Group M launches sports division Sponsorcom, with Football Federation as foundational client
Rob Smith
GroupM has launched a full-service sponsorship and sports rights division, called SponsorCom, which will launch with the Football Federation Australia as a foundational client.
SponsorCom, will operate across all GroupM’s four media agencies, and will provide services including: broadcast rights negotiations; media rights; major sponsorship strategy; contract evaluation; supporting sponsorship sales; licensing and talent management.
The new division will be headed by Rob Smith who has worked for Sports & Entertainment Ltd (SEL) with responsibilities spanning commercial rights sales, business development, client management and legal affairs.
“The business of sport is expanding rapidly, but not all codes or stakeholders are keeping pace with the changing influences and drivers of the industry – or, importantly, monetising the full value of their assets,” said John Steedman GroupM chairman & CEO.
“SponsorCom will help Australian sporting bodies navigate the often complex world of sponsorship, media rights and related areas through an intelligent advisory service. With his immense experience and considerable commercial acumen, Rob is the perfect person to steer the launch of this new service.”
Rob Smith added: “I am excited to be joining GroupM and heading up SponsorCom, which I believe will deliver an unparalleled offering for sports right holders, individual sports people, traditional and new media broadcasters and, most importantly, brands.”
SponsorCom announced the launch by confirming the Football Federation Australia (FFA) would be marquee partner, for the sole purpose of major sponsorship sales to GroupM Australia clients.
“The partnership between FFA and SponsorCom is an exciting opportunity for football to continue to grow in the competitive sporting landscape. We’ve worked with GroupM previously and are excited to be the inaugural partner of the SponsorCom business. As the world gets smaller, football gets bigger and this partnership will continue to connect the world game with the corporate community.” said FFA CEO David Gallop.
FFA is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia, overseeing the Australian national teams, the Olympic teams and other various youth teams; national coaching programmes; coordination with the various state and territory governing bodies; and the national club competition.
Nic Christensen
I thought media agencies worked for clients, not people with something to sell (media vendors, etc).
how is this supposed to work.. groupm agency advises football body on who to sell sponsorship to (and charges vendor a fee), and separately. groupm agency advises client on what sponsorship deal to do (and charges client a fee).
media agency gets paid twice for the same transaction..??
gotta say groupm’s got more front than myer
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Not new
They started this exact business model about ten years ago, then shut it down about 8 years later.
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Rob is a very accomplished operator who will provide a positive contribution to the market. Well done Group M and good luck Rob.
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Dave Fleming was doing the exact same role 6-7 years ago – it was called ‘Performance’ then. Great guy.
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This is the old school sports marketing model. Most of these business models have failed. They have either folded or evolved their product offering because the model is not sustainable. It also doesn’t work for sports federations to outsource. A few has tried it – and almost all have reverted to selling in house. I think this is a bad move by the FFA as well. Group M have not cracked this space yet. None of ther branded entertainment divisions are firing. Someone needs to take charge
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