Unless you spent the week holed up in your hotel this year at Cannes, you likely crossed paths with at least one professional athlete throughout the festival.

That was, in part, thanks to Stagwell's Sport Beach, a first-time activation that stood out among the usual cabana-style beaches peppered with actors, musicians and entertainment celebrities. The venue, which featured 23 sports, including several playing fields, was one of the most talked-about experiences at Cannes this year. Multiple executives who spoke with Ad Age expressed interest in going to the space throughout the week; Stagwell said more than 5,000 people made their way to its beach by the fourth day of the festival. 

Cannes activations are expensive and can be hit-or-miss, as evidenced by Snapchat's giant yellow blight of a Ferris Wheel in 2017. But Sport Beach seemed to be a win for both Cannes goers and the athletes, who said the beach presented a welcome opportunity for them to get in front of potential sponsors and talk directly with brands.

Behind the beach

This marks the first time that Stagwell has bought space on the Croisette, which holds strips of other beach sections operated by brands and holding companies such as Spotify, WPP, the Interpublic Group of Cos., Pinterest and Meta.

Also read: Behind Meta's AI sales pitch at Cannes

The activation included multiple sports such as football, tennis and volleyball, but most noticeable was its NBA regulation-sized basketball court planted in the middle of the venue. 

Throughout the week attendees could participate in sports activities such as golf, pickleball, flag football, running, basketball and yoga.

Pro athletes acted as referees for different games, shared coaching lessons or just played their sport.

In all, 38 athletes were part of the programming at Sport Beach, including former NBA player Carmelo Anthony, NBA player CJ McCollum, former tennis star Maria Sharapova, former NFL player Brandon Marshall, former WNBA star Sue Bird, flag football star Diana Flores and Saquon Barkley, running back for the New York Giants.

The concept for Sport Beach came from 72andSunny Chief Growth Officer Damaune Journey and the shop's founder and chairman Glenn Cole. At last year's Cannes Festival, the two were leaving the Palais following a packed panel featuring their NFL client and multiple athletes when they wondered why there weren't more sports opportunities at the festival. 

“We just began a conversation around the fact that there was so much energy around sports, even American sports, in the middle of France,” Journey said. “I asked why aren't there more sport-related spaces?”

The two brought the idea to Beth Lester Sidhu, Stagwell’s chief brand and communications officer, around August. Cole credited Sidhu as acting like the executive producer on the project because she facilitated budget conversations with Stagwell CEO Mark Penn, set up a partnership with Cannes Lions, and coordinated agencies tasked to help with ideation, recruiting sports talent, and programming.

Cole and Sidhu led the design of the space and the production was led by Team Enterprises, along with the independent experience agency Cheerful Twentyfirst.

In total, 17 Stagwell agencies were brought on to create the beach activation, which included an area to play video games, bleachers for viewing and a bar. Stagwell was also able to secure sponsorships with brands such as Wilson Sporting Goods and Gatorade to provide sports equipment, drinks and more.

Opportunities for athletes

Beyond visibility for Stagwell—venue speakers included Jo Shoesmith, Amazon’s global chief creative officer; Mark Kirkham, senior VP and chief marketing officer of PepsiCo International Beverages; Amrapali Gan, CEO of OnlyFans; and Paulie Dery, chief marketing officer of Yeti—Sport Beach provided an opportunity for athletes to market themselves at Cannes, many of whom attended the festival for the first time.

One athlete, who hadn’t been to the festival before, was “surprised” by the experience and said it offered the opportunity to meet with brands in a novel way.

Another athlete, Kelvin Beachum, an offensive tackle on the Arizona Cardinals, said the venue “empowered” athletes to be able to talk directly with brands. “Brands need to do a better job of having direct conversations with athletes and allow us to drive the narrative instead of putting their agents in front of the athlete all the time,” he said.

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One executive marveled at the fact that athletes were sprinkled throughout the festival and felt like it “elevated” its stature. Another remarked that the athletes felt more “down to earth” and approachable than other celebrities.

Several athletes, including Anthony, McCollum and Marshall, as well as Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, were spotted at a party Wednesday night hosted by Group Black at Bisous Bisous Club that featured a performance by rapper Q-Tip.

Costly endeavor

The economy was top of mind heading into Cannes, especially with the number of layoffs across the industry this year. Stagwell was no exception; the holding company laid off 300 staffers in the first quarter due to the slowing of client spend, Stagwell Chief Financial Officer Frank Lanuto confirmed in May. 

Stagwell declined to comment on the cost of the Cannes space, though one industry CEO said simply securing beach space for the week at Cannes could easily cost $1 million. 

A spokeswoman for Stagwell, which has been working to raise its industry profile, confirmed that Stagwell will be looking to bring back Sport Beach to Cannes next year. Cole mentioned potentially adding additional sports such as soccer to the space next year as well.