Conor McGregor, Cathal Pendred and others to speak at Web Summit in Dublin

The Web Summit has today finalised a stellar running order for its inaugural Sport Summit lineup with the additions of Conor McGregor, Cathal Pendred, Philippe Senderos and Rio Ferdinand.

They will join an already box-office cast of athletes, coaches, sport-tech entrepreneurs and influencers in examining the intersection of sport, performance, business and technology at the Web Summit’s Sport Summit which takes place on the 4^th and 5^th November in the RDS.

UFC star Conor McGregor is one of the most-talked athletes on the planet and was the most searched Irish athlete on Google in 2013. In 2014 the charismatic Dubliner has developed a strong brand presence as he extended his undefeated streak in the UFC to 4-0 and looks in line for a featherweight title fight against Jose Aldo in 2015 should he beat German Dennis Siver in Boston this coming January.

He will be joined by his SBG teammate Cathal Pendred who won Fight of the Night at the Dublin UFC event in July. He followed that up with a victory in Sweden that means he is undefeated in 4 years and 10 fights. Pendred studied Analytical Science in DCU before embarking on an MMA career.

Premier League defender Rio Ferdinand will speak on the 5^th November to multi-Emmy award winner Jeremy Schaap.  The decorated QPR defender has won 6 Premier League titles and a European Cup; the former England international is also an entrepreneur with his own digital publishing company, a an Ambassador, football expert and programme maker with BT Sport and has recently released his autobiography#2sides.

Philippe Senderos currently plays for Aston Villa and the Swiss National Team. Philippe is a leading investor in SWOL’s Board of Ballers, a group of professional soccer player investors who will help launch their new fantasy mobile platform, Fury 90, and lead a mission to use technology as a force for social good in the world’s beautiful game. He began his career with Arsenal and has had successful stints with AC Milan, Fulham, Everton and Valencia. In addition, Philippe speaks six languages fluently and has competed in the last three World Cups.

Other speakers at the Sport Summit include; The Father of Sabermetrics Bill James in conversation with Soccernomics writer Simon Kuper; Manchester United Group Managing Director Richard Arnold; Former American football quarterback Patrick Steenberge, organizer of the Emerald Isle; Cork hurling legend and GPA Chairman Donal Óg Cusack. Former Chelsea and Barcelona assistant manager Henk Ten Cate; Leland Melvin, former Dallas Cowboy, Detroit Lions and astronaut will be in conversation with David Matthews who is an award-winning journalist, producer and writer of the award-winning book ‘Looking for a Fight.’ David Epstein author of the Sports Gene; Former Tottenham sporting director and Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli; Bret Hedican, the two time Olympian and Stanley Cup winner as well as Pro Skateboarder Tony Hawk and this year’s Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley.

Speaking today, CEO and founder of the Web Summit Paddy Cosgrave said, “Our inaugural Sport Summit is amazing, we have 9 brilliant stages but personally I’m really looking forward to checking out some of the talks at Sport Summit. It’s going to be a real highlight.”

Tickets and further information on the Sports Summit and Web Summit 2014 can be found at www.websummit.net