The Sport Connect conference will present the future of sports marketing

Already on December 4, 2025, marketers and brand leaders will meet at the Aurial Padel Center in Bratislava, united by the belief that sport is the strongest platform for building trust and emotional connection with customers. And you should not miss it. At the end of the article you will find the registration form and since the number of places is limited, we will reward the fastest of you with free entry to the first Sport Connect conference.

We believe that sport is one of the activities that can activate the masses and at the same time build emotions. Slovak brands also know this, for which this connection represents a unique opportunity to enter a culturally relevant space, where people are willing to pay attention to them. Sports marketing targets emotion, experience but also performance.

Leaders in sports marketing in one place

This is the main motive and the reason why we as Think Big Collective have become a proud partner Slovak Padel Association and League and one of the sponsors of the largest padel arena in Central Europe Aurial in Bratislava. It is in these spaces that we decided to organize the first Sport Connect conference, which will be dedicated precisely to sports marketing and brands that have the ambition to become leaders in this field.

In Slovakia, commercial brands use sports marketing quite intensively as a tool for building loyalty, emotional connection and spreading awareness. Firms such as LIDL, Škoda Auto Slovakia, whether Acrossand many more, invest in long-term activations, partners and collaborations with athletes, not relying only on passive logo display, but wanting to bring an interactive experience for fans.

We invited representatives of the LIDL, Škoda and Across brands to the first sports marketing conference called Sport Connect to the new Aurial Padel hall. Together with them, Lukáš Kočiš and Vlado Janček for Think Big Collective will be presented at the conference, who will present a unique approach and product with the same name Sport Connect,which helps brands harness the power of sport and emotion to build relationships with customers.

The following speakers will be presented at the conference:

Michal Pres (Skoda Auto Slovakia)

Cycling as a historical legacy and the “brand ID” of the present

Head of Marketing Skoda Auto Slovakia, Michal Pres, will present the historical background of the Skoda brand and cycling and its current activities in this dynamically developing sports sector. It will also offer a look at the quantitative evaluation of the selected projects and the resulting benefits for the Škoda brand, all with a focus on the Slovak market.

Timotej Stries (Lidl)

Football as a key platform for brand communication

Timotej Strieš will explain the strategic background why Lidl decided to choose football as the key platform for brand communication. He will present how they have specifically incorporated football into their campaigns and show what are the main reasons for this decision. At the same time, you will learn what performance indicators (KPIs) Lidl monitors when communicating football, and how it communicates the topic across different media and target groups.

July Strapek(Across)

Fallen as a passion and the main investment opportunity

President of the Slovak Padel Association, main investor in the padel network Aurial and main shareholder of the financial group Across, Július Strapek, will talk about how his passion for padel turned into an investment opportunity and will bring us closer to the latest trends in the fastest growing sport in the world. Július is still an active padel player (he finished in the quarterfinals at the World Cup), a passionate athlete who is engaged in cycling activities, skiing, kite surfing, futsal and football.

Lukas Kociš and Vlado Janček (Think Big Collective)

How brands build value through sport

Why do major brands decide to enter the sport and what role does strategy, emotion, data or community building play in this? Lukáš Kociš and Vlado Janček will present the decision-making process, the reasons for choosing a particular sport or partner, show what KPIs brands and agencies define for measuring success and how they manage to meet these goals. The discussion will reveal what sport offers in conjunction with the brand and what the brand brings to the sport — from value for fans to real business impact.

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Lineup:

10:00 - 10:20 Július Strapek (Across) - Padel as a passion and a major investment opportunity

10:20 - 10:30 Slido Q&A

10:30 - 10:50 Michal Pres (Škoda Auto Slovensko) - Cycling as a historical legacy and the “brand ID” of the present

10:50 - 11:00 Slido Q&A

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11:00 - 11:20 Timotej Strieš (Lidl) - Football as a key platform for brand communication

11:20 - 11:30 Slido Q&A

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11:30 - 11:50 Lukáš Kociš and Vlado Janček (Think Big Collective) - How brands build value through sport

11:50 - 12:00 Slido Q&A

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12:00 - 14:00 Networking + possibility of padel training directly on the courts in the Aurial center

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Number of places is limited

As the number of seats is limited, we reward the fastest of you with free entry to the Sport Connect conference. Register below via the form. We look forward to seeing you.

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