Two Circles to market NFL Game Pass in Europe

Bruin Sports Capital and WPP have entered into a partnership with the National Football League to grow NFL Game Pass across a combined 61 European countries and territories as part of the NFL’s international growth strategy. It will be run through a new company, formed by Bruin and WPP and headquartered in London.

Game Pass is the NFL’s premium OTT offering and features all live NFL games, NFL RedZone, NFL Network and award-winning NFL Films programming.

Under the agreement, digital media services will be led by data-driven sports marketing agency Two Circles, the 2017 BT Sport Industry Awards Agency of the Year. Two Circles, supported by WPP agencies MEC and OgilvyOne, will use its experience providing leading rights-holders with customer marketing to grow the Game Pass subscriber base in Europe.

Bruin-owned sports media and technology company Deltatre, meanwhile, will power NFL Game Pass across a combined 61 European countries and territories. This includes the development of a new, state-of-the-art product which will feature a rich user experience optimised for cross-platform viewing.

“As the NFL continues to prioritise Game Pass, we sought out key experts to unlock the significant potential across Europe,” said Mark Waller, EVP of International & Events at the NFL. “Bruin and WPP have a proven track record of innovation and success and we believe they are the best companies to help take Game Pass to the next level in Europe, technologically, operationally and in terms of growing the user base.”

“We’re confident that Game Pass will grow to become one of the NFL’s most important licensed assets and will reach new levels in Europe with the support of our media, sports and tech know-how, and the combined marketing capabilities of Two Circles, MEC and Ogilvy,” added Martin Sorrell, WPP CEO. “There is a confluence of key global trends informing our digital strategy, including the rapid global improvement of digital infrastructure and the growing importance of online video. We feel that Game Pass is well positioned for success given these trends.”

Founded in 2011, Two Circles helps sports organisations grow relationships with their audiences and partners to drive commercial growth.

More on the story:

• NFL plots OTT gain in Europe  [SportsBusiness Journal]
• The NFL’s Digital Push Into Europe [Wall Street Journal]
• NFL teams up with Bruin, WPP to drive Game Pass growth in Europe [SportBusiness]
• NFL agrees new partnerships to drive Game Pass growth [SportsPro]