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posted on May. 27, 2026 at 9:00 amJun 1, 2026

Campaign Market Minds: CMO Round Table | Why sports marketing must grow up, not only bigger

posted on May. 27, 2026 at 9:00 amJun 1, 2026

Here are all the top takeaways from the latest Campaign Market Minds: CMO Round Table on ‘Building the Future of Sports Marketing in the Middle East’ held in partnership with Publicis Sport on 20 May.

Sports marketing in the Middle East has been witnessing a lot of momentum in recent years. As it stands, the regional industry has no shortage of sports events, sponsorship plays, intellectual property (IP), naming rights, content distribution, endorsements, media productions and rights management, omnichannel fan engagement platforms and conversations around local talent and women’s sports.

This means two things. On one hand, there’s a lot of positive sentiment around sports marketing with several brands showing up to participate in this space. Professional athletes, amateurs, fitness enthusiasts, brand aficionados and fans are fuelling the fervour across running clubs, football,

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the authorAnup Oommen

Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.