Fenway Sports Group has signed a deal to become the exclusive North American sales agent for Fulham FC of the English Premier League, putting the agency into European soccer and marking its first pact with a foreign-based entity.
FSG will seek out a variety of commercial partnerships for the 130-year-old team, primarily a jersey sponsorship for the 2010-11 season and beyond. The club’s jersey pact with South Korean conglomerate LG expires after the current season, and Fulham is interested in expanding its options among American companies.
“We see this as an excellent fit, as there are a lot of similarities between the [Boston] Red Sox and Fenway Park, and Fulham and their stadium, [113-year-old] Craven Cottage,” said Fenway Sports Group President Sam Kennedy, referring to FSG’s sister operation, the MLB Red Sox. “There’s a ton of great heritage and tradition in their brand, and something we think we can help expand.”
Terms of the FSG-Fulham pact were not disclosed, but the deal was described as a short-term arrangement.
Fulham (in white) is the first foreign
entity to sign with Fenway
Sports Group.
While the jersey sponsorship will be FSG’s primary focus on behalf of Fulham, the company will seek out other commercial opportunities as well. There has been some early discussion of a potential exhibition game by Fulham at Fenway Park.
The deal, following up on one struck last month by FSG with Athletes’ Performance, marks a re-orientation of sorts for the company following the May departure of Mike Dee to become chief executive of the Miami Dolphins.
“After Mike left, we did a re-examination of our business and came to the conclusion that sales and sales representation are what we do best,” Kennedy said. “We’ve become involved in a bunch of other ventures, but this deal really speaks to the original DNA of who we are as FSG. And this now gives us more of a global footprint, which we needed.”
FSG’s other businesses include a 50 percent stake in Roush Fenway Racing, a Red Sox-affiliated minor league team in Virginia, a fan travel outfit and a stake in the photo souvenir venture Fanfoto.
Fulham’s team roster in recent years has included U.S. national team players Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and Kasey Keller.
“The U.S. is the leader in commercial partnerships in sport and is a key targeted growth market for us, so we’re looking to tap into some expertise that hopefully will bring us some high-value opportunities,” said Olly Dale, Fulham head of commercial operations. “It was immediately clear we’re like-minded organizations.”
The Fulham pact also furthers a friendly rivalry between FSG and CAA Sports, which represents EPL power Chelsea and FC Barcelona from Spain’s La Liga and organized this summer’s World Football Challenge exhibition tour in the United States.
“We like the role of competing with the big boys, which Fulham is doing with Chelsea, [Manchester United] and so forth,” Kennedy said. “And we’ve got a bit of a thing going, too, with [CAA Sports executives] Mike Levine and Paul Danforth, who we’re friendly with, and keeping up with those guys isn’t easy.”
