agenda 2020, with sustainability as one of its key pillars, Toyota will work with the Organising Committees through to 2024 to provide sustainable mobility solutions for the Games to help with safer, more efficient mobility, including intelligent transport systems, urban traffic systems and vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems.

The partnership will help deliver a mobility legacy in the host cities and countries, the IOC said.

About the Olympic Channel

The Olympic Channel is a digital-first, multiplatform global Olympic media entity, which aims to broadcast the Olympic Movement and its inherent values all year round, especially in the periods between the Olympic Games.  The primary objectives of the Olympic Channel are to provide a platform for the continuous exposure of Olympic sports and athletes beyond the Olympic Games period and to help create anticipation while providing opportunities to "re-live the experience" after the Games; continuously highlight the relevance of the Olympic Movement's ideals to the challenges of today's world; provide a platform for sharing the IOC's very rich patrimonial assets and archives with the world and create additional value and content for the IOC archives; and engage the young generations around the world using methods that are relevant to them, building understanding, entertainment and education. At launch, the Olympic Channel will be a digital platform, with on-demand content available across the web, mobile, tablet and other connected devices where fans can experience the power of sport and Olympism 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. Audiences will also be able to access content and engage through a variety of social media platforms as part of the Olympic Channel network. For more info, please visit olympicchannel.com.

The worldwide rise of digital media is concurrent with the growth of the middle class – and nowhere is this more evident than in China. Millennials are consuming content primarily through digital media, and their appetite for sport is immense. China's investments in sports and entertainment will be a key theme of Host City 2016, the largest meeting of cities and cross-sector events, which takes place in Glasgow on 21 and 22 November.
The distribution of sports content in China is being driven largely by internet companies. The long and growing list of online companies in China involved in the sports market includes Wanda Group, Tencent, Sina Sports, and PPTV. Two of the most recent and nimblest arrivals on the scene are Alisports and LeSports, the leaders of which shared their ideas with Host City at World Football Forum.

Alisports’ disruptive innovation 
Alibaba Group amassed a US$200bn fortune primarily by connecting global buyers with the Chinese supply chain. But the company realised there was a large missing piece from its giant online jigsaw. 
Wang Dong, Vice President of Alisports says, “In order to complete its ecosystem, sports is one of the elements initially they missed and they want to put this last puzzle piece right there to complete this whole situation.” 
In December 2015, Alibaba’s newly formed “E-Auto” connected car brand signed an eight-year Presenting Partnership with the FIFA Club World Cup. 
“This nine month old company signed a deal with the FIFA Club World Cup as really part of the way to make its presence felt,” Wang Dong tells Host City. 
“By aggressively being involved in the world sports arena, the presence of China will be strongly felt.”
In April 2016, Alibaba Group launched its dedicated sports brand, Alisports, to tap into the growing market opportunity. 
“I think the overall environment of the sports industry is getting stronger and stronger. And overall we see that, given the boost of economy of China and around the world, the sports industry is certainly a way to reach out more,” says Wang Dong.
Private sector investment in China is running in tandem with a massive government drive to boost sports. “I think that given that we have a very football-loving President Mr Xi, showing leadership there, all the elements are on the table – and this is a way to really find out more business opportunities.”
Alisports will use its online platform and connections not only to broadcast existing events but also to launch new innovative formats. 
“We are acting as a service provider, with the eplatform for everybody to launch their business on. And also we do our own sports activities as well by operating events, by running events and by actually being closely in touch with associations around the world to, if you will, be a little bit disruptive, to create some new events, formats and leagues and regulations, to attract the younger crowd. 
“It could be three-a-side or five-a-side street football or basketball – a bit different to the traditional leagues that include more people.” 

LeSports – accessing users through sports
LeSports is the sports brand of China’s largest online video company LeEco, broadcasting online for mobile, for OTT (over-the-top) TV and laptop.
“LeSports is maybe the most ambitious sports company in China,” Ma Guoli, Deputy Chairman of LeSports tells Host City. “We are concentrating not only on the media but also events and products – everything related to sports.” 
LeSports won the broadcasting rights in China for three matches of the International Champions Cup, including a match between Manchester United and Manchester City in the National “Bird’s Nest” Stadium on 25 July. 
LeSports owns the online broadcasting rights in China to the qualifying rounds of 2018 World Cup. The company is also investing in businesses outside the People’s Republic of China, having bought the media rights in Hong Kong for the Premier League and the World Cup in 2018. 
“We have our own platform in Hong Kong – so we telecast it ourselves and also sublicense some rights to local TV platforms. And we have subsidiaries in the US but we are just getting started there.”
More than 40 sports disciplines are broadcast on LeSports. “We’ve got a joint venture with Lagardere Sports Asia; for the future we would like to do more partnerships.
“In terms of investment, at the stage mostly we prefer to buy. To get a joint venture with an existing sport organisation is not easy. Because if you are the organiser you like to sell the rights – it’s better than to joint venture.”
Competition between digital platforms in China is strong, he says. “For the new media platform, a view means a user and a user means a potential consumer. The key point for the digital platform is to get more and more users. And they need media rights to get more users.” 

