WFS Madrid 2026: Ten Lessons for the Next Decade
WFS Madrid 2026 brought together over 140 senior leaders across more than 40 panels, drawing on executives from governing bodies, top-flight leagues, private equity funds, and properties like Formula 1 or the NFL. Together, they addressed the industry’s key priorities — including governance, institutional capital, stadium infrastructure, player welfare, women’s sport, sponsorship measurement, global market expansion, and AI.
WFS Madrid 2026 is in the Books: to 10 More Years Together!
The 10th anniversary of WFS Madrid was our biggest event ever, with over 2,500 industry professionals from over 80 countries.
The Game of Life: Ornella Desiree Bellia on Resilience, Football, and Why She’s Attending WFS Madrid
With almost two decades of experience across sports law, football governance and executive leadership, Ornella Desiree Bellia currently serves as FIFA’s Director of Professional Football Relations and Development. But when asked who she really is, her answer was simple. “So many people know me for my work in football,” said Bellia. “But if you ask […]
Meet the WFS Awards 2026 Finalists
The finalists for the WFS Awards 2026 are in. This year’s edition received close to 200 candidacies from close to 50 countries across all six continents, spanning 12 categories that recognise the professionals and organisations behind the game. Here they are, category by category: WFS Award for the Best Content Creator by TikTok WFS Award […]
Javier Tebas Opens Up in the Inaugural Edition of New Interview Series “The Fan Behind…”
From a boy sneaking into a dirt pitch in Huesca to the man who has run LALIGA since 2013: Javier Tebas talks family, football, Real Madrid, SD Huesca and Cristiano Ronaldo.
El presidente de LaLiga Javier Tebas inaugura nueva serie de entrevistas “The Fan Behind…”
El presidente de LALIGA cuenta el curioso origen de su conocida afición por el Real Madrid y desvela anécdotas desconocidas con leyendas y figuras del fútbol.
WFS and Substack team up to champion a new era of sports media
World Football Summit, the meeting point for the global football industry, and Substack, the subscription network where athletes and creators own their audience and their work, today announced a strategic partnership that establishes Substack as an Industry Partner of WFS Madrid 2026. The agreement (the first of its kind between Substack and a major sports […]
Formula 1’s Liam Parker to Speak at WFS Madrid 2026, as F1 Becomes First “Guest Sport” of the Summit
Liam Parker, Chief Communications and Corporate Relations Officer at Formula 1, will be among the speakers at WFS Madrid 2026, taking place on 15-16 September at La Nave, Madrid. Parker’s participation comes as Formula 1 becomes the first Guest Sport of WFS Madrid, a new initiative through which WFS opens the summit to sports whose […]
GIS x WFS Scholarship Partnership at WFS Madrid 2026
For ten years, WFS has been the meeting point of the football industry — the place where the people driving the game come together to talk about what comes next. Today, we open that door to the next generation. A New Partnership, A New Pathway Our partnership with the Global Institute of Sport (GIS) creates […]
“AI will change everything about football… except the 90 minutes”
Craig Hepburn worked at UEFA before becoming an independent AI strategist and Perplexity Fellow, and writes Ground Truth, a Substack on the economics of artificial intelligence. Speaking ahead of his participation in WFS Madrid 2026, he argues that AI will do more to football’s business over the next decade than the last one did, with […]