The new €25 million company boasts clients at the top of the sporting rights and sponsorship ratings - ranging from the International Olympic Committee to FIFA; the America’s Cup to Wimbledon; Formula One teams to the Bundesliga; and Mercedes to Red Bull.
Heinz Abel, CEO of IFM said: “IFM was already a major player in the sponsorship research business, but by adding SMS we are now a significant force in the industry – many times bigger than our nearest rival. The SMS operation enhances our international consultancy presence, our sports market research capability and our ability to quantify the visual impact and quality of brand exposure for our clients across the world.”
Stephen Proctor, Managing Director of SMS who retains a Board position in the new group, said: “We’ve had many approaches before, but this deal makes sense if we are to improve our offering to existing clients and put our services in front of a wider range of rights holders and brands. It brings together two independent operations that put impartiality at the top of the agenda and I’m delighted it has been finalised ahead of a major year for sport.”
“We both use the same automatic image and brand recognition system and similar methodology, so it will be possible to standardize the measurement and create an industry benchmark that applies across all sports around the world,” said Stephen Proctor. “Such a measurement will be popular with rights holders and sponsors alike and express the true value of sporting investments.”
