Playfly Sports will be acquiring The Aspire Sport Marketing Group, adding ticketing and hospitality sales to the sports media and marketing platform.
The Aspire Group is a sports and entertainment marketing firm that specializes in consulting, research, and ticket sales. They work with more than 300 college and professional teams that will be added to the Playfly portfolio, as well as adding 166 new employees. Aspire and Playfly already share five collegiate partners: the University of Maryland, University of Denver, George Mason University, San Jose State University, and the University of Richmond.
“Aspire truly stands out in its unmatched capabilities to create new revenue opportunities in ticketing, hospitality and donor engagement through innovative technology and a keen understanding of the needs of their customers. Their proven track record has delivered for partners on intelligent marketing backed by superb sales and service,” said Michael Schreiber, Playfly Sports CEO & founder. “Playfly is rapidly expanding its ability to use data and technology to strengthen fan engagement and adding The Aspire Group’s incredible team and capabilities will further fuel our ability to get closer to fans at the height of their sports passion to drive key revenue targets for our partners.”
Playfly Sports believes their Data and Technology divisions will be enhanced by Aspire’s capabilities with AI-driven ticketing technology, deeper fan insights, additional workflow management, donor platforms, and added resources that better serve the rapidly evolving ticketing and hospitality industry and its clients.
The Aspire Group will also provide expert support in ticket marketing, sales, and service, as well as donor prospecting programs via their custom fan relationship management centers, strategic planning and consulting, and sales training for staffs large and small. The Aspire Group will partner with Playfly’s entire network of partners and growing insights division to actualize the new frontier of ticket marketing, sales, and service strategy that is backed by fan data activation.
“Playfly is focused on growth through innovation, technology and strong relationships, all components that are critically important to everyone at Aspire,” said Bill Fagan, president and CEO of The Aspire Group. “We knew that joining Playfly Sports would help us take the next step in our evolution and provide significant investment support. All of us are really excited that our experience and expertise will drive many new revenue opportunities for our partners and the industry as a whole.”
The acquisition will help lay the foundation for an end-to-end ticketing division and the launch of Playfly Gameday, a new division within the Playfly portfolio that will work to provide new avenues for revenue generation through turnkey fan engagement solutions, premium experiences and more advanced technologies. The team will be led by industry veteran A.J. Machosky, who will serve as SVP of New Business and Head of Playfly Gameday and includes Events & Experiential Services, Hospitality Development, and Venue Monetization Consulting Services, in addition to Aspire’s Ticketing unit.
“Playfly Gameday is all about attracting the next generation of fans while strengthening our partners’ existing base,” said Machosky. “With the major pieces already in place, including an established partnership with best-in-class Playfly Insights division, we are eager to get to work on creating and discovering meaningful new revenue streams for teams and organizations across the country, beginning with Playfly’s impressive portfolio of current college and professional team partners. Playfly Gameday is hyper-focused on the fan journey and how we can unlock content, experiences and environments that super-serve fans year-round.”
Playfly Gameday joins the rapidly growing list of Playfly businesses and services that offers best-in-class marketing and media solutions via Playfly Sports Properties, Home Team Sports, Playfly Premier Partnerships, Playfly Esports, Playfly Insights, Playfly Creates, and Playfly Tech & Digital.
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