Licensing 2006 International has signed a marketing partnership with National Sports Marketing Network (NSMN). The partnership includes outreach to the sports business community to attend the event, as well as a special day of educational programming held during the Licensing show days. The first-ever “Sports Licensing Summit,” produced by NSMN, will take place June 20, 2006 and will offer a full day of high-powered discussion on trends and best practices among the top sports licensing decision-makers.

The advisory board for this event includes licensing and marketing executives from the National Basketball Association, National Football League, PGA Tour, World Series of Poker, Players Inc., NASCAR, Steiner Sports Marketing, New Era, National Hockey League, and IMG Licensing.

Panels and case studies planned include:

  • Emerging Trends in Sports Licensing
  • Olympic-Sized Licensing: Will Beijing 2008 Set New Records?
  • New Technologies Forum: How wireless is creating more opportunities for sports licensing
  • Licensing Athletes in the 21st Century
  • Winning Teams, Winning Deals?: How capturing a championship affects your licensing deals

Invited panelists represent the leaders in sports licensing and many individual collegiate and professional teams.
While it is co-located in the Javits Center during the Licensing Show, the Summit is open to NSMN members and
invited sports licensing professionals only. A limited number of seats will be offered to non-member licensors,
brand owners and retailers who meet specific admission criteria established by NSMN.

“Given the tremendous strength and growth in sports licensing and the opportunities the category presents for merchandising, promotions, gaming and wireless content, we invited National Sports Marketing Network to create high-level sports licensing programming for the opening day of Licensing 2006 International,” says show director Bailey Beeken of Advanstar Communications, producers of Licensing 2006 International. “This exclusive industry event will be open to sports business and sports licensing executives, interested media and a select group of relevant Licensing Show participants.”