Why digital is booming in China
Ma Guoli says China presents immediate opportunities for internet broadcasting that do not exist in the western world. “In Europe and the US, I believe traditional TV has no competition from online in the next ten years, mainly because they own many rights until 2030. 
Digital media companies are growing much more quickly in China, Ma Guoli says, because there is no competition for TV from commercial broadcasters. 
“In China we lost the opportunity to develop the pay TV business. It is such an important source of revenue for sports organisations. 
“Because in China there is only one TV network for sports, people need more – then online companies have a chance. If people want to watch golf but they can’t get it on traditional TV, now the online companies own rights. 
“The technology is developing so quickly today, so new media platforms can provide more content to the people, who can then choose a platform to select an event that would like to watch. It’s a combination of traditional TV and new media platform – that’s the role that digital platforms play in China. 
“And the technology is so good now; with the OTT TV set, the quality of the picture is better than cable TV.”
According to Cai Yanjiang, Director ABU Sports, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the rise of new media is an incentive for broadcasters to develop their own digital media broadcasting. 
“CCTV started their new media before 2000, but unfortunately CNTV – the digital media platform for sports broadcasting – didn’t work very well. CCTV can develop to make better digital broadcasting of sports events on their own platforms,” he tells Host City.
The national broadcaster is aware of the changing consumer demands. Zhang Xing, Deputy Controller of CCTV Sports says, “We are seeing that the older generation of viewers still uses television sets, but younger views use their phones. We need to guarantee that we still broadcast events on TV but we need to give more importance to social media.”

Disruption across Asia
Of course, the phenomenon of digital media transformation is not restricted to China. “Disruption is happening everywhere,” says Cai Yanjiang.
“For me it is good when western companies rush into the Asia Pacific region with new technology and help broadcasters in a new way through the internet and internet plus – that is something that the Chinese broadcasters are adopting. 
“And more and more internet companies are taking over the dominant role. In the past it was CCTV dominating, but it’s actually changing now in China. That will also happen in surrounding countries, in south Asia, it has already happened in Japan and Korea, where traditional TV is facing a great challenge from internet companies. 
“So from my perspective, serving for the Asian broadcasting union, we’ve got a lot of underdeveloped nations and they don’t have enough facilities or logistic support and telecom standard won’t support them to do internet broadcasting at the moment. 
“But they are building up, so I would advise our members, the broadcasters in Asia Pacific region, to go forward, to take up the new way of internet broadcasting, because we all know that digital is the trend in the broadcasting world – not only in football but in everything. 
“That is good; that will set a model for our members in underdeveloped countries and state broadcasters to follow. That’s undergoing now in countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand – everywhere they are developing new digital broadcasting solutions.”
However, Asian broadcasters need investment to undergo digital transformation. “What they don’t possess is funds, because in the past traditional television got government funding. Now they need to find a new way to develop their own digital broadcasting. At the same time, telecom companies and digital media companies – especially international ones – are trying to enter the market.
“There is huge potential for example in Myanmar, in the Philippines – everything is changing fast. So although at the moment it’s not really developed, but we can see in the future they have potential.
“In some countries traditional television and new media work together very well; in other countries they are trying to kill each other.”
According to Dong Wang of Alisports, digital media companies have the potential to overtake domestic broadcasters within five years. 
“The faster the domestic broadcasters realise how important digital media and platforms are to them and their government and local companies, if they invest in digital media then they can win over in the future because they have government support. 
“But if they are not doing anything on this, when the foreign investors, telecom companies or digital broadcasters enter the market, there will be no room for domestic broadcasters any more. 
“It can be a great leap to transform from the traditional broadcasting way to the digital way. It will just take five years or so and the whole thing will be changed – so it’s like a race.”
The question is – who’s going to win? “It’s really hard to say. It depends on the vision and understanding of governments,” he says. 
“Governments must support their own domestic broadcasters by setting up some regulations – even state laws to protect broadcasting. It’s quite important for the improvement of local companies. Otherwise they will be taken over by all those internationals.”

