Onside, the sports and entertainment consultancy headed up by John Trainor, has expanded into the UK and the Middle East through the acquisition of Bayridge Sports in the UK.
Following on from the acquisition, Bayridge’s founder Jon Long has been appointed as managing director, UK & Middle East with Onside. Long is a former managing director of Nielsen Sports & Entertainment in the UK, Ireland and Middle East and has also worked with sporting organisations and brands like the International Cricket Council, Bat Fast Cricket, Umbro and British Canoeing Events.
“It has been a tough 24 months for the sports and entertainment sector but our regular industry and consumer research gives us lots of reasons to feel positive about our role in the recovery story and the confidence to expand our footprint,” says Onside’s founder and chief executive, John Trainor. “The commercial models of rights holders are changing, and the marketing priorities of brands are evolving. In this context we have seen increasing demand for our unique combination of exceptional intelligence, practical advice and commercial support. This next phase of our growth will enable us to support a wider portfolio of clients,” he says.
“Onside provides a service level to brands and rights holders that is unique in the market. It is a privilege to deepen my place in a team that I see having a real commercial impact on clients and the industry on a daily basis. This is a natural next step in a partnership that has seen John and I deliver on projects with major organisations in Europe, the Middle East and North America over the past 18 months,” adds Jon Long.
Initial clients of Onside in the UK & Middle East include British Triathlon, England Hockey, Cricket West Indies, Extreme International, Podium Analytics, talent such as world champion snooker player Judd Trump and the new London-based immersive media and entertainment business, Outernet.
Cricket West Indies Chief Executive Johnny Grave said: “Onside’s intelligence, advice and support played a pivotal role in us developing a strategic and commercially attractive bid and winning proposal to bring the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to the West Indies and USA in 2024.”
