13 May Signal Boost: Ed Abis, CEO, Dizplai
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That’s why we’re excited to feature leaders and changemakers who are shaping the future of sports, technology, and culture. Our Signal Boost series highlights voices across the industry, offering thoughtful insights, personal experiences, and perspectives that inspire how we think about impact, creativity, and growth.
Get to know the leaders who are moving the industry forward—one conversation at a time.
Tell us a bit about your background leading up to the position at Displai:
I took a non-traditional route into my career. I left school at 18 without going to university, moved to Italy (I’m half Italian), and did a year of national service in the Italian army. After that, I worked for an internet service provider right when the internet was starting to become omnipresent – which absolutely shaped my career. I was part of the internet age from the very beginning.
I started my sports career at Burnley FC in English Soccer, where I honed my skills in marketing and communications. It was there I eventually studied to gain my Post Grad diploma in marketing. After Burnley, I had a small stint in sports loyalty before moving to ITV (the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster), then to Perform (now DAZN), where I developed my expertise in digital sports media, followed by landing a role with Nike – which had always been a dream and goal of mine – working on Manchester United Soccer School global brand activations.
I then joined Never.no as Head of EMEA Business Development, leading their social TV growth strategy across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Never.no was the precursor to Dizplai, which I founded and where I’m now CEO.
Over 25+ years, I’ve watched digital platforms completely transform how sports organisations connect with audiences. At Dizplai, we help sports properties and creators build direct fan relationships through content marketing.
Tell us about Dizplai, and your role there:
As CEO and Founder, my primary focus is on driving Dizplai’s strategic transformation into a comprehensive MarTech platform with diversified revenue streams, including advertising, subscriptions, licensing, and creator partnerships.
Day-to-day, I’m responsible for setting the strategic vision and direction of the business, identifying market opportunities, and building partnerships that align with our long-term goals. I’m shaping the future of the company through product strategy, go-to-market positioning, and building the organisational capabilities needed to execute our vision.
Beyond internal operations, I’m deeply involved in thought leadership through “The Attention Shift” podcast and active LinkedIn content creation, where I analyse how sports media is transforming and challenge conventional wisdom about fan engagement and distribution models.
My goal is to transform how sports properties connect with and monetise their audiences by providing the technology infrastructure that enables direct fan relationships – moving the industry away from legacy-dependent models to audience-owned distribution.
Can you share a professional accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
The founding of Dizplai in 2022 was a huge personal and also collective milestone, whereby we came from a business that, while it had some successes, was not set up to scale. The journey since then has been challenging but hugely rewarding, with a supportive board that constantly pushes us to reach the vision we have set for the business and ultimately be a trailblazer for change in the sports media industry.
What is your favorite part about working in your industry?
Constant Change! I see change as an opportunity to do things better, to bring fans and their sports closer together, and for those relationships to be more conversational rather than transactional.
What is a trend you are keeping an eye on in your industry?
I always have a number on the go, but right now, Prediction markets. I think it tells us a lot about what people want – they want their opinion to be heard and valued, and they are happy to have skin in the game to reinforce their passion for their opinion.
Be learning constantly, be inquisitive, and try out the things you learn, even if it means failure. You will learn more from failure than from getting everything right.
Do you have any hobbies that you’d like to share?
Trekking and hiking in recent years. I am very lucky to live close to the English Lake District and Peak District in Manchester, which gives so many great opportunities to do this.
What would be your perfect vacation?
