On the last week of October, we had the opportunity to attend the Impulse Summit as Global Talents. But what exactly are the Impulse Summit and a Global Talent?
The Impulse Summit was founded eight years ago at the University of St. Gallen by the students of the Impulse Network. The Impulse Network is a student association, just like BSSM, dedicated to helping and preparing its members for a career in the sports industry. This is done by offering a wide range of initiatives, such as workshops and case studies, events and networking opportunities with professionals and other students in the same position.
In 2017 the first Impulse Summit was organized by a small group of members with a goal: “the hosting of an international conference at the University of St. Gallen with students and experts from all over the world”. Today, the last edition of the Impulse Summit gathered 52 students from 18 different countries selected as Global Talents, 16 panels on different topics and challenges regarding the sports industry and countless speakers among the most important CEOs, Presidents and executives of the sector.
Three Days as Global Talents
On the first day, students from all over the world arrived in St. Gallen. People were coming from Italy and Portugal as well as Chile, Argentina and even South Africa! Regardless of their unique backgrounds, they were all united by one common passion: sport. The first day was dedicated to settling in, getting familiar with the place and exploring the city. We met at the University, on top of the city’s hill, and started getting to know one another. The Impulse Team presented us the week program and we did a game to get to know each other, with two of us ending on the podium! We then went for a guided tour of the city of St. Gallen and closed the evening having pizza altogether.
The next day we took the train to the beautiful Zurich! There we visited the FIFA Museum, discovering all its interactive games and activities. For instance, we immersed ourselves in the experience of commenting Grosso’s penalty kick in the 2006 World Cup final, discovered the history behind different nations’ jerseys and posters, as well as playing football in the games area and competing with different editions of the FIFA videogame.
On the second part of the day, we challenged ourselves by taking part in a workshop organized by PwC Switzerland. They explained to us what the current model for assessing how much funds the National Olympic Committee awards to each National Federation and then asked us to think about ways to improve it. The best thing about it? Having the possibility to confront with other students and understand their point of view based on their background and therefore sharing our experiences and thoughts, coming from different Universities and Countries.
The day ended with a quick visit of the city and the train back to St. Gallen, where we had dinner. We cannot really say that we spent a lot of time together at dinner, as many of us were quite busy watching Serie A’s matches.
Finally, we kicked off Wednesday with a sport session, where some of us played football, others volleyball and another group went for a run on the hills of St. Gallen. The rest of the day was spent downtown with PwC Switzerland and the IOC with whom we affronted an interesting, but complicated, topic: the management of Boxing at the Olympics. In fact, Boxing is the one and only discipline that is not regulated by the IOC due to the many scandals that keep arising.
We closed the three days as Global Talents with a Public Session that featured Jordi Quintillà, a player of St. Gallen FC, as host.
Impulse Summit
The Next Billion Fans was this year’s topic. The several stage sessions and panels we had the possibility to listen to, all focused about what the sport industry must expect from the future.
During the two days of Summit we had the possibility to listen and talk to several experts of the industry such as Luis Vicente, Chairman of APEX, who inaugurated the Summit and with whom we had also the possibility of a dedicated Q&A Session, exclusively for the Global Talents. Other exceptional speakers were Maheta Molango, CEO of the Professional Football Association for England and Wales; Lukas Eisner, President of Swiss Golf; Elena Mirandola, former CEO Como Women FC and Founder of The Breakaway; some experts from Infront and TEAM Marketing, such as Eliana Amboni, who is also a Bocconi Alumni; Michele Tozzi, CEO of the European Triathlon Association; Peer Naubert, CEO of Bundesliga International; and many more,
Furthermore, on Thursday evening a Networking dinner with all the speakers and experts that took part in the Summit was held, dedicated to the Global Talents. We had the possibility to talk one on one with them in a dynamic environment and exchange ideas and opinions.
Ending strong, on our last day in St. Gallen, Friday, we participated in yet another workshop. Our Global Talents had the possibility to join a workshop organized either by UEFA or DAZN on Women Football development.
In the first one, we had the opportunity to listen to experts from the UEFA Innovation Hub explaining us their Innovation Programs for the UEFA’s Women’s EURO 2025, which were developed in collaboration with partners such as Adidas, Disney, Amazon, the Swiss Football Association and various Universities around Switzerland. We were then divided into groups and challenged to think outside the box. We had to develop a plan on how to expand these initiatives to other countries and according to which factors. One key insight was the understanding of the cultural differences between the Countries of the group members, as everyone shared their point of view in respect to how their Country of origin would react to such ideas.
Instead, in the second workshop, organized by DAZN, we had the opportunity to explore the topic of sustainable business growth in women’s football, and to discuss how the sport can evolve from short-term “hype” into lasting success.
During the session, DAZN representatives shared some insightful broadcasting data from the latest Women’s European Championship, highlighting both the impressive audience growth and the challenges that still remain to make this progress sustainable.
We were then divided into groups to work on practical ideas to make women’s football more appealing to audiences. Among the proposals that emerged were adapting certain game rules to make matches more dynamic and entertaining, experimenting with new camera angles and production techniques to enhance the viewing experience, and investing more in youth women’s football to nurture stronger, more competitive athletes.
Another interesting insight was the importance of creating iconic figures who can inspire fans and elevate the sport’s visibility.
Finally, the week was concluded with an afterparty hosted by our friends from the Impulse Network, who did an amazing job! We couldn’t be more grateful for this experience and use the occasion to thank them once again. Hopefully this article will inspire other students to apply next year and make the most out of their own experience.
See you on the 29th-30th of October 2026!
By Sofia Negretti and Stefano Castellana
BOCCONI STUDENTS FOR SPORT MANAGEMENT 
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