Sports Summit Madrid -SSM-, a project promoted by MADCUP, closed its second edition on Thursday after two days held on 17 and 18 June in pavilion 8 of IFEMA Madrid. The event recorded 19,800 visits, brought together more than 300 speakers and featured more than 110 exhibitors, figures that confirm the growth of an event beginning to claim its own space within the sports industry.
With only two editions behind it, SSM is still in a construction phase, but it has already reached a representative scale within the Spanish ecosystem. Its proposal is not limited to a content congress: it brings together athletes, federations, leagues, companies, institutions, broadcasters, brands, startups and training projects under the same logic of industry, business and transformation in sport.
The growth behind the ambition
The jump from its debut helps measure that evolution more clearly. The first edition brought together more than 8,600 visitors, 268 speakers, 140 exhibitors, 306 represented brands and more than 11,000 square metres of exhibition space. In 2026, the event reached 19,800 visits and more than 300 speakers, while also doubling the space of its first edition and presenting 16,000 square metres of surface area, with a 55% increase in exhibition space.
That progress does not yet make Sports Summit Madrid a fully established European reference, but it does show that the project has moved beyond the testing phase. The 2026 edition strengthened its ability to attract a professional audience, expand the sector conversation and organise a cross-cutting proposal around sports tourism, fitness, health and wellbeing, technology, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, urban sport and federations.
A broad map of the sports industry
The list of organisations present helps explain the event’s reach. NFL, NBA, Formula 1, LALIGA, EuroLeague Basketball, World Triathlon, WTA, the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Special Olympics, the Spanish Sports Council, ASOBAL, Bundesliga Handball, Ligue Nationale Handball, the European Hockey Federation, the European Volleyball Federation, DAZN, Mediapro, Telefónica, VISA, Allianz, QuirónSalud, UN Women and UN Tourism were part of an edition that placed Madrid at the centre of the sports conversation for two days.
The programme also featured names recognisable to both the general public and the sector itself. Pau Gasol, Jorge Garbajosa, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Vicente del Bosque, Fernando Belasteguín, Delfina Brea, Mario Mola, Damián Quintero, Sandra Sánchez, Raúl Entrerríos, Jennifer Pareja, Paula Leitón, Almudena Cid, Giba, Javier Sotomayor, Juan Manuel Montilla ‘El Langui’, Iballa Ruano and Hecher Sosa were among the leading figures in a programme marked by a wide range of disciplines and profiles.
Content, business and live sport
The Auditorium, Atrium and Ágora stages concentrated much of the congress activity, with talks, round tables and conversations on major events, management models, venue monetisation, technology, streaming, new sports narratives, tourism, health, wellbeing and infrastructure. The event sought to work as a meeting point between those who compete, those who manage, those who invest and those who build products and services around sport.
The experiential area reinforced that idea with sport in action. Del Bosque toured the pavilion, Belasteguín visited the Argentina stand, El Langui took part with the Spanish Paralympic Committee in a boccia demonstration, and Sánchez Vicario appeared on the pickleball court at SSM Arena. The space also hosted activations by Hyatlon with Mola, 3×3 basketball with Javier Beirán, padel and 3×3 football promoted by the Royal Spanish Football Federation -RFEF-, as well as experiences developed with NO.MAD.
From Madrid to a European ambition
The venue also hosted the national finals of STEM Racing Spain, an initiative promoted by the MADCUP Foundation and endorsed by Formula 1. During the second day, the four teams qualified for the world finals were announced. Those finals will be held as part of the Singapore Grand Prix, linking the event with education, innovation, youth entrepreneurship and STEM disciplines applied to sport.
The second edition leaves Sports Summit Madrid at a relevant intermediate point. At national level, the event is already perceived as a representative meeting for the sports industry because of its volume, diversity of actors and impact. The next step, becoming a European reference forum, will require continuity, stronger international presence, external buyers, stable partnerships and several more editions of consolidation. The 2026 edition confirms that something is being built in Madrid around sport as an industry.
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