Voiceworks Sport and S! The Agency have announced a new multi-year joint venture partnership that will see the UK-based sports audio experts become the marketing agency’s Exclusive Global Audio Partner.
Founded in 2021, S! – a full-service sports marketing agency – has worked with brands and athletes in football, cycling, swimming and tennis in Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic and Brazil, including footballing
greats Paulo di Canio, Mauro Camoranesi and Antonio Conte.
The joint venture partnership will open up Voicework Sport’s access to Series A clubs and players, with S! working with them to develop audio marketing strategy for its clients.
Voiceworks Sport has found the current focus by rights holders – which includes national governing bodies, teams, competitions and individual athletes – to be almost completely on digital, video and text-based articles as go-to mediums for direct to fan engagement. But sport audio fits with future fan consumption trends, and is currently a missed opportunity.
Almost 70 million people across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK will listen to podcasts this year – with 25 percent of internet users in Italy listening to podcasts.
Voiceworks Sport Managing Director, Sophie Hind, said: “The scale of the audio opportunity for rights holders is enormous. Audio is an effective way for clubs and athletes to connect with fans globally and is proven to offer deeper audience engagement than other mediums.
“We have enjoyed rapid growth as a business since 2020 – an achievement coming off the back of our ambition to become the global leader in sports audio by working with brands and rights holders across the world.
“Though S! as an agency is early in its journey, Edoardo, Cosimo, Matteo and Gianluca are heavyweights in the industry – and we’re proud to share an exciting vision for the future of sports marketing and top flight teams across Europe and South America.”
Edoardo Giacone, CEO at S! The Agency added: “Entering the world of podcasts has always been one of S!’s ambitions: there are indeed considerably big gaps to be exploited in the market and, at the same time, an ever increasing demand from the fans. A combination that paints the perfect scenario for us.
“Being able to do so with two internationally recognised powerhouses Voiceworks and Communicorp UK not only guarantees our future clients the highest level of service and competence but makes everyone at S! very proud of the incredible growth that our company has been experiencing since its launch of only few months ago, in December 2021.
“We are very much looking forward to working side by side with the world of Italian football, introducing clubs, leagues and associations alike to the podcasts business, thus creating new revenue streams for them and a lot of extra value for their fans all over the world.”
The collaboration from Voiceworks Sport is the latest step in the audio giant’s growth strategy, following its recent announcement of a partnership with the World Freestyle Football Association.
