Western New England University's Center for International Sport Business (CISB) will host a talk by FIFA senior executive Hidenori Arai on Thursday, November 15 in the Lyman and Leslie Wood Auditorium in Sleith Hall beginning at 12:30 p.m. The event, entitled “FIFA Broadcast Marketing,” is free and open to students, alumni, the University community, and the general public.
FIFA is the international governing body for soccer, overseeing international competitions including the World Cup and Women's World Cup. CISB Director Curt Hamakawa said “I am grateful to Mr. Arai, who is widely experienced in international business, for his willingness to speak to students about his career in global advertising and broadcast marketing, and in particular his more than a dozen years at FIFA.”
Arai, senior executive at FIFA TV Services, began his sport career as vice president at ISL, a Swiss sports marketing company with close ties to FIFA, before being named general manager of broadcast rights for Dentsu, a global advertising and public relations firm headquartered in Tokyo. Arai next took a position as executive vice president at ISE AG, a Swiss IT service provider, and since 2004 has been with FIFA in various capacities.
A graduate of Japan’s prestigious Waseda University, Arai spent a year studying abroad in the United States at Wabash University in Indiana, before graduating with a degree in political science. When he is not traveling the globe on FIFA business, Arai resides in Zurich, Switzerland.
This program will mark the 29th in the “For the Love of the Games” series of the Center for International Sport Business, which previously has seen the likes of Olympic long jump champion Bob Beamon, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, IOC vice president Dick Pound, MLB manager Bobby Valentine, Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Donna Lopiano, US Soccer President Sunil Gulati, among others.
This event is presented by the College of Business Center for International Sport Business (CISB) and is sponsored by the Western New England University Alumni Association. For more information, contact Professor Curt Hamakawa at 413-782-1786 or email curt.hamakawa@wne.edu.
