News & Insight
Posted on February 9, 2022
By Two Circles
Two Circles has today announced the acquisition of LiveWire Sport – the agency delivering award-winning content for the Premier League, Wimbledon, World Rugby and the ECB – in a move that will accelerate sport’s transition to a direct-to-consumer commercial model.
LiveWire will become the content vertical of Two Circles – led by LiveWire co-founders Andy McKenzie, Caroline Cheese, Dan Warren, Jonathan Stevenson and Pranav Soneji – taking Two Circles’ headcount across six international offices to 450.
LiveWire maximizes the impact of sports content through consultancy, multi-format content production and channel management. Industry-leading work to date includes launching the Premier League’s social media channels to support the growth of its global fanbase; leading the social content strategy for The Hundred; and delivering the Sport Industry Awards Campaign of the Year for the 2.6 Challenge, helping raise over £11m for UK charities during the first Covid lockdown of 2020.
LiveWire also has a 10-year relationship with the Paralympic Games, from Channel 4’s BAFTA-winning coverage of London 2012 through to Beijing 2022, which includes producing the multi-award winning podcast A Winning Mindset, a platform for Paralympic athletes to drive a cultural shift in how disability is perceived.
In acquiring LiveWire Sport’s market-leading content expertise, Two Circles will now fuse content and data to build brands, grow audiences, create new commercial rights opportunities, and drive revenues.
Gareth Balch, CEO of Two Circles, said: “LiveWire Sport are the leaders in using sports content to win attention in the digital world, and we’re so excited for the opportunities this announcement can bring. We believe data and content are key levers for success as sports organisations shift to a direct-to-consumer commercial model – and by complementing our data-driven expertise with LiveWire’s content capabilities, we will supercharge our ability to grow audiences, increase conversion, and create new commercial rights opportunities for our clients.”
LiveWire co-founder Caroline Cheese added: “We’ve been admirers of Two Circles from the outset, not just through our work with mutual clients, but because of our shared values and love for sport. We’re excited to help rights-holders build new relationships with their fans, which will be far deeper and more meaningful than anything we’ve seen before. It’s a big moment for us, and we want to say a huge thank you to the whole LiveWire team, our clients and everyone who’s been part of the journey so far.”
The acquisition also includes the Diversity in Digital Mentoring Programme, founded in 2019 by LiveWire to support talent from under-represented demographics through tailored mentoring and development sessions. Applications for the 2022 Diversity in Sports programme will open in March.
LiveWire Sport co-founder Pranav Soneji added: “We have always aspired to make an impact not just for clients, but on diversity across the sports industry. We’re hugely excited to see how far we can take the Diversity in Digital Mentoring Programme as part of Two Circles – the expanded reach and expertise will enable us to support even more brilliantly talented people who are representative of the audiences we serve.”
LiveWire is Two Circles’ third acquisition in just over a year, following rights management agency TRM Partners in November 2020 and ticketing and hospitality expert Sports Ink in January 2021.