Thomas Martens, CEO of WPP sports marketing unit Global Sportnet, has unexpectedly quit the company, according to insiders.
Martens has proved an entrepreneurial and energetic figure in the sports sector since leaving UFA Sport - a precursor to SportFive - and enduring a year of contractually imposed ‘gardening leave’ before launching Global Sportnet in 1995.
He negotiated the company’s entry into the WPP family in 2002, believing that integration within one of the world’s biggest and most successful marketing organisations would deliver huge benefits. In his last interview with SportBusiness he was bullish about the prospects for growth around the development of sophisticated ‘barter’ systems for rights.
The company built its reputation as a rights marketing agency in football, adding other sports along the way. More recently it had moved into the broader entertainment field and had represented the Live Earth concert series among other clients.
