950+ app users · 1,000+ accepted 1:1 meetings · 43.8% of users booked at least one meeting · 90% app adoption
Launching a new event comes with a difficult networking challenge: attendees have no previous experience to tell them whether the right people will actually be in the room, or whether they will get the meetings they came for.
SPORT[GEN] Summit faced exactly that challenge when it launched its first edition in Paris in May 2026.
With Brella powering its event app and networking experience, SPORT[GEN] Summit turned a brand-new audience into an active business community. More than 950 people used the platform, more than 3,000 meeting requests were sent, and over 1,000 1:1 meetings were accepted.
By the end of the event, 43.8% of app users had at least one meeting scheduled.
For a first-year event with no existing community or networking track record, SPORT[GEN] Summit had already proven one of the most important parts of its value proposition: people came to meet, and meetings happened.
SPORT[GEN] Summit is a two-day sports business summit held in Paris and timed to coincide with the French Open. It positions itself as the first ROI-focused event in the sports industry: a room built for right holders and sports organisations, investment firms and private equity, brand sponsors, media companies, and technology and data providers.
The first edition took place on 27–28 May 2026 with 1,433 registrants and more than 100 speakers, alongside a startup competition, side events and networking dinners. Its networking floor was built for dealmaking rather than mingling: roughly 70 tables plus dedicated meeting rooms with tiered access for VIPs and sponsors.
The event's promise to its audience was specific: attend, and you will meet the people you came to meet. For a premium, director-level-and-above crowd being asked to give up two days in May, that promise had to hold on day one.
Established events can point to previous years when selling the quality of their audience and networking. SPORT[GEN] Summit couldn't. Its first edition had to earn that trust from scratch.
A senior, director-level audience was being asked to spend two days at a new event with the expectation that they would meet valuable business contacts. SPORT[GEN] Summit therefore needed to make it easy for attendees to answer three questions:
There were operational challenges too.
The SPORT[GEN] Summit team was building its event technology stack for the first time. The Brella project was being managed by someone who had never used the platform before, and the attendee app launched only around three weeks before the event.
At the same time, the team wanted to avoid creating a fragmented attendee experience. The agenda, event information, networking and messaging all needed to live in one place.
SPORT[GEN] Summit and Brella focused on five priorities:
SPORT[GEN] Summit used Brella as the digital home for its first edition, combining event information, attendee discovery, matchmaking, messaging and meeting scheduling in one branded experience.
Instead of asking attendees to download a third-party event platform, SPORT[GEN] Summit launched its own white-label mobile app powered by Brella. Attendees downloaded an app carrying the SPORT[GEN] Summit name and branding.
That helped make the technology feel like part of the event itself rather than another external tool attendees had to learn.
The result: 90% app adoption.
A native integration between Swoogo and Brella moved registration data directly into the event app.
As new attendees registered, they could be invited into Brella automatically, including people buying tickets shortly before the event.
That mattered for an event with a short activation window. The team could keep attendee data flowing without manually maintaining separate systems.
Brella's intent-based matchmaking helped attendees discover relevant people based on what they wanted to buy, sell or discuss. Rather than relying only on job titles or company names, attendees selected their interests and business intentions when joining the platform. Brella could then surface more relevant networking opportunities.
Popular interests included areas such as fan engagement and media rights, helping people navigate a large senior-level audience according to the conversations they actually wanted to have.
Brella connected the digital meeting experience with SPORT[GEN] Summit's physical networking floor. Attendees could arrange meetings across roughly 70 networking tables, while VIPs and sponsors could access dedicated meeting rooms when conversations required more privacy.
The result was a clear path from discovering someone in the app to sitting down with them onsite.
SPORT[GEN] Summit also used feature tiles and app sponsorship placements to put partners in front of attendees inside the digital experience.
An in-app prize draw connected to the event's Roland-Garros partnership, offering two VIP tickets, gave attendees another reason to open and explore the app before arriving in Paris.
