After rising as one of the fastest-growing media rights agencies in the world in the span of a decade, MP & Silva is now shining the spotlight on the US market. Boasting an annual turnover of $650 million, the group now counts over 10,000 hours of programming to more than 200 broadcasters in 215 countries on its resume with events that span from Europe’s top soccer leagues and FIFA World Cup qualifiers to Grand Slam tennis and motor racing. With an eye toward expanding its presence stateside, the company recently tapped the services of Daniel Cohen as Senior Vice President, Americas where he will oversee business development in the Americas.
Cynopsis Sports recently spoke with Cohen and agency CEO Marco Auletta about their plans for the US market, how the agency has evolved and what we can expect from their recent moves.
Auletta on the company mantra: Our expertise is in media rights and we are now doing this worldwide with every kind of sports property. We want to continue in this direction as our expertise allows us to achieve terrific results. At the same time, we have a small division that is in charge of sponsorship and production and we can activate this team when we sit with the client with those needs as well. We don’t offer this service in general so it depends on the situation. We only want to offer our clients things that we know that we do well. Our model is not structured to be like IMG, as our big focus will be on media rights.
Cohen on globalization: The globalization of sports, whether it be basketball, baseball, hockey, etc., has become such an integral revenue stream for leagues. Look at the NBA growing to a 150 person staff in China, the NFL saw a Chelsea game draw three times the amount of global viewership of the Super Bowl that weekend and the league looked at that number and saw that they still have a ways to go. So when you speak with the rights holders here, everyone that is US-based is looking to grow this international revenue stream and there are very few companies that are positioned to help those rights holders in these markets. We look at ourselves as more of a niche agency that offers a custom-tailored solution for our clients. In the Americas, there is a ton of opportunity on the consultancy side, especially in Latin and South America and where these leagues and federations are really starting to grow their own businesses. The concept of monetizing digital rights in Chile did not exist until two years ago. So, the idea that we can come and help them develop a revenue stream around these areas is a strength we intend to use.
Auletta on beating the competition: Most of the time we are able to renew rights because we are able to develop a true partnership with our clients. We become friends, we look to understand their needs and we make sure to achieve the targets and results they are looking for. We are very transparent so we created a direct relationship with the client and we do the same with broadcasters.
Cohen on opportunities in the US: We are in the process of evaluating every single rights opportunity so it really is an equal opportunity for us. There is nothing too big or too small that we aren’t going to look at. Everything from the marathons and lifestyle sports that certainly are in a growth stage right now or are a startup entity all the way up to the big four. We aren’t just limiting ourselves just to the US market and we are going to play in the space.
On challenges of the American market: There are three key challenges, all of which we are going to be able to overcome and success. One is our brand identity, we’re taking steps right now to staff up on our marketing and communications side. We have a world renowned company when it comes to Asia and Europe. In the US, the leagues and most of the rights holders know who we are. But the goal to develop a brand that people on the street will recognize. Number two is going to be the fact that there is a lot more saturation in the US market, especially on the digital side. So we see ourselves succeeding by brings the best practices from the US to Europe, Asia, South America, etc. where these concepts are still underdeveloped. We’ve grown our digital staff by 100%. The third challenge is going to be the overall acquisition of rights domestically. Something we have done really well is the acquisition of domestic rights, be it in Belgium or Singapore. We are well aware that we are not going to outbid CBS or Turner for domestic rights but we are going to be getting other opportunities.
