Last week the Center for Sports and Business hosted the year’s first partner day, focusing on one of the major future challenges for sports: digitalization. We tackled important questions such as:

• Professor Martin Carlsson-Wall kicked off the day with a warm welcome and a global outlook. He emphasized the importance of authenticity and encouraged us to think "both/and" instead of "either/or" to create sustainable progress.
• Professor Stefan Haefliger shared insights on dynamic and multi-sided business models in a very inspiring lecture. He highlighted how collaboration between different business models can drive value and motivation for consumers.
• Elisabet Borg from the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet) presented their digitalization initiatives. She explained how the digital journey can involve optimizing current processes, transforming ways of working, and enabling entirely new possibilities. Elisabet also stressed the importance of data consolidation as a central part of sports development.
• Oliver Lindqvist Parbratt provided fresh perspectives from his research on the connection between expectations and outcomes in digital journeys. He reminded us that digitalization is not just about technology – the narratives and promises surrounding the change are just as crucial.

In addition to inspiring presentations, the day offered valuable networking opportunities and thought-provoking discussions. A huge thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to the engaging dialogue – and an extra big thank you to our fantastic speakers!
Together, we took important steps toward understanding and embracing the opportunities and challenges of digitalization to shape the future of sports.