This article was based on exclusive interviews with Host City and panel discussions at World Football Forum 2016
 

Once controlled by a powerful and small number of major players, media channels are now increasing exponentially and unregulated. The ability to create, publish and distribute content is now at everyone’s fingertips. In this new world order, how can a broadcaster retain influence and attract audiences?
“The reality is that it’s clearly a lot easier for sports federations and brands to have a direct-to-consumer relationship now,” Peter Hutton, CEO of Eurosport told Host City at World Football Forum.
“But we are in a lot of conversations with different federations and brands about how we can actually help them. Because with your own site, you are preaching to the converted; you speak to your established audience, your known database. And the problem with that is: how to you bridge a new audience?” 
The Professional Squash Association launched “SQUASHTV” on its own website in 2009 to broadcast its World Tour series of events directly to its fans. But in December 2015, the organisation went on to sign an agreement with Eurosport to host matches on Europlayer in order to reach more viewers across Europe. 
“We bought out their streaming rights because they had an established streaming platform that was doing very well. But their concern was how to promote that to a new audience.
“So I think there are ways where you can have the brand and database that a federation has, but you can put it under a wider umbrella and you can direct more people to it. And for me that’s one of the real challenges of a sport channel, in that you accept undeniably that more people are going to consume their media in different ways. But you’ve got the strong brand that people will direct themselves to.”
The Eurosport brand was established 30 years ago and Eurosport.com is now the most viewed sports website in Europe.
“People naturally see it as an area of trust where they come for sports results and information. And that’s a great start, but one of our challenges is to make it more a video-based site – and how to build a relationship with the federations where they can use that site to generate traffic for their own use as well.”
Pushing out short, engaging content on social media is one mechanism of driving traffic to a site – but the question is how then to convert these visitors into paying subscribers. 
“It’s very much part of the idea that sport is a stepping stone process where you get attracted by an idea, an individual or a story. And because you’re attracted to that first contact point, you then watch more and more of the long form of that sport, and then you potentially become a paid subscriber for that sport. But you need to have that engagement with the sport on a very emotional level to start with. 
“So if you can take people up that step-by-step route then I think that’s good for a sports business. A free web or social media presence is a really useful part of that as a tactic. We can really benefit from sports brands pushing out material that then directs people up the platform of experience towards the immersive paid TV or paid consumer experience.”
The role of the broadcaster has irrevocably changed with the rise of digital media. Not only can sports federations and brands publish their own content directly on their own sites and social media channels, but fans too can generate and share their own content using smartphones. 
“I think the reality of that disruption is something that you fight with every day. As a football fan I know that the moment there’s a goal anywhere in any game of significance anywhere in Europe that you can get that goal via Twitter, via different sites, you’ve got illegal streams up there – it’s there, you can’t knock it on the head and ignore the fact that it’s going to be there.”
While it can be possible to stop illegal recording and uploading, this is not necessarily worthwhile.
“You can have take-downs, but by the time you’ve taken it down the value has gone, because if I hear there’s been a goal in a game I want to see it straight away. Somebody will have filmed it off air from somewhere and put it on, it gets shared amongst their community of people and then it’s taken down later but it’s OK – I’ve seen it by that point.
“For us we don’t see a massive value in short clip rights to content because you just accept the fact that they are going to be viral, and therefore they are uncontrollable.”

Broadcasting Games and Championships
Every Olympic Games breaks new records for viewing figures to become the most watched event in the world. Broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games in Europe were traditionally owned and managed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) right up until London 2012. To broadcast the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Games, Europe’s national networks had to buy rights directly from the International Olympic Committee. 
In June 2015, Discovery was awarded the European broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024 – and bought all its remaining shares in Eurosport.
In the meantime the EBU, in partnership with the cities of Glasgow and Berlin, launched its own multisport event format, the 2018 European Championships. Eurosport will work with the EBU on this event, which combines the European championships of several sports. 
“We are going to show it pan-European as well – so we are tied in with the EBU on the event. Traditionally, Eurosport was borne out of the EBU so it has a really close relationship there. Historically we have worked with the EBU on most of their events. And now in this new world of Eurosport being Discovery-owned, we have to find a place. Certainly that place includes cooperating in European Athletics and all the European championships.”
The boundary-free nature of the internet means that Eurosport’s drive to reach new audiences is not confined to Europe. 
“Eurosport.com traffic is genuinely worldwide. Clearly our focused markets are Europe and Asia but you know if you throw content out there it’s going to go anywhere.” 
Hutton cites the “Commissioner Cantona” series of videos recently broadcast on Eurosport.com as an intercontinental hit. “The last one got 15m views and it’s only been out there for five days and the number of views is still going up. And the views are everywhere. Once it becomes viral you know that you will just keep growing and growing for a really long time to come. 
“And it’s a brilliant learning experience to see that happen. The challenge is how to build it into your normal business and make sure it adds value back to you.”
 

