Continuing to expand its U.S. presence, CSM Sports & Entertainment acquired GlideSlope, a "boutique" N.Y. agency specializing in the Olympics and other global sports, along with marketing analytics, according to Lefton & Fischer of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. GlideSlope will become the advisory group of CSM North America. Its 15 employees will be merged with CSM S&E's consulting practice and housed within the N.Y. offices of LeadDog Marketing, acquired by CSM last October. CSM S&E Group CEO Jeff Chifrin said, "This gives us world-class-strategy, research and analytics, along with some great brand-name clients." GlideSlope co-founders and sole equity stakeholders Dave Mingey and Eric Guthoff will become managing director and exec director of CSM Advisory, respectively, reporting to CSM North America President Rob McQueen. Mingey said that he and Guthoff have "spoken to a number of suitors of their agency, and had been talking to CSM for more than a year." Other suitors included traditional consulting agencies and some established sports marketing shops. Mingey said, "We got serious with a few others, but we really feel like CSM is building the next-generation consulting company in sports" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/10 issue).
