Visit the final pitch event of the 2022 Sport Innovation Challenge!

Curious and open minds are invited to come to the final battle of the 2022 Sport Innovation Challenge, organised by Haskins Sport Society in partnership with the Freeride World Tour (FWT). Over the last few weeks, 35 teams of sport management students have worked on fresh ideas in the areas of business development, marketing, fan engagement and inclusion to provide the FWT with smart solutions for the future. See the best ten teams go toe-to-toe and discover their concepts at the final pitch session on 9 December in Bern! The subsequent cocktail dinner will offer attractive networking opportunities with renown experts from the sport industry.

When?            9 December 2022, 4 pm

Where?           House of Sport in Ittigen, Bern

On the top?     Networking and cocktail dinner as of 6 pm

Participation is for free but requires registration via this link by 5 December the latest. Please note that space is limited.

Background information on the Challenge
Organised by students for students, the annual Challenge invites and engages young academics in the development of innovative solutions to current and future challenges of the sport industry. The student teams of four to six participants are each assigned a mentor to help guide them throughout the Challenge. These professionals from the sport industry contribute years of experience and knowledge to the Challenge, helping students develop feasible and impactful ideas. This year, the participants come from four different schools in the field of sport management (FFHS, HSLU, AISTS, SMS), located across Switzerland. For the third time now, ThinkSport has been a proud supporter of the Challenge. Other partners include the HUB Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and Swiss University Sports.

Background on the FWT and the Challenge themes
The FWT is the worldwide circuit of freeride snowboarding and skiing with the best riders in the world competing on the most legendary and challenging alpine faces at the most renown ski resorts across the world (including Verbier!). For this year’s Challenge, the students were invited to tackle the following important questions defined by the Freeride World Tour:

• Business Model: How can the FWT diversify their revenue streams and ensure a safe economic growth?
• Marketing: How can the FWT offer more value and make themselves an attractive partner for mountain resorts?
• Inclusion: How can the FWT engage more girls and women as both athletes and spectators?
• Fan engagement: How can the FWT adapt and interact with their audience through new communication efforts?

Learn more about this year’s Challenge here.