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008 is often talked about in terms of China opening up to the world – not just its economy, but its society too.
“The main legacy of the Games in China was to create visibility of people with an impairment in China,” Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of the International Paralympic Committee told a select group of journalists at SportAccord Convention. 
“I think 350,000 spectators with an impairment came to the Games. The coverage of the Games in China was very extensive. And the government created an accessible environment in the city with many improvements in public transport and roads; it helped to create visibility. That was the main legacy of the Games in Beijing: to showcase one tenth of the population of China and make them visible.”
Attitudes towards disability in China are continuing to develop long after the Games. “We have seen a huge interest and support from part of the Chinese authorities and our National Paralympic Committee. Leading up to Beijing 2008 and since then, China has maintained a high level of development,” said Gonzalez.
Of course, every host is different. Chris Solly, Director of World Academy of Sport, the educational partner organisation of the IPC, said:  “You’ve got to know where your society is; research and understand how people perceive people with an impairment in the country.
“London is very different to where Sochi and Russia was, for example. You’ve got to work out how to make it happen in your own environment.”
Local media is crucial to raising the profile of Paralympics and people with impairment within the host nation. The London 2012 Paralympic Games was broadcast by Channel Four, which ran an award-winning “Superhumans” marketing campaign and achieved record viewing figures. 
The official broadcaster of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games is Globo Group, with its SportTV channel broadcasting all 12 days of action and Globo TV screening more coverage than ever before. 
“Channel Four and O Globo are two different media – they do it in different ways. That’s what we want, because it’s a totally different cultural environment,” said Gonzalez.
Asked whether he is still concerned about Rio’s delayed preparations to host the Games, Gonzalez said, “One of the advantages that we have is that everything they do for the readiness of the Olympics helps us. We always say the Olympics is our test event! 
“Yes, the preparations are moving forward, yes are some of them are a little but last minute. We just came back from the Coordination Commission and we have seen a lot of progress but a lot of work needs to be done. At the moment we are very confident that we will have a very good Games.
“The most important thing from our point of view is to try and do things as soon as possible. The big difference we have seen in Rio, which is not only an issue for the organising committee but the overall context of the country, is that it’s better to have certain things earlier on. 
“What we are going to take from this is that we and the IOC need to increase the support that we provide to the organising committees to make sure that the message is very clear and they can focus on the important things at the appropriate times.”
During the Paralympic Games, the IPC and the World Academy of Sport are staging the 2016 IPC Academy Campus, an educational and conference programme that gives insight into the complexities of organising and maximising the benefits from major sporting events.
Telling Host City about the Academy Campus, Gonzalez said “We bring people from previous Games and we incorporate the local context, and we incorporate people from the next Games and bidding cities to participate also in the programme; we look forward to the development of the Games.”
Looking ahead to PyeongChang 2018, the Olympic Games that follows Rio, the IPC is already looking to maximise synergies with Samsung, the IPC’s Worldwide Paralympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment. 
“In London, Samsung were very creative in the way they activated social media, which helped the IPC too. They’ve got much bigger databases than an organising committee, so they’re an integral part of how we deliver the programmes.”
The next Winter Games after PyeongChang will be in Beijing, where there is a big opportunity to develop Paralympic winter sport. China has yet to win a medal in any Paralympic Winter Games, but development is underway. 
“We are very excited about how quickly the Chinese authorities have engaged with the development of Paralympic winter sport,” says Gonzalez. “In winter sport we have seen activities in alpine skiing, in ice sledge hockey. We are trying to build sports in China across the country.”

What’s happening at the 2016 IPC Academy Campus 
The 2016 IPC Academy Campus will include a Games Experience Programme, Observers’ Programme and Inclusion Summit.
The IPC Academy Games Experience Programme (GEP) is a three day conference on 12-14 September focusing on the following topics: “Winning Strategies for Major Sport Events”, “The making of a Successful Host City” and “Marketing & Broadcasting” followed by site visits to related competition and non-competition venues.
The IPC Observers’ Programme, taking place between 6-17 September, includes a series of educational activities and roundtable sessions for event organisers with visits to all competition venues and the most important non-competition venues and specialised activities.
The IPC Academy Inclusion Summit on 15-16 September targets learning at the policy level, for business leaders policy makers and the Paralympic movement to discuss inclusion and accessibility