"We took a lot of inspiration from other events. And we had that partnership with Roland-Garros, so we put a prize on top of the app, two VIP tickets. It worked really well."
Aurélien Linÿer, Founder, SPORT[GEN] Summit
For SPORT[GEN] Summit, the strongest proof came from attendee behaviour.
Attendees sent more than 3,000 meeting requests, resulting in 1,000+ accepted 1:1 meetings.
For a first-year event, that meant hundreds of business conversations were already being organised through the platform rather than being left to chance onsite.
Nearly one in two app users had at least one scheduled meeting. For an event whose proposition is centred on business ROI and meeting the right people, this is one of the most important measures of success. It shows not simply that attendees downloaded the app, but that they used it to create real interactions.
90% of onsite attendees used the SPORT[GEN] Summit app. High adoption meant the app could genuinely operate as the event's central attendee experience rather than a tool used by only a small portion of the audience.
78.5% of app users chose to participate in networking. The demand to connect was there: attendees actively wanted introductions and meetings rather than treating networking as an optional extra.
30.2% of attendees sent at least one chat message through the platform. Brella was therefore supporting more than scheduled appointments. Attendees were using it to start conversations, coordinate meetings and continue interactions around the event.
SPORT[GEN] Summit did not need years of history to create an active networking community. Within its first edition, Brella helped the team turn a new audience into:
For SPORT[GEN] Summit, those numbers provided something especially valuable for a new event: proof that its networking proposition worked.
The results also came without an experienced Brella team on the organiser side. SPORT[GEN] Summit's project manager started without previous Brella experience while simultaneously managing the many moving parts of launching a new event.
The goal was therefore not only to provide powerful networking technology, but to make implementation manageable.
"On the goals we set together, I'd say 10 out of 10. I didn't know anything about Brella at the beginning and there were a ton of things to handle at the same time, but the team made it so clear and so easy."
Tom Petit Vallois, Project Manager, SPORT[GEN] Summit
For organisers evaluating event technology, that matters. A platform only creates value if the event team can actually launch and operate it successfully.
The clearest indication that SPORT[GEN] Summit saw value from Brella came after the doors closed. The team renewed its partnership with Brella early, before the second edition even had a venue confirmed.
Because SPORT[GEN] Summit uses a white-label app, the same app can carry forward into future editions. Attendees who downloaded it for the 2026 launch can already have the next SPORT[GEN] Summit experience in their pocket.
The first event also created another unexpected result: inbound interest in Brella. Other event organisers attending SPORT[GEN] Summit saw the app in action and contacted the SPORT[GEN] Summit team afterwards to find out which platform they were using.
"I had many messages from other companies that came and checked ours because they were interested. We want to work with you again next year."
Aurélien Linÿer, Founder, SPORT[GEN] Summit
SPORT[GEN] Summit returns to Paris on 26–27 May 2027.
Launching a successful networking programme doesn't require years of historical attendee data. It requires giving attendees a simple way to:
SPORT[GEN] Summit used Brella to do that from its very first edition.
The result was 1,000+ accepted meetings and nearly half of all app users walking into the event with at least one meeting scheduled. For an event built around business ROI, that's more than app engagement. That's the event delivering on its promise.
How many meetings did SPORT[GEN] Summit generate?
The first edition generated more than 3,000 meeting requests and 1,000+ accepted 1:1 meetings through Brella.
How many attendees actually booked meetings?
43.8% of app users had at least one scheduled meeting.
How many attendees used the app?
SPORT[GEN] Summit achieved 90% app adoption among onsite attendees.
What percentage of attendees participated in networking?
78.5% of app users opted into networking.
What is a white-label event app?
A white-label app is published under the event organiser's own brand rather than requiring attendees to download an app carrying the technology provider's brand. For SPORT[GEN] Summit, attendees downloaded the SPORT[GEN] Summit app, powered by Brella.
Can Brella integrate with event registration platforms?
Yes. SPORT[GEN] Summit used Brella's native Swoogo integration to bring registration data into the app and streamline attendee onboarding.