Experiential agency Engine Shop is "launching a global business effort" as it acquires Olympics bid consultant and int'l sports marketer T Burns Sports Group, according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL.
TBSG is run by "longtime" Olympics marketer Terrence Burns, who recently created the agency after working for Teneo Holdings and serving as a consultant to the L.A. Olympics bid.
The deal, which closed on Feb. 13, gives Engine Shop an "entry into the global sports market" given Burns’ decades of int'l experience that includes sponsorship consulting and sales, Olympics and World Cup bidding and global sports branding. As a strategic consultancy, Engine Shop will now compete with the likes of IMG and Octagon for global business. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Burns becomes exec VP of global at Engine Shop and will be based in Atlanta.
Engine Shop CEO Brian Gordon said, "Global has been on our radar for 12 months or so. To enter the global sports space with Terrence, I don’t think we could have found a better partner."
Burns entered the Olympics space as Delta Air Lines’ managing director for Olympic programs when that airline had the rights for 1996 Games in Atlanta. He later served as senior VP of marketing services for the IOC and senior VP of marketing for Meridian (the marketing agency for the IOC), and co-founded Olympic consultancy Helios Partners (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/19 issue).
