Lagardère Sports and Entertainment rebrands as Sportfive

Sports marketing agency Lagardère Sports and Entertainment has rebranded as Sportfive.

The company styles the name in all caps with an underlined 'V', which it associates on its website (shown above) with 'Victory for all'. The 'five' in the name refers to the company's five core stakeholder groups: brands, rights-holders, media platforms, fans and the company's employees.

The new brand encompasses the former brands Lagardère Sports, Lagardère Plus, U! Sports and VIP Sportstravel, while Rooftop2 and EKS (Event Knowledge Services) will continue to operate under their own brands as Sportfive companies.  

"Emphasising some of our historic roots, we are proud to reinterpret and relaunch the brand in a new and powerful way," Adrian Staiti, APAC president, said in a letter to stakeholders. "As a global agency with a deep passion for sports, we are confident that Sportfive will pave the way in the industry as we leverage the power of sports to create long-term sustainable value for all our partners."

The business was sold by Lagardère Group to private-equity firm H.I.G. Capital in April, and has since undergone a transformation process and updated its organisational structure with a dedicated global leadership team. As part of this, Sportfive will also shift to a dual structure of dedicated market areas and global growth units, Staiti said.

Adrian Staiti