What I Took Away from ALSD Europe: Always Innovating, Personalizing, and Rethinking Premium
By Christy Grady Murray, EVP of Business Development at DIGIDECK
Last week in Manchester, the ALSD / Premium Experience Network team—Amanda Verhoff, Jeff Morander, Rich Krezwick, Jim Delaney, and the rest of the group—hosted another fantastic event. The biggest takeaway I left with was this: the premium industry is being pushed to keep evolving. Buyers want more flexibility, more personalization, and more relevance, and the organizations that stand out will be the ones willing to keep listening, adapting, and always innovating.
That idea showed up in nearly every conversation across the conference. Whether the topic was premium products, hospitality design, AI, or sales strategy, the message was consistent: there is no finish line.
One of the most memorable moments came right at the start, when Marie Lindqvist of Legends Global was honored with the 2026 Global Legend Award. It was a moving way to open the event, especially with the virtual congratulations from her family and colleagues. It grounded the conference in something bigger than product strategy alone. A particularly powerful point shared during that moment came from Legends Global’s “Goosebump Report,” which found that three out of four people surveyed at Legends venues in Europe said attending live events gives them a sense of hope. That emotional connection felt like an important reminder of what this industry is really delivering.
At the same time, the event was deeply practical and future-focused. There was a lot of energy around where premium hospitality is headed and what revenue teams need to do next.
“Always innovating” felt like one of the most important messages of the event
Premium Framework: No Finish Line, People First, Always Innovate
One of the clearest frameworks shared at the conference came from Lauren Fisher-McBrayer of Mercedes-Benz Stadium premium experiences, who spoke about the principles her team returns to from Arthur Blank: no finish line, people first, always innovate.
That stood out to me because it felt bigger than one organization or one venue. It really captured the mindset the entire industry needs right now.
Premium buyers are changing. Fan expectations are changing. Sales cycles are changing. Technology is changing. And that means teams cannot afford to stand still. Innovation is not just about creating something flashy or new for the sake of it. It is about staying responsive to what buyers actually want and building products and experiences that reflect that.
That same idea is highly relevant to DIGIDECK. In many ways, DIGIDECK exists to help organizations operationalize innovation in how they sell. As offerings become more complex and buyers expect more personalization, sales teams need better ways to present ideas, packages, and experiences in a format that is dynamic, visual, and easy to tailor. The more the industry evolves, the more important it becomes to have tools that help teams evolve with it.
Premium is Becoming More Flexible
If there was one major business theme that came up over and over again, it was flexibility.
Across multiple sessions, speakers emphasized that premium buyers want more options. They still want elevated experiences, but they do not always want the same experience every time. They want choice. They want different ways to engage. They want products that better reflect who they are, how they attend, and what they value.
That was reflected in the conversation around product diversification and personalization. At Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Lauren shared how the team has continued to innovate beyond successful launches like field patios by introducing terrace boxes, while also looking ahead to suite renovations and a VVIP experience. That willingness to keep refining the portfolio rather than treating the product mix as fixed felt very aligned with the overall conference message.
The industry is clearly moving away from a narrower definition of premium and toward a more layered model.
“Premium Light” and “GA Plus” Were Major Themes
Two of the phrases I heard most often in Manchester were premium light and GA plus.
Both concepts point to the same broader shift: not every buyer wants or needs a traditional full-suite experience, but many still want something more elevated than standard admission. Teams are thinking more creatively about how to create access points into premium through things like enhanced entry, parking, hospitality spaces, better access, or a more curated social experience.
That matters because it opens up premium to a wider audience while giving venues more ways to segment and sell. It also reinforces why storytelling is so important. When a portfolio includes multiple levels of hospitality and multiple pathways into premium, sales teams need to clearly communicate the differences between them.
That is where I see a strong DIGIDECK connection. As portfolios diversify, it becomes even more important to present products in a way that is visual, intuitive, and personalized to the buyer—something companies like 3D Digital Venue are also helping bring to life from the venue visualization side. The organizations that succeed will not just have good products. They will have a better way to tell the story of those products.
Audience Fit and Personalization are More Important Than Ever
A major theme throughout the conference was understanding exactly who you are selling to.
Again and again, speakers returned to the question: Who is your audience, and how are you personalizing for them?
That showed up in the session on global scale and local approach, where Colin Cook and Vicky Jaycock from Legends Global emphasized the importance of breaking down assumptions and understanding the needs of each market, club, and property individually. Even at global scale, there was a clear message that successful premium strategy has to be local in execution.
That same point came through in Toni Will’s comments about Kalamazoo, where the number one community question around a new venue is simply whether it will be affordable. That is a perfect example of why teams cannot rely on generic messaging. The right approach depends on the market, the audience, and the emotional drivers behind the purchase.
From a DIGIDECK perspective, this is one of the most important opportunities. The more personalized the buying process becomes, the more valuable it is to have sales content that can adapt to different audiences without losing consistency or quality.
AI Was Everywhere: The Strongest
Conversations Were About Practical Use
AI was one of the biggest topics at ALSD Europe, but what stood out most to me was that the conversation felt grounded.
The focus was not simply on experimentation. It was on how AI can help teams work more efficiently, personalize outreach more effectively, and create more time for real selling. Derek Rey from Demand Sports talked about how AI and machine learning can help identify who teams are not talking to but should be. Jim Delaney gave a broader overview of AI’s evolution and described 2026 as the beginning of the agentic era, while also highlighting how early most organizations still are in actual adoption.
There was also a healthy amount of realism in the conversation. AI literacy, regulation, and internal rules of engagement came up repeatedly. That felt important. The takeaway was not that AI replaces the human side of sales. It is that AI can reduce friction and support a more personalized buying process if used well.
That is another area where the connection to DIGIDECK is clear. Sales teams need to move faster, but they also need to stay personal. They need better workflows, stronger content systems, and easier ways to create relevant buyer-facing materials. Innovation in this space is not just about speed. It is about helping teams scale quality and personalization together.
Design and Hospitality Strategy are Becoming More Connected
Another clear takeaway from Manchester was that design is not separate from monetization. It is a core part of it.
Sessions focused on hospitality design and revenue strategy reinforced that premium spaces need to be built with a clear understanding of the market, the experience, and the business model behind them. The strongest concepts were the ones designed to create a feeling as much as a function—spaces built around exclusivity, memory-making, access, and atmosphere.
That is important because premium buyers are not just buying inventory. They are buying an experience and the meaning attached to it. And once again, that creates a storytelling challenge and opportunity. Great spaces create value, but sales teams still need to help buyers see and feel that value.
My Biggest Takeaway
My biggest takeaway from ALSD Europe is that the future of premium belongs to organizations that are willing to always innovate.
That does not just mean launching new products. It means rethinking how products are packaged, how stories are told, how buyers are understood, and how technology supports the sales process. It means staying flexible, staying curious, and staying close to what audiences actually want.
That mindset matters across the industry, and it matters for DIGIDECK too. As premium hospitality continues to evolve, sales teams need tools that help them evolve alongside it. They need to be able to present options more clearly, personalize conversations more effectively, and bring spaces and experiences to life in ways that feel compelling and relevant.
That was the energy I felt in Manchester. The industry is moving forward, and the leaders creating momentum are the ones embracing the reality that there is no finish line—only the next opportunity to innovate.