At the Lindner hotel in Antwerp, the group discussed shared challenges and ways they can reach new audiences and grow their fanbases with new technologies.
To kick-off, WSC Sports CEO and Co-Founder, Daniel Shichman, spoke about what’s up and coming at the company in 2025, and then set the stage for the panelists. The first featured representatives from some of the region’s biggest broadcast and news organizations. It included, Michiel Ameloot, Editor in Chief of Sports at DPG Media, Martjin Hendriks, Head of Streaming at NOS, a public broadcaster in the Netherlands, and Bruno Bouniton, Head of Partnership Development and Sponsorships at Proximus, Belgium’s largest telco provider whose TV service happens to include DPG and NOS programming. The common thread among all the panelists was the importance of reaching new audiences during a time of aging TV viewership. To counter this reality, the panelists spoke a lot about driving traffic from one or more additional channels, like social media or other owned websites, and directing it to live broadcasts.
We posted footage from the Qatar World Cup to Google OneBox. Almost 60% of people who watched the footage ended up clicking the CTA which led them to watch the live game. That was very helpful for us to reach a younger audience.”
The second panel of the day focused on clubs and included, Ramses Braakman, Owner of Dutch basketball club, ZZ Leiden, Frans Janssen, Commercial Director for football club, PSV Eindhoven, and Stijn Van Hemelrijck, Media Director for RSC Anderlecht. Braakman and Janssen both find themselves in unique situations where their organizations are primed for growth, but more on that in our session breakdown. Much like broadcasters, all panelists mentioned the dual importance and challenge of capturing the attention of young fans. They spoke about the need to develop content and touchpoints beyond traditional matchday content. For Stijn Van Hemelrijck and Anderlecht, it’s about acting like a media company, not just a sports team. The club has invested a lot into delivering more to their fans—whether that’s creating more short-form content with WSC Sports, or launching Mauve TV, a full-on OTT platform that offers fans exclusive interviews, documentaries, and press conferences, in addition to live games. They also plan on launching a proprietary mobile app for their fans in the months ahead.
The final session was delivered by Manu Leroy, Director of Marketing & Communication for the Royal Belgian Football Association, the governing body of football in the country. He spoke about the digital transformation at RBFA. Specifically, he mentioned some of the ways rights holders are using technology and AI to create better experiences for their fans. Like the Masters, who developed their own app within the Apple Vision Pro allowing viewers to select exactly which golfers they wanted to follow during the tournament. Also at the organizational level, Leroy touched on some of the tech RBFA is implementing company-wide, aimed at helping the Association streamline the way it manages 430,000+ matches per season that fall under its purview.
By the end of the day, audience members were treated to a full, insider’s view from the perspective of very different types of rights owners. The overarching themes emphasized the importance of driving growth with innovation, offering the best possible product, and most importantly, collaboration between teams, leagues, and broadcast partners to reach new fans. As these organizations continue to evolve to meet the needs and wants of their fans, it will be interesting to see the new products and experiences that come to market in the region.