PMG Launches Sports Marketing Practice, Brings on Dan Conti to Lead

The move marks a formalization and expansion of existing capabilities to meet rising customer demand for sports marketing expertise across industries

Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, PMG announces the launch of a dedicated sports marketing practice. The strategic growth area bridges the gap between brands and the dynamic world of sports, leveraging PMG’s expertise in digital innovation and data-driven marketing to create impactful engagement opportunities for advertisers.

PMG customers will now have access to a full-service sports offering and depth of expertise across the entire sports ecosystem, including partnerships with rights holders, broadcasters, publishers, and talent.

To lead the practice, PMG has hired Dan Conti as the Head of Sports Marketing. Conti brings 16+ years of experience in the sports industry, spanning agency, publisher, and athlete management roles. Conti joined from GroupM’s Wavemaker, where he started and grew the Sports & Live practice, working with brands such as DoorDash, Church & Dwight, Coinbase, Paramount+, and US Navy. His track record in negotiating and activating global sports partnership portfolios and integrated sports media investments will be instrumental in driving the success of PMG’s sports marketing practice.

Based in NYC, Conti reports to PMG president Jon Dupuis. Conti’s team will be responsible for working closely with PMG’s client strategy leads to identify and support sports marketing opportunities for brands across all industry verticals.

“I’m thrilled to join PMG at an exciting time, as we look to prioritize and accelerate growth for the PMG sports practice—built to reflect the demands, opportunities, and continuous transformation of the sports marketing and sports media landscape today,” said Conti. “The way fans experience and consume sports through media and partnerships is at a fascinating time of evolution, with data and insights driving strategies and custom activations for brands to meaningfully impact sports fans.”

PMG’s sports marketing practice is strategically positioned at the intersection of sports marketing and sports media. It offers a dynamic, industry-leading sports solution for PMG customers, leveraging the power of live sports and sports partnerships to engage with the right audiences, in the right environments, through the right experiences and content. With a focus on optimizing customers' sports media investments, PMG utilizes its proprietary data and technology capabilities, powered by Alli, to deliver measurable results.

The practice offers a comprehensive suite of sports services, including athlete endorsement deals, strategy and consulting, partnership activation, sports media investments, experiential marketing, and sponsorship valuation and measurement. It brings sports know-how to all PMG customers—not only world-renowned sports brands such as Nike, but also brands spanning diverse industries that hope to connect to consumers through sports in a way that’s cultural and human…but who don’t know how to begin.

“Technology and media disruption is reshaping the sports marketing landscape, and we’re excited to welcome Dan to help us double down on our commitment to building market-leading capabilities in sports,” said George Popstefanov, founder & CEO of PMG. “With a formalized practice geared for growth, we now have the opportunity to bring our sports media and marketing expertise to a broader range of customers.”

The move comes at a time of rising consumer interest in sports, from the upcoming Summer Olympics and the continued dominance of live sports to the rising popularity of women’s sports. A Q2 PMG-Snapchat survey showed that sports content consumption about athletes has increased by 43% among users in recent years.

Earlier this year, PMG worked with brands such as TurboTax and Carl’s Jr./Hardees on innovative Super Bowl media tie-ins across Roku and Amazon Prime, respectively. More recently, PMG helped to further ServiceNow's NHL partnership through linear TV investments during the Stanley Cup playoffs and drove a unique sponsorship of the golf shot tracer across Golf Channel’s coverage of the PGA Tour.