Spring Media merges with Athletic Sports Group and Fight Globe
Agreement creates market leading position in global fight sports and expands Spring Media’s footprint in Asia and MENA.
Spring Media, the Sweden based sports media group has today announced the acquisition of Netherlands based sports media agency Athletic Sports Group, including its subsidiary Fight Globe. The move cements Spring Media’s position as a global sports media agency and follows closely on the recent acquisition of the Hogmore agency, announced earlier this month. The expanded group will have an annual turnover in excess of 50 MEUR.
Through the deal the expanded group gains:
Expanded global reach and a complete western European footprint
The addition of Athletic Sports Group provides Spring Media with a true global presence through an established office network in the UAE and Malaysia. In ensuring access to the high growth markets of Asia and MENA, this move is further strengthened by bolstering Spring Media’s established European stronghold through its Benelux home market. Athletic Sports Group’s business complements Spring Media’s leading presence in Scandinavia, DACH, France, the UK and Latin America.
Spring Media’s mission is to help rights holders grow their media businesses and properties, and Athletic Sports Group’s market position in Benelux opens up a new market for the group’s full-service offering, including Staylive’s state of the art sports destination OTT platforms and Sportacentrs remote productions solutions.
Market leading position in combat sports
Athletic Sports Group has deep-rooted success in sports television content distribution in cultivating license opportunities, aggregating large television rights packages and developing syndication strategies for content partners. Fight Globe, as part of Athletic Sports Group, is the largest distributor of fight content worldwide and annually distributes programming for more than 750 live sporting combat events, i.e. PFL MMA, Glory Kickboxing, KSW, All Elite Wrestling and ESPN boxing. Most recently it got recognized as the specialist for spectacular cross-over fight events with exclusive distribution assignments for Floyd Mayweather, Pacquiao, and Jake Paul fights.
“Like Spring Media, Athletic Sports Group and Fight Globe are fast growing leaders in their fields. We are excited by the potential and opportunities this strategic investment will deliver and look forward to bringing our combined strengths to an increasingly expectant market. The deal not only adds scale to the Spring Media business, it will supercharge our ability to enable sports rightsholders to grow, as we continue to expand Spring Media’s full service offering and reach new markets.” said Tobias Osmund, CEO of Spring Media group.
“We’re extremely proud of what our teams have accomplished to complete the transaction, said Nino Ockhuysen, Group CEO of Athletic Sports Group. ”We look forward to working closely with the Spring Media team as we continue our integration efforts and focus on driving long-term, sustainable growth.”
“We’re excited to be part of this new journey with Spring Media. The new company structure provides significant opportunities to advance distribution and accelerate our pursuit to serve broadcasters and media outlets with high-quality combat sports content.” said Sabine Kesseler, CEO of Fight Globe.
Athletic Sports Group founders Nino Ockhuysen and Sabine Kesseler will both become part of Spring Media’s management team. Nino Ockhuysen will also join Spring Media’s Board of Directors.
For additional information, please contact:
Tobias Osmund, CEO of Spring Media
tobias@spring.media, +46 706300134
Nino Ockhuysen, CEO of Athletic Sports Group
nino@athleticsportsgroup.com, +31 652529309
