Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk headlined the MEO Super Stage on day two of SBC Summit Lisbon and hours after the talk, Kieran O’Connor and Christian Lee – Business Journalists for Insider Sport and Gambling TV, respectively –  joined James Ross to discuss the best moments from the keynote.

A major focus of the interview was the building of Tony Hawk as a brand, however, he revealed that this was something that he never intended to do when he started out his skating career.

“He did come out and say that he never aspired to have fame or fortune. He never actually tried to build a personal brand, never got a team of marketers and said I want to build a brand,” explained Kieran. 

Staying on the theme of brand building, when asked about how he has maintained his brand for so long, Hawk also emphasised the need for authenticity. He explained that he “walks the walk” by still skating and being directly involved in the industry.

On this point, Christian said: “He really pushed and emphasised the need for an influencer to believe in a brands vision. 

“I think sometimes when you look at some brand ambassadors that come up, not just in gaming but across different industries, you can tell when the person’s been chosen just for their name rather because it’s something that they believe in and really want to be part of.”

After a short break, attention then turned to what else had been happening at the action-packed summit, and Kieran recalled some interesting quotes from a panel session hosted by Payment Expert’s very own Ted Orme-Claye.

In the session Rahul Das, Director of Payments at LiveScore, described Open Banking as a “nuisance” and a technology that promises a lot but delivers very little.

Additionally, Christian also spoke about his experience so far given that it is his first time at an SBC event.

He said: “I didn’t know what to expect and it has exceeded my expectations completely. It’s my first industry event altogether and when you see the stands that some of the operators and suppliers have come up with, it’s crazy to to see the scale and also the time and effort that has gone into making the stands.”