David Villafranca
New York, March 1 (EFE).- Thibaut Courtois and Marco Asensio as investors. Larry Nance Jr. and Joe Harris as partners in the NBA. Search for new advertising markets for players but also for teams. Those are the keys to his new sports marketing agency with ties in Europe, the US and beyond.
“In my travels to the US in recent years, I have witnessed the growing interest and fervor that exists there for football at all levels. As the country that will host global tournaments, including the 2026 World Cup, the door opens to further increase the profile in the US of players and teams from around the world,” Asensio explained.
Two people are the ones who have brought together two elite footballers with two contrasting names from the NBA in this project: Sergio Friede and Pierre Jouannin, who are facing their first independent project after a long career already in the world of sports.
“We had very good positions, very comfortable positions, but we did see and see many opportunities in the industry,” Friede, now CEO of Group 1, explained to EFE.
Friede worked for Brighton, Manchester City and LaLiga before joining the NBA, where he spent seven years and the last two and a half as director of marketing and growth for the Europe and Middle East region of the best basketball league on the planet. .
“For us, the main ‘value proposition’ is that we have spent our entire career in sports properties, both in an American one like the NBA, which is perhaps the best organization in the world of sports, and in teams and leagues in Europe. So we have that ‘know-how’ from both sides of the Atlantic,” he argued.
Active players as investors
The two co-founders of this new agency were clear that as investors they wanted exclusively current NBA or soccer players.
“We didn’t want investment funds or ‘venture capital’: we wanted only current players, not even former players,” said Friede.
“Because? First they help us in history: basketball with the NBA and soccer, the two most universal sports there are, come together to launch this agency. And then there are other aspects that are their knowledge, because they know what the players want (…) and I think they are going to be our best marketing,” he added.
In the case of Nance Jr., “a football lover” who is a minority shareholder in Leeds, and Harris, who has visited Europe to enjoy the Champions League, the connection seemed clear.
“And what I believe is that both Thibaut and Marco, for their part, see a lot of opportunity in the US at the level of the largest market in the sports industry, the largest ‘media’ market, and with all the potential for growth. that football has there,” he said.
“I think what they (the four) liked was the agency’s proposition itself, because they also see themselves as potential clients. They have that athlete’s vision of: ‘When I’m going to tell a teammate of mine, how is he going to react?’” he noted.
Finally, Friede said that this marketing company aims both at clubs, offering opportunities in new markets and as a ‘partner’ of their own marketing departments, and at players with services ranging from events to travel to the growth of your personal brand in other territories.
“A very important thing is that we do not represent anyone. We want to bring opportunities to reps in markets where they may not have the reach and we do. That is, we would never make the agreement between Carlos Alcaraz and El Pozo in Murcia, which is an example that I always give. But for example, we can do it for Carlos, looking for brands in India, China or the US,” he added.
In addition to this project, Courtois founded a company called ‘Be The One Vip Sports Experience’ in 2022, with which he offers “unique and exclusive experiences” regarding tourism.
2024-03-01 09:32:43
#Courtois #Asensio #offices #sports #marketing
