News

Sunday 1 June 2008

Flying the flag to 2012 and beyond

Olympic leaders have met to discuss the commercial opportunities that will arise from the London 2012 games. The event, entitled ‘Flying the Flag to 2012 and beyond’, was held at Nottingham Trent University’s Clifton campus.

The delegates, representing a range of official Olympic sports - including Basketball, Judo and Volleyball - were urged to consider targets for commercial growth for each of their areas, recognising that the 2012 games will offer a one-off opportunity to raise their profile before and beyond the games.

First year students from the university’s Sport Science and Management degree course opened the proceedings with a presentation highlighting the lessons that had been learned from the Sydney and Athens games. A selection of guest speakers then gave presentations covering topics relating to the benefits and what could be gained from the effective commercialisation of sport. Issues of intellectual property, marketing and taking advantage of ‘new’ media were all discussed within a lively debate and question and answer session.

The event proved to be a great success and provided an opportunity for networking and discussion between national governing bodies of Olympic and Paralympic sport. Emma Davies, Commercial and Merchandising Manager of the British Judo Association, said: “The seminar was certainly very relevant and informative and the presentations from the students and speakers were very specific to the needs of our sport.”

Dr Chris Bussell, Academic Team Leader from the university’s School of Science and Technology, added: “It was a great opportunity for the university’s students to be able to present to some of the leading figures working towards 2012, and to be involved in the debate that followed.”

ENDS

Notes for editors:

Nottingham Trent University facilities have been listed in the official training camp guides for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

Press enquiries please contact: Matt Wallace, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 8785, or via email: matthew.wallace@ntu.ac.uk; or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.