CSM makes cricket play with Phoenix Management Group acquisition
- Admin
- Jul 28, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 10
Global marketing agency CSM Sport & Entertainment has acquired English cricket talent management business Phoenix Management Group.
Founded in 2018 by former professional cricketer Neil Fairbrother, Phoenix has some of the leading players in English cricket on its books, including Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad, Liam Livingstone and Nat Sciver. The company also looks after several ex-players and media personalities including Isa Guha, David Lloyd and Michael Vaughan.
CSM said the purchase would make it the ‘undisputed market leader’ in English cricket. The move sees Phoenix’s players and personalities join CSM’s existing cricket clients, which include England internationals Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Pope, Reece Topley and Matthew Potts.
Buying Phoenix further deepens CSM’s English cricket ties. As well as its existing clients, the firm is the exclusive commercial agency of The Hundred, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) short-form competition, helping to strike deals with the likes of Cazoo, KP Snacks and Robinsons.
The company’s live experience division CSM Live was also brought in by the ECB in summer 2020 to help the governing body formulate a bio-secure return to cricket.
“We are delighted to have brought Phoenix Management Group into the CSM business,” said Matt Vandrau, group chief executive at CSM.
“Neil’s expertise, coupled with our own experience in this space, positions us collectively as the undisputed market leaders within English cricket both commercially and from a talent management perspective.”
Fairbrother added: “Everyone here at Phoenix is excited by the prospect of working closely with CSM. As an established global agency, operating across the full spectrum of sport and entertainment, we feel they can help elevate our business to a new level.
“We can’t wait to get going and look forward to what’s in store for the whole Phoenix family in the months and years ahead.”
Christian Hitchen, Managing Director of Leyland Capital, advised on the transaction.
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Christian Hitchen