Borrello: Promoter of sport without the ego of sponsors

Renata Borrello will soon have a decade leading the Mextenis project, but her vision wasn’t short on tennis. Plans expand to include other sports and places to landlines for businesses that have a first-time return on investment.

Being a sports promoter has been the most exposed aspect of her career, but that has never stopped her from majoring in art and business history, and she is currently taking the time to take a virtual course on feminism at the Courtold Institute of Art.

As the chairperson of Mextenis, she does not protect her ideas, encourages teamwork and has seen generational changes in the Acapulco Championship. Since integrating social networks, the challenge of attracting younger audiences and sticking to an event with good reviews persuades the top 10 tennis players to come to Mexico.

In November 2019, they started a new line of business they called The Greatest Match, the event that set the show game between Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev in Plaza de Toros, Mexico. Incidentally, Renata told El Economista that the event will be geared towards another sport and that Merida is an important venue for a sporting event to take place.

“I want to stress that The Greatest Match will not only come close to tennis, we are planning with this new brand to start practicing other sports. The pandemic has stopped, but something was always expected to be done every year or twice a year. I have faith in it. The second half of this year things will start to get organized (…) and in the next semester (2022) we will have a follow-up to the biggest match, which will not be just tennis or Mexico City, we will have events in different places. We will start talking to the shepherds. “

Experience in the tournament process was obtained from the Los Cabos Open Championship (ATP 250), which will have a new headquarters in 2021; Open gymnastics championships at the Olympic swimming pool in Mexico City and the Challenger Championships in Chapultepec.

What is your goal as a sports fan?

“I consider myself a person whose work focuses on promoting sports. The backbone of Mextenis has always been to support, spread and promote not only tennis but also sports culture and health in Mexico. It is something the country needs so much. It should be distinguished, because we encourage sports but we are a private initiative, so the Our goal is a little different from what the government would be in terms of sport Firstly, it has to be a business, we want to bring in the most representative athletes in tennis or the sport we work with so that the Mexican public can connect with high performance athletes of international standing.

What is wrong with sports promoters as sponsors?

“The word beneficiary can be misinterpreted, I don’t think it’s negative in its origins to support it economically. At the end of the day, tournaments have to be a business, otherwise you won’t be able to survive. My primary goal is not to make money, but I have to do it because if not As a sponsor, I don’t see it as a negative, but we are not the heroes, and we do not have that ego to say we came to save the world, we focus on doing our job well, with a team We have had successful years in tennis, but the part of the entrepreneur is that Giving money is also essential because I believe it is a healthy balance and reality. It cannot be separated. “

Studies and tennis are like a great course

Renata explains her childhood in person in a museum or playground, influenced by her parents. Their training is bidirectional. After studying art, he obtained an Executive MBA in Business, majoring in Sports and Recreation.

“My sporting side is the most exposed, but my mother and her sisters are at the Casa Lam Cultural Center and I am the chairman of its board of trustees. While in my personal account, outside Grupo Pegaso and Casa Lamm, I have another company that is running temporary exhibitions, many of which are in the United States.” .

To improve her work, Renata notes that the most important tournament was her experience with the ATP and the WTA, which in turn opened the door for her to see how other sporting events were being handled. In a year without a pandemic, meetings with members of these constituencies were scheduled to take place four times a year in different parts of the world. He hosted Los Cabos on one occasion.

“Conferences are organized around what the ATP regards as best practices for this year. And once every two years, he travels to attend a non-tennis event to see how they run their sport. I’ve been to PGA, Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, NBA, Champions League.”

On the other hand, courses that are not related to sports have a space of their own. Preparation in the cultural and artistic field is still in effect, and today she is working on a course on feminism that touches the tide of the eighties and nineties, and sees that she is in her position as president of a company that has not escaped from the restrictions that they usually find towards women.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

“The word feminism has changed its meaning, as I consider myself a woman who works and has developed professionally. I seek to have the same opportunities that men have but as long as I deserve them and they do not give them to me. For the benefit of women who prepare and seek a more just world, where the virtues we have as human beings are saved. , Which differs from that enjoyed by men. At Mextenis, since I started working, the percentage of women has increased over the years, and today 40% of us are women in permanent jobs.

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