Sports Tomorrow to form part of MWC Barcelona 2023

FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, and John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd., the company behind MWC Barcelona, signed a collaborative agreement on Monday for the annual Barça Innovation Hub sports innovation congress, Sports Tomorrow to be part of the programme of events in the upcoming edition of MWC Barcelona 2023. The agreement means sports innovation is going to be incorporated into one of the world’s most important technology events, while also promoting Sports Tomorrow to a worldwide audience through a leading brand like MWC Barcelona.

The agreement, signed by Joan Laporta and John Hoffman in the President Suñol Box at Camp Nou, was driven by both parties with the aim of achieving synergies between technology and sport innovation, thereby representing the first area for meetings, debates, and knowledge for the sports ecosystem within MWC Barcelona. The event also counted with the presence of Àngel Riudalbas, board member responsible of Barça Innovation Hub.

The agreement means Sports Tomorrow will take place on a different date and at a different location. The congress will move from the Club’s installations to one of the areas inside the Fira de Barcelona in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the regular location for MWC Barcelona. As for the date, it will no longer be held during a week of November, but rather over two days between February 27 and March 2 2023, coinciding with the next edition of MWC Barcelona and currently forms the scope of the agreement between FC Barcelona and GSMA.

A congress focused on the role of the mind in sport

The content is also set to change. Sports Tomorrow has traditionally consisted of different tracks or sports-themed conferences, such as medicine, physiotherapy, nutrition, data analysis, technology, or sport business. The congress will now revolve around a single topic for the 2023 edition, namely “Minds Behind The Game”, which will take an in-depth look into the role of the mind on sportspeople’s performance, as well as the cognitive applications of artificial intelligence in all domains of the sports sector.

The fact that Sports Tomorrow is going to form part of MWC Barcelona 2023, the world’s biggest event for the technology and connectivity sector, responds to the desire of the congress and its organiser, Barça Innovation Hub - FC Barcelona’s platform of knowledge and innovation - to promote a culture of excellence and collaboration with brands, universities, research centres, start-ups, entrepreneurs, students, sportspeople, investors, and visionaries from around the world. One way to implement this is by organising congresses and conferences such as Sports Tomorrow, a pioneering initiative whereby football clubs have become a reference in the sporting domain since 2016 (under the name Sports Tomorrow from 2020). For example, the 2021 edition of the congress brought together 282 experts and was attended by over 2000 people. 

The agreement with GSMA also means that Sports Tomorrow moves from the Club’s terrain into a city-level project like MWC Barcelona, one of the key events when it comes to projecting the Barcelona brand worldwide.

Statement of Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona president

“We are very proud and happy about this agreement with MWC Barcelona, the leading platform in the mobile technology sector, as it will both convert a leading sports innovation event such as the Sports Tomorrow congress into a global reference when it comes to linking technology and sport, while also helping project the city of Barcelona as a worldwide capital in this sector”.

Statement of John Hoffman, GSMA CEO

“We are beyond excited to collaborate with FC Barcelona. Co-locating Sports Tomorrow Congress at MWC Barcelona 2023 brings together two world-leading events and creates space to identify and create new business opportunities across the mobile and sports ecosystems.  The move shows the strategic importance and power of mobile connectivity and follows the launch of Industry City at MWC22, featuring the fintech, manufacturing, and automotive sectors.”