Basic Lead, the organizers of the Discop Africa content distribution and co-production market, announced the launch of Discosport, a new annual trade-show dedicated to sports entertainment, sports marketing and sports merchandising in Africa, one of the world’s fastest-growing sports-loving marketplace.
The inaugural edition will be 100% bilingual (English/French) and will be held from May 24 to 26, 2022, at the Kigali Convention Center in Rwanda. Discosport is scaled to welcome 100+ international exhibitors and 1.000+ walk-in delegates representing influential sectors driving these developments in Africa: sports federations, sporting clubs, content distribution platforms, sports agents, sports venues and advertisers. The three-day event will deliver results in the form of face-to-face meetings whose organization will start very early on to help delegates to become better acquainted with each other as early as possible.
“Discosport will truly showcase the commitment Africa has put into developing a sustainable and homegrown sports industry. Our young athletes now participate in many international sporting events and make us extremely proud,” commented Karl-Hills Boluwa, Africa’s Sports Industry Relations Manager at Basic Lead.
Running parallel to the matchmaking component, a sidebar program of conferences, talks, workshops and case-study presentations will explore ways to develop more homegrown sports competitions, build up merchandising revenues that create jobs in Africa, grow female participation in sports journalism, expand sports tourism, transform and monetize the sports experience, engage impatient sports fans and digital-first advertisers, and bring back youth audiences to television screens.
Video gaming will also take center during the inaugural edition of Discosport. In a move to bring the continent’s e-sports scene closer to brands, sports agents, venues, platforms and content creators from Africa and beyond, a partnership has been set with the African E-sports Championship league and the organizers of the annual Comic Con Africa gathering in Johannesburg.