Loris Moneni is content as punch. It is the last day of the 35th edition of Sportel Monaco and as the executive director of the sports media rights and technology confab, he has reason to be pleased. There has been a strong turnout of buyers, exhibitors, sports leaders, and government and federation representatives. Thousands of meetings between the various participants have laid the groundwork for deals running into hundreds of millions of euros, possibly even billions. The veteran of Monaco Mediax has spent nearly two decades at the event management firm, doing it all—from director of marketing communications at the TV festival to executive director of the Sportel Awards, finally rising to become executive director of Sportel Monaco.
Indiantelevision.com sat down with Moneni in Monaco to discuss the highlights of Sportel Monaco and what lies ahead in the coming months and for the 2026 edition. Excerpts from the conversation:
On the highlights of Sportel Monaco 2025
From the organising side, it was the new layout. We put in place a new entrance and new layout just to make it feel different. The participants have been coming for many years with the old layout. For some of them, we have new spaces to use in this building. So it was interesting for us to propose something new. We noticed everyone had very busy days with lots of people coming together at the same time. Lots of meetings, lots of good conversation—it was really an interesting atmosphere with good energy.
On the major trends discussed at the conference
We had new big topics. We had a sharp focus on private equity and how they are viewing investment in sports tech and sports initiatives. This was a big masterclass panel in the conference programme. I think it was really interesting for everyone, and it was also new for us to welcome this kind of conference. It’s also important for us to have new buyers coming. That was the case this year, with new companies attending Sportel for the first time. We also had a good mix of buyers and sellers.
On the number of exhibitors, attendees and buyers
We had 2,000 participants coming from 70 different countries around the world. So it’s really important. We have 150 to 160 new companies attending this year compared to last year. At least 30 to 40 per cent of the attendees were buyers, which is good for the sellers of sports media rights.
On Sportel’s leaning towards Europe and plans to make it truly global
That’s not totally true. It’s not totally European; it’s becoming more global. We have the big professional leagues coming from the US—the NBA, the NFL, the NHL. The ATP, the WTA—they are all here. The World Cup hockey from Canada is here for the first time. They are exhibiting this year to promote their tentpole events. The ICC attended, despite not having a stand. So we have good representation from all over the world and from this continent.
On the presence from Asia
Annually, we have been having the same presence. I mean, we have new companies, which is good for us, but we are more or less about 10 per cent. We have about 60 per cent from Europe, then about 20 per cent from the Americas, and the remainder from other nations. We are encouraged by the presence from Asia—that’s why we are going to Singapore next March with Sportel Asia.
On the presence from the technology side
We have lots of people now talking about one of the other big topics—AI. So many players coming and talking about that. You probably see some of them exhibiting. We have lots of people coming from the AI side, and this is one of the most used technologies now in content production for sport.
On the absence of blockchain companies this year
You’re right, we don’t have many actors and players in blockchain this year at Sportel. There were discussions. I can’t really explain why, but it’s a fact.
On the feedback for Sportel Singapore from European and American clients
We have got very good response from our clients, who have expressed their sincere interest to go to Singapore—much more than the last time we did an Asian outing in Bali. Even though it’s just the beginning of the commercialisation of Sportel in Singapore, it’s pretty encouraging. We will have this larger presence from Asia, and the goal for us is to bring Europe and the US to the Asian market.
On the percentage of renewals from existing clients for 2026
We’ll give you more information in the coming months because they have until the end of this year to confirm their location. But usually the renewals are pretty good. We have more or less 60 to 70 per cent of people that renew every year.
On what he sees developing in the sports, media rights and sports tech business in the coming year
We can see now that we have new collaborations that didn’t exist in the past, and maybe some unusual collaborations happening in the world of sports broadcasting, media rights and technology. It’s nice because we see more and more competitors and companies popping up. Also, more and more sports events are taking place, and we can see new opportunities cropping up.
On speculation about Sportel coming to India and whether it can be scaled up like the one in Monaco
I can’t answer this question in the affirmative. But it is definitely a location, a place that we look forward to being present in—probably next year we can make it to India. Why India? Because it’s quite an underdeveloped sports market, and it’s a really huge market, as is the entire south Asian region. So it’s really interesting for us to be present there. I believe that there’s real interest to have Sportel there because it is a one-sport nation—cricket. The traditional sports that we have in Europe are not very popular in India; they have niche audiences.
But I know that Indians are watching football, especially the Premier League. Hence, it would do well for the other big leagues in Europe to go there and promote themselves, to build their audiences and make their media rights valuable.
We are not looking for the scale of Monaco in India. The format of Sportel abroad is different from the one in Monaco. In Monaco, you have 2,000 participants. When we go to Miami or Singapore, it’s more like 500 to 700 attendees and we don’t have a big exhibition; you don’t have as many stands. We have only 20 to 25 exhibitors, whereas in Monaco we have 75 to 80 exhibitors.
On the rationale behind the pitching competitions and the start-up exhibition area
It’s important for us to have these kinds of small companies or start-ups. They are looking forward to the big players seeing their products or services or the improvements they have made. The big players need them also, to get exposed to their innovations and new technology, as they are always looking to offer audiences at home and in stadia something new. So it’s really important for us to have this mix of traditional players that have been coming to Sportel for maybe 30 years, and the tyros which are just entering the market. With this mix, we have the entire sports and sports tech community together in one location.
On the perception that large-format global exhibitions and confabs are on their way down, with exhibitors and attendees preferring to communicate digitally post-covid
That may be true as a generalisation in turbulent times with mergers and acquisitions ballooning, companies going bust and tight cost controls being resorted to. However, it is not true in our case. The strength of Sportel is the “executives” and the “quality of people” coming to the event. More or less half of the attendees here are decision-makers. So they travel and have been doing so for many years. The current economic and geopolitical turmoil has not stopped them.
If they have to choose one event in the sports and media rights business, all of them would choose Sportel Monaco. Of course, our attendee numbers dwindled just after covid, but it was the same for everybody. But what’s also true is that we bounced back quickly and we have had 2,000 participants from 2022, and the figures are the same in 2025. Our strength is that everyone involved in the sports ecosystem wants to be at Sportel Monaco.
On the outlook for Sportel 2026
We have lots of goals for next year. The first is to maintain our renewal targets of existing exhibitors for 2026. The second one is to attract newer exhibitors and companies to come and attend and exhibit. We already have many new big players and other newer companies who have expressed their intent to be present at Sportel Monaco 2026. We have to now convert those. Other goals that are a priority at this time would be to keep this kind of atmosphere and good energy that I was seeing at the beginning of this year’s Sportel. We know that the discussions between participants this year have been serious and they have made announcements. They were here to discuss business, strike deals and build relationships. After speaking to attendees, they have made it quite clear to me that the objectives they had set have been met. So it has been a successful Sportel 2025, and we would like 2026 to be the same, if not better.