Sports and business consulting agency Elevate has announced the addition of sports stadium and hospitality brand Levy to its ownership group, alongside a “significant” increase in the stake owned by investment fund Velocity Capital Management.
Levy joins an ownership group that, in addition to Velocity, includes the investment groups Arctos Capital Partners, Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, and additionally the iconic San Francisco 49ers National Football League franchise.
Through the deals, Levy chief executive Andy Lansing also becomes a board member of Elevate, as does Velocity co-founder and managing partner David Abrams.
Other board members include 49ers president and Elevate chief executive and chair Al Guido, 49ers chief executive Jed York, Arctos partner Chad Hutchinson, and Bolt Ventures partner Scott Krase.
Speaking on the entry of Levy into Elevate’s ownership mix, Guido stated: “This new foundation will empower us to take bold steps beyond our current client ecosystem and into the greater, global marketplace.
“Following record growth in 2024, the announcement of new members to our ownership group, and the appointment of new board members, our intentions are to remain aggressive and poised for strategic opportunities that align with our focus on sports, entertainment, media, and technology.”
The move preempts a 2025 expansion for Elevate that is set to see it open new offices in New York City, Nashville (both US), and London (UK).
Levy will also give the firm a new presence in Chicago, Illinois, thanks to its headquarters there.
Elevate has similarly expanded across 2024, most notably with the April acquisition of the brand consultancy arm of Fenway Sports Management, a move that expanded its own brand consultancy offering.
Elevate already boasts a number of global brands as clients such as Duracell, conglomerate Proctor & Gamble, and software company Globant.
The business firm has also partnered with a number of high-profile sports properties in the past, activating alongside motor racing’s F1, soccer’s Premier League and FIFA World Cup, and American football’s NFL among others in 2023 alone.
Speaking to Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) in April, Elevate Brand chief client officer Cameron Wagner said: “As we're all seeing there is a consolidation in the agency space, especially in the brand consulting […] because brands prefer to work with less agencies that can do more.
“We have media consultancy now. We have one of the strongest data and insights platforms and applications of it in the industry. We excel in the negotiation space, and then we excel in the areas where you have to excel if you're going to be a strong agency for branding, that's partnership management, and activation.
Alongside sports events and experiences, Levy also has a merchandising arm that owns the nascent sportswear brand Sudu, technical kit partner of English premier League soccer side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The wider Levy business is already partnered in some form or another with several major soccer teams across the UK including Scottish outfit Rangers, London clubs Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford, and Leicester City.
