Two Circles, the London-based international sports agency, has struck a deal to acquire Spring Media, the Sweden-based international sports media and marketing firm.
The deal, unveiled today at the Sportel conference in Monte Carlo and one that has been close to two full years in the making, represents a “dream come true,” Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) has been told by Gareth Balch, co-founder and chief executive of Two Circles.
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Balch added: “We’ve been exploring how we can best serve our clients for some years, and once we came across Spring Media and the work they’ve been doing, we had eyes for nobody else. We didn’t look any further, they provide what we believe is the missing piece of our jigsaw in terms of the production, distribution, and monetization of media rights.”
Tobias Osmund, chief executive of Spring Media group, has meanwhile said the deal will give Spring Media – although that brand name is now set to be retired – several substantive additions in terms of what it can offer clients.
He said: “For us, in terms of the services we can provide, we have been looking at audience growth and sponsorship rights as the additional pieces we needed.
“We realised that, alongside Two Circles, we have the same ideas for the future of the sports media industry.
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By GlobalDataThe current Spring Media leadership will all continue in executive roles at Two Circles, with Osmund becoming group executive director – something Balch has said he is “delighted by … that was a non-negotiable for us. We wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way.”
The aim is for the combination of the two agencies – Spring Media’s innovation in terms of media rights management, and Two Circles’ expertise in audience growth and customer data management – to create a business capable of growing value for rights holders “of all sizes.”
The deal has been in the works for close to two years, with Balch telling Sportcal that the lengthy nature of the discussions has been down to “investor priorities.”
He added: “It’s taken a little while to get to this point, over the last couple of years, but that’s enabled us to get to know each other really well and come up with a clear plan. This represents what we both wanted to happen with our businesses.
“The will to do this has been in place for several years, but the ability to line up investor priorities has taken a bit of time.
“Both our companies are in different stages of private equity cycles – but we’ve both known for a long time that this is the end goal.”
Indeed, the pair have already started working together on several properties, including the Danish women’s top soccer league, where the combined offering of Two Circles and Spring Media has been applied in terms of service provision.
Two Circles has also been helping Spring Media with its management of the Nordic Open tennis tournament, while Two Circles has engaged Spring Media in its deal to sell sponsorship rights for the UEFA Women’s Champions League top-tier European soccer tournament.
This news follows on from Two Circles – which, it claims, now has a client base of over 950 properties – having already added two companies into its portfolio in 2024.
In March, the agency announced the acquisition of content production firm Let It Fly Media, while earlier this month came the news that Two Circles was acquiring Kore, an intelligence platform based around fans and partnerships.
These various deals all come in the wake of Two Circles being acquired by the Charterhouse Capital Partners investment firm at the beginning of 2024.
Last month, meanwhile, the agency secured investment from Otro Capital and Bolt Ventures (the family office of US investor and sports franchise owner David Blitzer).
Through this investment, a Two Circles North America Operating Board has been created, chaired by Alec Scheiner, an Otro partner and co-founder.
The agency has also recently opened an office in Cologne, Germany, which will be led by experienced commercial executive Lars Stegelman.
Recent contracts secured include Two Circles being appointed to sell commercial and media rights for UEFA European women’s soccer, for the 2025-30 cycle, and becoming the main sponsorship and digital sales agency for World Rugby in an expanded tie-up.
In terms of where Spring Media will sit in Two Circles’ expanded portfolio, Balch told Sportcal: “There’s loads of crossover, there’s going to be one company with different platforms and products, all in pursuit of client growth. There will be a lot of synergy between our platforms.”
Spring Media, founded in 2011, most recently was appointed as the international rights distributor for Danish soccer’s top-tier Superliga, in a multi-year tie-up.
September, meanwhile, saw the agency appointed to manage the global media rights of the United World Wrestling (UWW) body for the 2025-32 cycle.
