Asia a major stage for sport
Goldschmidt says landscape on the continent will continue to expand; backs e-sports and e-gaming
She loves sport and is forever grateful to be involved intimately in it as group managing director of CSM Sport and Entertainment.
Sophie Goldschmidt says Asia has become a major stage for international sport and is not surprised over the development, especially with the sort of financial muscle in the region.
"You can't be naive; there is a business objective as well, which needs to be justified," she told The New Paper.
"As a market economy and as a region, Asia is growing.
"In the past, America and other Western countries were traditionally dominant but now, moving forward, you can see how Asian companies are doing so well on the global scale."
Goldschmidt has held various posts in the sports world.
She was once adidas' sports marketing manager. She used to be vice-president of sponsorship and marketing at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is currently a non-executive board member of the European PGA Tour and Youth Sport Trust.
Goldschmidt was in town recently as a speaker at the annual Sports Matters Conference at the Marina Bay Sands, during the week of the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.
Where once Formula 1 used to have only one stop in Asia (Japan), this year's calendar features three grands prix in the region. In 2012, there were eight grands prix in Asia.
The WTA has seen tournaments in Asia grow from two in 2008 to 19 today.
"China has opened everyone's eyes to Asia. There are massive economies and markets in Asia," said Goldschmidt.
And in the past, maybe culturally, the differences made it quite difficult to do business and, traditionally, America and Western Europe were just so, so dominant and kind of the known places to go.
ELECTRONIC SPORTS
But moving forward, so many Asian companies are doing well on a global scale, many other organisations outside of Asia are now having a very big presence here."
Goldschmidt believes the sporting landscape is constantly evolving and she's already thinking about the future.
"E-sports (and) e-gaming online are going to continue to grow exponentially and technology will play a bigger part," said the Englishwoman.
"Sport will continue to innovate and bring fans closer to the sport, especially some of the newer ones."
Some will say Goldschmidt operates in an environment that continues to be male dominated, but she insists she has not had even one bad experience.
She attributes it to her study stint in the United States, where it all started for her.
"We have a legislation in the US, though it's at a college-level, but it says we need to invest as much in women's sports as we do in men's," she revealed.
"Obviously, the world's got a long way to go, but it's heading in the right direction and female athletes and administrators have got a much louder voice these days."
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