While the world watches the FIFA World Cup Final descend on the New York–New Jersey region, a smaller and arguably more consequential gathering will happen a few miles away in Newark. On Wednesday, July 15, 2026, the Global Game Summit returns to the Prudential Center with what its organizers are calling the deepest speaker roster in the event's history — and for anyone tracking where the commercial power in soccer actually sits, that's the room to be in.
Not a Fan Festival. The Executive Room.
The framing matters here. There will be no shortage of fan zones, watch parties, and brand activations orbiting the Final. The Global Game Summit is explicitly none of those. Produced by GK Digital Ventures in partnership with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, it positions itself as the only curated, full-day conference dedicated exclusively to the business of soccer in the United States — a single room where the people running clubs, leagues, media platforms, technology companies, and capital pools sit down together.
"This is not another soccer fan event or fan festival — it's the executive room," said Greg Kahn, CEO of GK Digital Ventures and founder of The Global Game. That's a deliberate line to draw. The value proposition isn't access to the sport; it's access to the operators deciding what the sport becomes.
A Cross-Industry Roster That Hasn't Shared a Stage
The 2026 program pulls confirmed speakers from across the soccer economy — FIFA, Major League Soccer, LALIGA, Hawk-Eye Innovations, U.S. Soccer, and a broader lineup spanning ownership, media, marketing, and league operations. The organizers' claim is that this cross-industry mix has never before shared a single stage at a soccer conference, and given how siloed these worlds usually are — governing bodies, domestic leagues, European rights holders, and performance-tech vendors rarely programmed side by side — that's a credible pitch.
The agenda runs four tracks that read like a map of where the money and the leverage are moving:
Business & Ownership — the future of soccer's ownership landscape, including sovereign funds, private equity, and multi-club models.
Content, Culture & Commerce — how streaming platforms, leagues, and broadcasters are reshaping control of the fan relationship.
Tech & Innovation — AI, data, and the next wave of performance and fan-engagement tooling.
International & Women's Soccer — the fastest-growing commercial segment in the global game, across media, investment, and cultural influence.
The People and the Panels
The published agenda runs the full day, with programming from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET followed by executive networking and a World Cup semifinal viewing. Here's who's actually in the room and where the conversations land.
Business & Ownership. Moderated by Darren Rovell (founder, cllct Media), with Nicolás García Hemme (LALIGA North America), Charlie Stillitano (TEG Sport North America), Fred Mangione (FIFA World Cup 2026 NY-NJ Host Committee), Sarah Jordan (AFC Toronto), Amina Bulman (Boston Legacy FC), and Joe Stetson (Chief Commercial Officer, Red Bull New York). This is the multi-club, cross-border, capital-formation conversation — the room where the ownership economics get argued out.
The Attention Economy — Content, Distribution & Premium Fan Experiences (9:30–10:10 a.m.). Moderated by Vanessa Perdomo (Bloomberg), with Elliot Richardson (Dugout & ONEFOOTBALL), Michaela Hammond (OffBall), Rich Battista (Wave Sports & Entertainment), Bo Han (Transmit), and Jeremi Gorman (Fanatics Advertising). The distribution-and-monetization panel — how leagues and platforms are fighting for control of the fan relationship.
Inside the Investment — Venture Capital, Innovation & the Business of Sports Technology (10:25–11:05 a.m.). Featuring Chris Schlosser (Major League Soccer) and Max Wright (Hawk-Eye Innovations). For sports-tech founders and operators, this is the panel to watch — a league investor and a category-defining tech vendor talking openly about where capital and adoption are actually flowing.
The New Playbook — How Women's Sports Became the Fastest-Growing Business in Sport (11:25 a.m.–12:05 p.m.). A featured conversation moderated by Kacey White (former USWNT midfielder, match analyst for MLS on Apple TV), with Abe Geiger (U.S. Soccer Federation), Danita Johnson (D.C. United), Courtney Carter (Seattle Sounders FC & Seattle Reign FC), and Evan Dabby (New Jersey Youth Soccer & USCSA). The commercial-shift session — and, by the organizers' own framing, one of the most important on the agenda.
Featured athlete conversation. Greg Kahn (GK Digital Ventures) in conversation with pro athlete Junior Moraes, on the athlete-as-platform model.
Beyond the panels, the broader confirmed roster spans FIFA, MLS, LALIGA, Hawk-Eye Innovations, U.S. Soccer, Dugout & ONEFOOTBALL, D.C. United, LAFC, AFC Toronto, Seattle Sounders FC, Seattle Reign FC, IBM, Transmit, DIAGEO, Lenovo, Bloomberg, Fanatics Advertising, GEICO, and iHeartMedia — alongside names like HBO "U.S. Against the World" producer Rand Getlin, five-time Premier League champion Mikael Silvestre, and former USWNT goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris. (Moderators and speakers subject to change.)
Why the Timing Is the Whole Point
The Summit runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, followed by executive networking through 6:00 p.m. and a viewing of the World Cup semifinal. Holding it in the days before the Final — in the region actually hosting the Final — is not incidental scheduling. It's the entire thesis. The inaugural edition drew senior leaders from 28 countries, and this year the organizers are leaning into the reality that the economics of global soccer are being rewritten in real time: new ownership structures, contested media rights, and a women's game that is quietly becoming one of the most important commercial stories in all of sports.
The Buying-Side Read
Here's what stands out from a commercial-development lens. Events like this are where the actual deal architecture gets set — not the sponsorship banners, but the conversations between the people who control distribution, the people who control capital, and the technology vendors trying to earn a seat at the table. The women's-game emphasis is the tell. When a summit built around the World Cup Final devotes a full track to the segment growing fastest, that's a signal to brands and tech providers about where the next open commercial lane is.
For sports-technology companies specifically, the read is simple: proximity to rights holders and ownership groups during a moment this concentrated is rare. The Summit compresses a year's worth of introductions into a single day, in a single building, during the one week the entire global game is looking at this region. If you sell into leagues, clubs, or media platforms, the calculus on being in that room writes itself.
Sports Tech Atlanta is a boutique sports-technology advisory and commercial development firm connecting technology providers with the leagues, clubs, brands, and rights holders shaping the business of sport. We help founders and operators turn moments like the Global Game Summit into pipeline — from positioning to partnership to close.