“A bold interview with Sherif Monsef El-Maanawy, one of the pioneers behind changing the face of sports marketing in Egypt”

With clear footprints during the past years in the field of marketing, serving not only top athletes and clubs, but also prominent brands among other institutions in Egypt and the Arab world, with a determined vision, to add value to and transform the sports marketing industry, we have interviewed Sherif Monsef El-Maanawy, Founder & CEO of Connection Marketing Ventures and Connection Sports, who answered our bold questions in this eye-opening interview...

The launch of Future Tennis Stars - MENA  with H.E. Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Sports

Tell us about your journey with sports Marketing. 

Connection Sports was found as part of Connection Marketing Ventures, with a mission to serve Egyptian sports and create a better echo-system for athletes, federations, and sports happenings.

Why did you choose the field? 

Sports come with a purpose, and doing business in sports is not only a blue ocean where many developments are needed, but it avails a platform where you can serve your country through contributing to scouting, nurturing, and elevating promising talents, growing sports, and contributing to the economy’s GDP.

Young Tennis Star Nour Fathallah awarded by Mr. Ismail ElShafie, president, ETF

What do you consider as your career key milestones and successes? 

We have helped many athletes and federations to compete at a higher level and introduced some success stories, including some prominent tennis and swimming players, among others, to the local, regional, and international sports landscape.

On the corporate front, we have succeeded in introducing key brands to be key players and contributors to sports through their valuable sponsorships and prominent support to key talents, federations, and championships.

What are the next projects and career goals? 

It is not a secret that we have recently launched a major project, “Future Tennis Stars - MENA”, considered the first of a kind pioneering platform to scout further stars and talents and manage their commercial presence. The project aims to generate the next stars in the local and regional world of tennis. Following this, we have similar initiatives in two other prominent sports currently under development, supported by major organizations in Egypt.

Sponsorship discussions with ORA with  the renowned Eng.Naguib Sawiras

What are the key challenges you are facing?

In recent months, economic and current political unrest have shed light on challenges supporting the projects we are undertaking, causing some delays. However, we are exerting maximum efforts to overcome these obstacles.

Are there any plans to penetrate new sports markets? 

We have recently succeeded, for the first time, in forming one of the prominent teams in football and are currently planning to launch our first project, in which we are very optimistic. On the geographical expansion front, Connection Sports is scaling its presence regionally and will soon launch our first venture outside of Egyptian lands.

Eng. Ahmed Ghatwary, President, Egyptian Padel Federation centering Egyptian National Teams as part of Egyptian Padel projects

What brands supported you the most? 

We can comfortably say that National Bank of Egypt, Allianz, Peugeot, Vodafone, and ZED were early-stage supporters that created momentum for our projects, with others to come in the pipeline.

We know that shooting club was an important milestone in your career. Can you tell us more about it? 

As a matter of fact, the shooting club was and will always remain a home to me. One of my firsthand experiences in sports marketing was establishing and chairing the marketing committee in the club for 6 years. Throughout this journey, I managed, with the successive boards, to contribute to numerous sports events, championships, sponsorships, and commercial projects that shaped our first steps in the sports marketing field.

With Olympic shooting stars left to right, Zaher “managed”, Kamar and Magy

We know you have a sports family. Can you tell us about it? 

My younger son is one of Egypt’s champions in junior tennis, consistently topping his event over the years. My daughter is a former tennis player in the shooting club team, currently focusing on her college studies. My wife is a passionate amateur tennis player, and as for myself, I love table tennis and regularly practice it at home. Not quite a professional, but a serious enthusiast.

Tell us about the federations that you work with.

I have a strong inclination to work with tennis, padel, and swimming federations, having successfully collaborated with the shooting federation. I also have aspirations and plans for the Squash federation.

Contract signature; Zaher x Allianz in the presence of Ayman Hegazy, CEO, Allianz

This is our last one. Can you share with us your major learnings and an advice to our audience?

My major learning is to lower your expectations, challenge the status quo, build your dream, work for it, and you can definitely reach the top of the industry you passionately work for.

My major advice: sports marketing is an emerging market that needs to follow “scientific practices,” not just “trial and error.” I strongly advise young professionals to take the sports industry seriously as an opportunity for growth, responsible business, and added value to our nation.

Management of the Olympic swimming Star Marwan Elkamash

Vodafone Campaign shooting with  the Egyptian Star Mo Salah

During Roland Garros competitions  with tennis legend Rafael Nadal