British Sports Marketing Bureau tipped for New Year launch

Britain's Olympic and Paralympic sports are to pool their commercial rights into an independent company, called the British Sports Marketing Bureau (BSMB), which is set to launch in the New Year, if it is backed by the national governing bodies.

London 2012: sports marketing bureau aims to build on British Olympic successes
London 2012: sports marketing bureau aims to build on British Olympic successes

The BSMB is being set up to attract sports sponsorship.

Around 80 sports governing bodies and related sports organisations have been consulted on the proposals, which will involve them collaborating on rights deals.

The idea is that the BSMB would use its contacts and expertise to stitch together deals across a range of sports, which would be tailor-made to match each sponsor’' requirements.

At present, more than 80 British sporting rights holders have been asked to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The creation of the BSMB is a response to a number of companies that said they found the sports rights market ill-suited to their needs.

As opposed to sponsoring a specific sport, some companies want their names linked with a relevant issue such as sports volunteering, technology or community activity, covering a multitude of sports.

Should it prove successful in the sponsorship field, the BSMB in time to extend its scope of activity to cover broadcasting rights.

The move to set up the BSMB comes as details of the UK Sport's 2016 Olympic funding programme have been announced

Sports which did well during the Olympics, such as boxing, were among the winners. Boxing, for instance, has received an increase of 44.5% in its funding, to £13.8m. However, handball, basketball, table tennis and wrestling lost all support, while swimming suffered a £4m cut to its budget.

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Advertising Intelligence Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content