Sports marketing company Playfly Sports has acquired Premier Partnerships, an agency that specialises in naming rights, sponsorship sales, valuation and consulting for sports and entertainment organisations.
As part of the acquisition, Playfly’s current naming rights and sponsorship division will become Playfly Premier Partnerships and will include Impression Sports and Entertainment staff – a company that Playfly acquired from Fox Sports in March last year.
Premier chief executive Randy Bernstein will be responsible for Playfly Premier Partnerships, while Premier chairman Alan Rothenberg and Premier president John Kristick will remain in leadership roles. Bernstein will report directly to Playfly’s chief operating officer, Craig Sloan.
Playfly founder and chief executive Michael Schreiber said: “The naming rights and high-value sponsorship sector of the industry is booming, and we believe the addition of Premier will significantly accelerate Playfly’s capability to provide sponsors with new avenues for driving exposure and augmenting fan engagement.
“Randy, Alan and John bring incomparable expertise. We look forward to harnessing the collective power of their team, along with our capabilities from Impression and across Playfly’s divisions, to unlock significant new revenue sources for our partners.”
Premier has worked to facilitate major venue naming rights deals, including working with the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Mercedes-Benz Stadium (pictured) in Atlanta, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and Orlando City SC’s Exploria Stadium in Major League Soccer (MLS). Premier has also worked with MLS sides Atlanta United and FC Cincinnati on kit sponsorship deals.
Rothenberg said: “Randy and I are proud of what we have built with Premier since 2003. Now we have great motivation to take it to the next level with Playfly and Impression to expand our work with clients across the naming rights, sponsorship and consulting industry.”
Both Rothenberg and Bernstein have had lucrative careers, with Rothenberg leading the efforts for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the US and Bernstein coming in as senior vice president of corporate marketing. Rothenberg then went on to establish the MLS in 1996, which played a part in the US being awarded hosting rights for the 1994 World Cup, and again brought in Bernstein to lead the sales and marketing efforts for the new league.
Meanwhile, MLS team Real Salt Lake City has announced that it has retained Playfly Sports to secure stadium naming rights, deliver a valuation of its marketable assets and create “custom-branded content” to engage potential sponsors.
Image: Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash
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