CIS University has launched the Sports Business Speaker Series, an initiative of CIS University Athletics, created to bring students closer to the real dynamics of the professional sports industry. The program forms part of CIS University’s commitment to a holistic education that goes beyond the classroom and supports the personal and professional development of its students.
The inaugural session featured Dr. Antonio Roibás, Medical Director of RX2 Sports & Health Center, a top-level professional in sports medicine and high-performance athletics. Throughout his career, he has worked with leading institutions and leagues, including the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as clubs such as Atlético de Madrid and world-class international athletes, including Memphis Depay.
From the outset, Dr. Roibás made clear that he did not intend to deliver a lecture, but rather to open a space for discussion. The session adopted a roundtable format, encouraging active participation from students and faculty. The conversation began with a broad overview of the four major generators of sports business: sports tourism, sporting goods, participatory physical activity, and professional and elite sport.
From there, he explored surrounding sectors such as broadcasting, the use of big data, and sports betting platforms. This approach provided attendees with a global view of the sports landscape, allowing them to understand the complexity behind the gears of sports competition before developing their specific focus on sports services, and more specifically, sports medicine.
Dr. Roibás emphasized a central idea: treating a high-performance athlete requires radical specialization. A sports doctor is not the same as a regular doctor, just as a sports psychologist differs from a general psychologist, and the same applies to physiotherapists, nutritionists, biomechanical engineers, and genetic counselors. As he stated, “An athlete is an asset and must be treated as such, with protocols specifically designed to maximize recovery, prevent injury, and optimize performance.”
Cutting-Edge Technology for Athletic Performance
During the session, Dr. Roibás introduced students to the advanced tools used by his team, including the 17-point body suit for biomechanical analysis and genetic analysis of saliva samples used to assess dozens of performance-related genes. These results are translated into individualized performance and recovery plans, tracked with daily precision even in long-term injury processes such as ACL injuries or complex hamstring tears.
In his closing reflections, Dr. Roibás highlighted several trends shaping the future direction of the sports landscape: global ownership groups, the integration of AI and big data, innovation through education and investigation, and diversified player pools. He concluded with a statement that encapsulates his professional philosophy: “I don’t compete in prices, I compete in value.”
With this first session, the Sports Business Speaker Series establishes a direct dialogue between the classroom and the industry, reinforcing CIS University’s commitment, together with its athletic programs, to an educational model that connects academic learning with the professional world of sports. The collaboration with RX2 Sports & Health Center creates new opportunities for cooperation and academic development in Madrid, recognized as one of the world’s leading sports capitals.