In recent years, there has been a growing trend of combining sports marketing and sponsorship agencies with media-buying shops. This makes sense as media budgets usually outweigh sponsorship budgets. Successful examples of this combination include Omnicom Media’s Optimum Sports and Horizon Media’s Scout Sports and Entertainment. However, there have also been failures like GroupM’s Entertainment and Sports Partnership unit (ESP). Another agency, Playfly, is looking to merge its sports media and marketing divisions.
Publicis Media has recently announced that they are revitalizing their sports marketing agency by rebranding it from Publicis Media Sports & Entertainment to Publicis Sports in the U.S. They have hired additional staff to bring the headcount to around 25 employees. Jon Tuck, former PFL and NASCAR CRO, has been leading Publicis Sports since October. The agency has secured six new clients, drawn to their new data-driven approach to sports marketing, utilizing proprietary sponsorship intelligence capabilities linked to Epsilon’s consumer database.
With big sports spenders like Chick-fil-A, Pfizer, and Samsung as clients, Publicis Sports is seeing growth in importance for their services. Recent hires from top companies like ESPN and Endeavor indicate their commitment to expanding and improving their sports marketing capabilities. They have the support of Publicis Media CEO Dave Penski, who believes in the importance of having a strong presence in the sports marketing industry. Publicis is focused on investing in their sports marketing agency, recognizing the continued growth and importance of the sports market.
