The New MVPs of LBEs: Sports activities and Life-style Brands Rating in Leisure

IAAPA Expo Europe 2025 curated an skilled panel of audio system to discover this dynamic new period in leisure. Annabel Rochfort, CEO of Rochforts LBE Consultancy, has labored in IP for 20 years with high names together with Mattel, Time Warner, and Ferrari, the place she oversaw Ferrari’s location-based leisure, museums, and esports. Joining her onstage had been Jordi Penas Babot, director of the FC Barcelona Museum, and Hamish Jenkinson, CEO of The Department, an company that has produced occasions together with Opening Ceremonies for the Champions League Final, and FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup celebrations.  

Although media-based IPs have flourished inside the LBE house, these properties can rise and fall in reputation. “Continuous investment” is, in Rochfort’s view, what makes a way of life or sports activities model enticing in the long run. “FC Barcelona is always going to be playing football. Swarovski is always going to be making jewelry. Ferrari is always going to be making great cars.” From a location-based leisure perspective, these manufacturers present a dependable basis for securing a return on funding. Brand visibility and ongoing actions additionally present “a continuous flow of technically free marketing,” she provides. 

At Ferrari, Rochfort noticed how sports-based IPs drove fan engagement in new methods. Esports was a pure model extension for Ferrari. “Esports is now a global phenomenon,” she says. Ferrari’s esports tournaments enable it to succeed in tons of of hundreds of followers and meet new generations at venues worldwide. 

However, Rochfort cautioned attendees in regards to the potential dangers to manufacturers when translating IPs into themed experiences. “The simple answer is you work with partners you trust,” she says. She highlights Miral’s increasing portfolio of branded points of interest on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, as a profitable instance. Operators must also think about the patron journey, enabling each goal demographic to attach with the model.  

Jordi Penas Babot charted the FC Barcelona Museum’s evolution because it opened in 1984. The museum presently occupies a brief residence whereas renovations on the Spotify Camp Nou stadium proceed. It is the primary museum in Barcelona and Catalonia and the third most visited museum in Spain. “We receive more than one million visitors a year,” he says. He expects the brand new museum to open in March 2026.  

With solely 30 matches per season, the FC Barcelona Museum permits followers to really feel near the motion all yr spherical. Besides the glittering trophies and artifacts from the workforce’s previous, the museum makes use of expertise to create immersive experiences for friends. Highlights embody a 360˚ wraparound display, VR experiences, and a forest of multimedia shows the place friends can discover out details in regards to the groups. Jordi Penas Babot desires folks to really feel nearer than ever to the gamers.  

“I love the way the big sporting brands are realizing they can create these kinds of experiences,” says Jenkinson. For instance, the NBA House, a free and interactive occasion in Paris, enabled followers of all ages to expertise the thrill of the NBA with basketball-themed actions and star appearances.  

One venture Jenkinson’s company is engaged on is the experiential lounge at Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson stadium in Liverpool, England. The soccer membership has developed a Tunnel Club matchday expertise that offers a novel view of the gamers’ tunnel. “We’re designing VR experiences and penalty shoot-out experiences in small rooms off the main dining and F&B space,” he says.  

Jenkinson is energized by the rising alternatives to develop leisure content material rooted in sports activities IPs. He believes manufacturers such because the NBA, NFL, and UFC could look to emulate the experiential fashions championed by operators like Topgolf and TOCA Social—mixing sport, leisure, and social interplay in revolutionary methods.