“The ability to say that this is going to be the world’s fair for sport right then and there got us excited”
The underdog venture team has a proven track record when it comes to creating and facilitating groundbreaking events. To kick off Pokatok’s partnership with underdog in creating the world’s largest sports festival, we sat down with CEO Nicole Jeter West to hear about what qualifies underdog to produce the event, as well as what we can expect as attendees in April of 2024.
With her storied career in sports, Nicole leads the underdog team in their mission to build brands and create value with a lasting social impact. With an event production track record featuring partners such as the Jackie Robinson Foundation, Athletes Unlimited, the MLS and TelevisaUnivision, underdog was a natural fit for Pokatok.
“We have a long history of working in the experiential and event space creating events that are new to the market and have yet to be engaged with by fans, or customers, but also helping to reimagine or reinvent”, Nicole shared in regards to the challenge of creating something never before seen.
In order to create memorable and captivating experiences, the underdog team strives to make every event “not just the typical engagement of let’s go sit, listen to a speaker and have that be the conference or experience”, perfectly describing the new experience that the Pokatok team is building.
The festival, slated for April of 2024, will celebrate the full spectrum of sport and competition. Programming for this international exhibition will range from competitions and experiences to panels highlighting leading sports tech companies. This wide variety of events requires experts who experienced firsthand what it takes to create compelling activities and relevant content within the sports industry.
The underdog team brings with them an understanding of what is hot in the world of sports.
“These are things that are not fads, they’re not trends, right? These are things that are going to be impactful and continue to evolve year after year”, said Lawson Gow, Pokatok founder.
Gow saw the value in underdog’s extensive network and knew that this partnership would allow for added value in a number of ways beyond the production of the event, “In having conversations with lots of other event production groups, these folks seemed like sports people first, and events people second, which is exactly what we need”.
The ability to dream up and activate experiences, combined with a deep knowledge of the sport industry has made underdog a very valuable partner. The festival will have something for everyone, from families to industry executives, and we couldn’t be more proud to work alongside underdog in creating a brand new experience for sports fans.
“Really just trying to make sure that people understand that this is going to be something that they’ve never experienced before,” Gow said, “You can’t compare it to anything because it’s just not been done.”