Cannes Lions is about drinking rosé, networking on yachts, and, increasingly, sports.
For the third year in a row, the company Stagwell is hosting Sport Beach at the annual festival of advertising creativity, where athletes and marketers will gather for the majority of the week to discuss sports and its role in culture. Stagwell isn’t the only company offering sports-oriented programming this year: Deep Blue Sport + Entertainment, which is focused on driving more commercial investment into women’s sports, is back for its second year, upgrading from a house to a yacht club, while AI fan intelligence company Sports Innovation Lab is hosting an event about fan data with LiveRamp. This year, though, Stagwell has received the title of “official Lions sport partner,” which festival organizers said is aimed at “bringing more sport to the festival than ever before.”
“That’s the first time the designation has existed, and we think that is a reflection of how important sport is,” Stagwell Chief Brand Officer Beth Sidhu told Marketing Brew. “We are focused on being the premier and premium home for all sports [at Cannes]...We want world-class athletes connected with world-class brand marketers on stage, on the court, to do business together, to talk about the power of sport, and to celebrate this incredible global universe.”
Ahead of marketers’ descent on the French Riviera, we spoke to Sidhu about what Sport Beach has in store in terms of its roster of athletes, brand partners, and activities. For those who can’t make it, heed the following warning: you may experience FOMO.
Keep it professional
This year, Stagwell is gathering a range of athletes from a variety of international sports and at all different stages of their careers, Sidhu said. The lineup features stars from football, baseball, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, track and field, running, gymnastics, snowboarding, and Formula 1, including:
- Basketball legends Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Sue Bird, and Candace Parker;
- Soccer icons Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Sam Kerr;
- Baseball great Alex Rodriguez;
- Olympic favorites Jordan Chiles, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Hunter Woodhall, Noah Lyles, and Ilona Maher;
- F1 drivers George Russell and Oscar Piastri;
- And Billie Jean King.
Sidhu said she expects athletes’ conversations to span topics like tech, fashion, and culture. While the pros surely have some athletic insights for anyone looking to up their game, Sidhu said the programming will focus more on off-field business, and it won’t be limited to sports sponsorships. Rodriguez and Parker, for instance, will lead a conversation about investing, and programming tracks include “leadership and resilience” and “culture and community,” Sidhu told us.
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“Sport is the door-opener, but it is not the only conversation,” she said.
It’s also likely AI will come up at Sport Beach—“but only sparingly,” Sidhu said—as well as the opportunities presented through the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics in LA.
Brand name
On the brand front, several prior Sport Beach partners including Diageo, Gatorade, Meta, Snap, and Zillow are all set to return. Stagwell is also welcoming new partners like Fanatics and Adobe, Sidhu said. With the partners come freebies: Sport Beach attendees might be able to pick up some memorabilia from Fanatics, she said, and Meta is providing Ray-Bans for everyone who flies out on Stagwell’s chartered plane.
Last year, Stagwell increased the physical size of Sport Beach by 60% compared to 2023 and drew about 7,400 people. Though the physical size will remain the same this year, she said, Stagwell is aiming to pare down foot traffic slightly to more explicitly focus on athletes, brand marketers, and clients and potential clients of the agency.
That last part is particularly crucial: In the past couple of years, the event has served as “a boon to our brand recognition and our new-business revenue,” Sidhu said.
Lace up
Not everyone at Sport Beach will be a pro athlete, but they will get the chance to show off their athletic prowess by participating in activities including a run club, swim team, and pickleball tournament. Cocktail hour kicks off around 4pm each day, Sidhu said, with drinks from Diageo and La Fête Wine Company, as well as open play pickleball and basketball.
“Give grown-ups drinks and sports, and they will have fun,” Sidhu said.
Speaking of drinks, Stagwell is also hosting its second wine and spirits festival at Cannes this year, which will dig into the growth of beverage brands’ investment in sports sponsorships and their approaches to marketing the category.
But if anyone is looking to simply sit back and relax, Bird and Rapinoe are set to do a live taping of their podcast, which will feature the Woodhalls, on Wednesday.
“Year 1 was just a gamble, Year 2 was avoiding the sophomore slump, and Year 3 is really about [offering] the best experience for the people who come and delivering this elite forum,” Sidhu said.
Update 06/10/25: The description of Stagwell has been updated in this piece.