Dylan Pugh: Introducing MAD//Sports

MAD//Fest, the UK’s most distinctive marketing festival, has teamed up with SIG to launch MAD//Sports, a brand-new event that will explore how brands can navigate the fast-moving and evolving world of sport.  

We sat down with SIG Managing Director, Dylan Pugh, to find out what is in store. 

How did the partnership with MAD//Fest come about? 

I was at MAD//Fest London last year, and I was blown away by the event. The sheer scale of it – the number of people, the quality of speakers, and just the overall buzz of the place – it was unlike any other ‘corporate’ event that I had been to.  

It struck me that there was very little sport involvement at the event. Given the audience and the content, I thought it was the perfect environment for the sport industry to be a part of, and on the other hand, the brands in the room could learn a lot from sport and its power in building brand loyalty. 

The sports conference landscape is pretty saturated right now – there are a lot of them and they are all largely similar. MAD//Fest is a fresh, different and vibrant take and MAD//Sports can be a breath of fresh air for our sector. 

What can we expect to see at MAD//Sports? 

MAD//Sports will be found within a dedicated space at MAD//Fest on the Thursday. This includes a main stage full of sport-based content and a networking area called the Clubhouse, with bars, food, sponsor spaces and various activations.  

There will be a diverse range of topics up for discussion but the over-arching theme for the day is Helping Brands Navigate the Changing Sports Landscape.

What kind of audience are you expecting? 

One of the big appeals for us with MAD//Fest is that their audience is predominantly senior brand marketers. And their unique invite-only model ensures a high quality of audience, avoiding the vendor fatigue you see at other more traditional conferences. They have the brands already there and we have a strong network of rightsholders, meaning that it is these two groups making up the bulk of attendees.

What will you be talking about? 

The overall theme of MAD//Fest 2025 is Be Less Boring – and we are very much looking to tap into that mantra at MAD//Sports.  

The sport industry is going through some change at the moment, with traditional rights holders challenging their own formats, broadcast models being disrupted, and consumption habits changing. We will be looking at some of these changes, and exploring how brands can take advantage of the exciting and evolving sports landscape.  

We have 15 content slots in total, with the first wave of speakers being announced next week which includes a good mix of brands, rightsholders and talent on stage.  

There are still some content slots left to fill and sponsorship opportunities available, so please contact us if you would like to be involved.

For more information on MAD//Sports, please contact Ben Phillips ben@madfestlondon.com or Dylan Pugh dylan.pugh@sportindustry.biz