Sports media and marketing company Playfly has unveiled the purchase of UK-based sports-focused sponsorship tech agency Evolution Sports.
Evolution, founded by Dan Lipman and Archie Woodhead, will continue to operate in Europe under the Playfly name, and will now utilize Playfly’s own data-based insights and processes.
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While US-based primarily, Playfly engages with global rights holders to better promote their businesses and engage sponsorship revenue. The addition of the Europe-based Evolution business will help it expand its market to an even greater number of potential partners.
Under the deal, which begins on July 1, 2024, Playfly will be responsible for driving new multimedia rights-related revenue opportunities, including content creation, premium gameday programming, and the development of new partnerships, events, and activations.
Mike Schreiber, Playfly's chief executive and founder, stated: “The European sports sponsorship landscape is ripe with opportunity. Playfly is uniquely positioned to deploy our proven platform internationally, helping our partners authentically reach, engage, monetize, and measure fandom.”
He added: “Dan [Lipman] and Archie [Woodhead] have a proven track record of driving significant value for their partners – we look forward to joining forces and scaling this business even further.”
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By GlobalDataLipman and Woodhead will both join Playfly as co-managing directors of its European business, Playfly’s first outside of the US.
Lipman stated of the deal: “Playfly drives more media revenue within US professional and collegiate sports than any other entity, so we are eager to introduce this outstanding company to the European sports marketplace.”
“The Playfly team already brings deep international experience with a wealth of global clients. We are delighted that our current and future clients will benefit from the size, scale, and expertise that Playfly will provide, along with activating their ‘Fandom as a Service’ platform to unlock commercial success globally.”
Evolution has worked with a number of major clients since its inception, most notably the English Cricket Board governing body, cricket’s elite Indian Premier League competition, and soccer’s English Premier League, among others.
Playfly, founded in 2020, has shown major growth since its foundation, most recently agreeing to a 10-year multimedia rights agreement with Virginia Tech University, part of the ACC US college sports conference.
