First Beach Games aim for millennial audience

The Olympics have tried to lure younger viewers by adding or subtracting sports for years, but now an arm of the Olympics movement is launching an all-out play for millennials and the brands that love them.

It’s called the World Beach Games, and the Association of National Olympic Committees awarded hosting rights last month to San Diego for its inaugural event in September 2017.

With a budget of $150 million, funded largely through sponsorship and media rights, and hopes of drawing between 3,000 and 5,000 athletes from across the world over 10 days, organizers are thinking big. But not too big.

Surfing will be among the 21 sports contested in San Diego in 2017. Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

The concept, based off the 7-year-old Asian Beach Games series, is designed to thrive without the multibillion-dollar construction projects that usually precede the Olympics. Out of 21 sports, most will be contested on the sand, water or streets of the 62-acre Mission Beach district. Others will be played on downtown piers, and most will require no permanent infrastructure. Athletes will stay in San Diego’s Hotel Circle in Mission Valley.

The expected sports run the gamut from familiar ­— beach volleyball and triathlon are in the plans — to the more esoteric, like surfing and e-sports. Organizers hope to finalize the program by early next year. Above all else, the sports must have a strong youth orientation, and may be joined by “battle of the band” style musical events, too.

“We’re going to medal video games,” Mudd said. “That’s a first.”

ANOC wants to create a program that will allow as many countries to participate as possible without overwhelming the event, said Gunilla Lindberg, the organization’s secretary general.

Optimism for sponsorship revenue abounds, though it’s tempered by the experimental nature of this first event. ANOC consulted with ESP Properties to gauge corporate interest, and the results are encouraging, said George Taylor, founder of the Swiss marketing firm Sports Art Plus. They’ve road-tested the Beach Games idea with Coca-Cola, Samsung, Heineken, Red Bull, Sony and Qualcomm. They’ve also spoken to Alibaba, Taylor said, and discussed media strategy with 20th Century Fox, Red Bull Media House and others.

“Global sponsors are very interested in joining ANOC to reach 2 billion-plus young people, which we call millennials, through beach sports,” Taylor said.

Based on the results of that research, ANOC hopes to begin planning future Beach Games in 2019 and 2021, and sell global sponsorships in four-year cycles like the Olympics do. The San Diego committee would also sell available categories locally, Mudd said.

The local committee will be seeking consultants to assist in sales, event planning and activation.

For now, ANOC and San Diego are finalizing the host city agreement, Lindberg said. Representatives from ANOC, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the local committee will join a new, unified organizing board in the first half of 2016 that will handle further details.

The city has indicated its support, said Mudd, who is also chairman of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, adding that he hopes to secure a major events permit by February.

Octagon Vice President Nick Griffith attended the first Asian Beach Games in 2008 and thinks a global version could be an attractive property. “There is certainly a demand from brands to be part of the beach culture,” he said.

But it may take time. “I have been tracking it, but until San Diego was selected last week, I don’t think a lot of people were aware of it or even are aware of it now,” said Jan Katzoff, head of global sports and entertainment for GMR Marketing. “I think San Diego was a great venue selection and should help develop it into an exciting event, but it will take some time to build awareness and a marketing platform around it.”