Two Circles expands into media rights, live production and streaming with agreement to acquire Spring Media Group

• Spring Media’s media rights, live production and streaming capabilities will bolster Two Circles’ existing services, giving clients even more ways to engage and grow audiences.
• Two Circles’ second significant acquisition agreement in recent weeks increases client base to over 950 organizations globally.
• The acquisition will also increase Two Circles’ reach across Europe including in the DACH region, following the launch of its new Cologne office in September.

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28/10/2024: LONDON, UK: Two Circles, the data-driven sports and entertainment business, has today announced the agreement to acquire Spring Media Group, adding new products and solutions to Two Circles’ already market-leading fan-marketing services.

Spring Media has delivered consistent, market-beating growth, more than doubling in scale over the last three years. This growth has been driven by an innovative approach to full-cycle media rights management, sales and delivery. Fusing production, streaming and media rights to drive underlying rights value. Once coupled with TwoCircles’ existing expertise in audience growth, customer data management and direct-to-consumer monetisation, this combined business will have the unparalleled ability to help rights owners of all sizes grow the value they deliver from their fans.

There has never been a better time for a data-driven approach to engaging with fans, as Two Circles’ recent proprietary research has shown. Gen Z are now consuming 23%more hours of sports every week than Baby Boomers, with the majority of this consumption outside of traditional broadcast channels, requiring new ways of engaging with fans, including through streaming.

The combined business will provide Two Circles with market-leading remote live production capabilities, a popular streaming platform and relationships with over 500broadcasters globally, to provide over 950 rights holders and rights owners with unparallelled global scale in managing fan relationships.

This exciting development comes after recent news that Two Circles has substantially expanded its footprint in North America through the acquisition of KORE, a market-leading intelligence platform for fans and partnerships, further fuelling the company’s growth ambitions.

Two Circles already expanded its content capabilities and reach in North America inMarch with the acquisition of content production agency Let It Fly Media, and these two additional acquisitions will see Two Circles grow to around 1,000 teammates across 12 offices. This includes a greater presence across Europe including theNetherlands, Sweden and Germany, where it recently launched a new Cologne office.

Gareth Balch, Co-Founder and CEO of Two Circles said, “It’s with great excitement that I can share that Spring Media will become part of Two Circles. We’ve been industry friends and collaborators for years, so it is a delight to soon be teammates. The team is amazing and has been anticipating the future of media rights for years. The combination of media rights sales with remote production and streaming optionality will be crucial in navigating the next era of media rights monetisation, especially when fuelled by the ability to grow audiences! We can’t wait for all that comes next.”

Tobias Osmund, CEO, Spring Media Group said, “Gareth and the Two Circles team have an incredible track record in converting audience growth to revenue growth and doing so with values that align with ours. By combining our businesses, we will give our existing clients access to even more market-leading technology and a team with an unparalleled understanding of both fans and the industry. In turn, we will be able to support Two Circles’ existing partners with an innovative approach to media rights management, streaming, and production.”

The Spring Media Group leadership will all continue in executive roles at Two Circles, with Tobias Osmund as Group Executive Director.

About Two Circles

Two Circles grows revenue for the world’s leading sports rights-holders, using data to create strategies, deliver proprietary technology solutions, package and sell sponsorships, and design and market compelling, tailored content.

From twelve international offices (Bern, Cologne, Kansas City, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Miami, New York, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Riga), Two Circles manages billions of fan data interactions on behalf of over 950 clients around the globe, with more insight into fan behavior and desire than any other organization.

About Spring Media

Spring Media is an international full-service sports agency that serves some of the biggest leagues, federations, teams and broadcasters in the world. Its business is built around four core areas including Rights Management, Production Services, Streaming Solutions andGrowth Marketing. Spring Media Group has more than a hundred employees and global reach with offices throughout the Nordics, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia. TheGroup distributes, sells and produces more than 60 000 live sports events annually and works with over 500 broadcast partners. More info at: www.spring.media