WPP Media expands sports operations with WPP Media Sports

WPP Media has launched a new unified sports and gaming practice, WPP Media Sports, aimed at helping brands plan, activate and measure sports investments as fan behaviour continues to shift across platforms.

The agency noted, live sports continue to offer brands access to large, engaged audiences in real time, but noted that how fans engage with sports, including how they move, interact and transact, has changed significantly. The new practice brings together media, partnerships, content, experiential and analytics capabilities under a single structure.

WPP Media Sports is an expansion of the agency’s existing sports operations and will focus on sports sponsorships, integrations and content across live events, streaming, social media, creators, gaming and cultural platforms. The goal is to reduce fragmented planning and improve measurement across sports investments.

Commenting on the development, Martin Blich, WPP Media Executive Director and Head of U.S. Sports Investment and Partnership, said, “It’s one thing to be on a fan’s mind during the game, but it’s another thing to stay there after the final whistle. We focus on making every sports moment count, using data, insights, and tools to help brands turn fleeting attention into lasting engagement and real business impact.” 

The launch comes as global advertising revenue is projected to grow. According to the agency’s This Year, Next Year forecast, global ad revenue is expected to rise 8.8% in 2025 to $1.14 trillion, driven by artificial intelligence, new advertiser categories and reinvestment of savings into media. The agency said live sports continue to play a central role in streaming growth and premium advertising demand.

The new practice is designed to move brands from reactive sports executions to more integrated, long-term strategies. It will use proprietary, partner and marketplace data, along with partnerships with GumGum and Relo Metrics, to provide real-time sponsorship measurement and performance analysis across platforms.

Susan Schiekofer, WPP Media U.S. Chief Media Officer, noted, “Sports delivers unmatched attention. The real challenge is converting it into results. That’s what we do at WPP Media: we bridge the excitement of the game with the rigor of data-driven marketing, ensuring passion translates into performance.” 

The WPP Media Sports is launching ahead of several major global sporting events, including Super Bowl LX, the Winter Olympics and the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Martin Blich added, “For millennia, sports have united people and ignited passion across cultures and generations. Our role is to make sure that power translates into tangible growth, embedding sports strategically into broader marketing and growth plans, so every partnership contributes to measurable impact.”