In this special 10th-anniversary episode of The Deal Room Sport from Sporting Group International and Sporting Jobs, host Ed Nell is joined by founder and CEO Adrian Wright, UK Managing Director Ian Dutton and Sporting Jobs’ Harry Lynch to look back on a decade in business. They revisit why Adrian walked away from a senior role at West Bromwich Albion to launch an agency, the early recruitment and sponsorship deals that proved the model, how they navigated Covid better than most, and why the next 10 years in sport will be driven by data, technology and a stronger pyramid.
Key Takeaways
Adrian explains how his role at West Brom featured constant takeover rumours, long hours, and endless trips to London to meet potential new owners pushed him to consider a different path. Backed by venture capital, he launched SGI and Sporting Jobs on the same day, leveraging his “half-decent black book” to combine sponsorship sales with a specialist sports recruitment desk. The very first placement was essentially his replacement at West Brom; Simon King, now a senior leader at Stoke City, quickly followed by an early sponsorship win with kit supplier Luke at Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
One of SGI’s most ambitious early plays was a proposed 10-club sleeve sponsorship across the Premier League. Adrian secured written interest from clubs and an offer from a major software brand, only for the deal to fall foul of an existing league-wide agreement in the same category. Later, a shirt deal with Olympique de Marseille saw nearly £1m in revenue land in the company account in a single day, a memorable milestone, but Adrian stresses the real challenge is repeating success and building something sustainable, not just landing one blockbuster agreement.
Unlike many in sport, SGI thrived through Covid. They helped negotiate what Adrian believes was one of the first Covid-specific clauses in a football sponsorship contract, scaling fees up or down based on live attendances (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%) to reflect lost hospitality and in-stadium exposure. At the same time, the team decamped to Adrian’s house, turning the kids’ playroom into a four-person office so they could collaborate in person while staying within restrictions. They even benefitted from “entrepreneurial instinct” when they chose not to renew an office lease just days before lockdown, avoiding a costly empty space.
The panel note that while top-flight clubs have grown sophisticated commercial and activation teams, further down the pyramid many sides in League One, League Two and even the National League have little or no dedicated commercial department. Instead of spending £70–100k on a single head of commercial, some clubs now retain SGI as an outsourced sales arm for 3–6 months, gaining instant access to a whole team, warm brand relationships and up-to-the-minute market intelligence. SGI can “switch on” activity from day one and bring a Premier League-style blueprint to properties like county cricket or smaller football clubs that would otherwise rely on inbound calls and opportunistic deals.
Key Moments
“We had in one day just under a million pounds’ worth of revenue drop [into the account].”
“We would probably have negotiated one of the first Covid sport-related contract clauses… if there’s no fans in the stadium for X amount of games, the fee would come down by Y.”
“We can literally bring a county championship cricket team a Premier League blueprint – they’re not going to get that by hiring a head of commercial under the cricket club.”
“Whenever we’re looking at doing a deal… the brand’s due diligence involves analysing how many social media followers they’ve got, what their database size is, what the broadcast lens looks like.”
About Sporting Group International
Sporting Group International (SGI) is a global sports marketing and sponsorship
37 Min.
Oct 29 202532 Min.