YouGov and SMG Insight team up for sports marketing consulting

Market research company YouGov has teamed up with sports marketing consultancy SMG Insight to launch a new business initiative that will “deliver a fresh approach to sports sponsorship research and consulting”.

The initiative will be targeted at rights-holders, prostate sponsors, brands, agencies and other investors in sport, and services will including measuring sponsorship opportunities and optimising sponsorship objectives.

The initiative will be headed by Frank Saez, former vice president of international sports agency IMG and managing director of IFM sports marketing surveys.

Saez said: “Many traditional sports and sponsorship market research services have become less insightful and obsolete.

“YouGov has a strong reputation for incisive international consumer research and and this exclusive partnership provides SMG Insight with an opportunity to provide the sports and sponsorship industry with higher added value services, delivering much more than traditional media valuations.”

Saez launched SMG in April after leaving IMF. As part of the alliance, YouGov has taken a minority stake in SMG.