Forward-looking’ boutique agency IRIS launched by Francini and ex-IMG duo
Iris Sport Media, the company set up by Ioris Francini and his former IMG colleagues Floris Weisz and Luca Baldanza, has officially launched in the market, positioning itself as a forward-looking boutique agency working primarily with rights-holders.
The company brings together Francini’s existing Iris International Limited advisory business with Sports Media Ventures founded by Weisz in 2019 and the K2 consultancy set up by Baldanza, former head of media sales at AC Milan.
The assets and contractual relationships of all three have been amalgamated, creating an initial list of clients that includes LIV Golf, the Professional Fighters League, Lega Serie A, Lega Serie B, the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB), Ajax and Juventus.
Iris was formed in the first quarter of 2023 but is now formally launching ahead of the Sportel convention in Monaco next week. Francini remains the majority shareholder while founding partners Weisz and Baldanza hold minority shares. It has no external investors and, according to Francini, has “self-sufficient funds and the capital to make investments by itself”.
The boutique agency has been set up with three verticals: investment; media rights commercialisation and representation; and technology.
The investment side of the business is led by head of corporate development Tom MccGwire, previously a senior associate at Oakwell Sports Advisory. It will serve as an extension of the private equity and sovereign wealth advisory work done by Francini after leaving his long-held post of president of IMG Media.
Iris will work with rights-holders to raise capital for growth initiatives. One such rights-holder is seeking to expand into different regions while one combat sports rights-holder is looking for Iris to secure investment to expand its scope. Two clients have already been helped by Iris to land investment, according to Francini, including one investment worth a nine-figure sum.
Francini, who has advised Advent, Cinven, CVC, Hellman & Friedman and TPG on investments into sports IP, told SportBusiness: “Where I see Iris very well placed is in the ability to provide reliable, bottom-up validation of investment modelling.
“More more often than not PE firms have advisors who are excellent at creating the right investment thesis, but who are one or two steps away from the reality of the commercial outcome. I am very keen to see how the PE firms who have invested so far will have delivered on those investments in four or five years’ time.
“Iris has an understanding around validation that will help investors get their money back in a more practical and empirical way.”
Two sales executives have been hired for the media rights arm with another four to follow. For now, sponsorship sales is not a focus but Iris will take an “opportunistic” approach to leveraging the relationships of Francini, Weisz and Baldanza with brands from certain countries as an add-on to the core services.
Competition format solutions will also form part of the wider work with rights-holders.
The final vertical aims to connect tech companies with rights-holders and broadcasters, with LiveU, the live video streaming and remote production technology provider, among the first clients. Baldanza brings his Web3 and blockchain technology expertise to the vertical.
It will also look to match companies operating in the fan engagement area with rights-holders. Iris is considering investments of its own in that sector.
“We put the rights-holder at the centre of our ecosystem and draw a five-year plan of what the objectives are,” remarked Francini, who also helped Aser Ventures in its sale of Eleven Sports to DAZN and sits on the board of SRJ Sports Investment, the new investment vehicle of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
“Within that, capital is more often than not one of them. That capital is to be deployed for a number of reasons. It could be geographical expansion, strengthening the athlete base but it’s also about developing the right tools, such as engaging with fans in a better way.
“Media distribution, sponsorship, ticketing and hospitality are all important parts of the revenue pie for a rights-holder.
“But with the advancement of technology and what generative AI is doing right now, and with the fierce competition for attention that risks drawing away from a rights-holder and its traditional customers [broadcasters], knowing how to find the fans, engage with them, and use technology to activate that relationship is critical. To do so they need capital.
“Being able to interplay the investment arm with the media distribution arm and a fan engagement capability is the core of our business mission.”
‘Mitigated risks’ on media rights trading
Existing rights-holders for whom Iris is working on media rights distribution include LIV Golf, PFL and the KNVB. The media rights vertical includes advisory services along with rights representation and brokerage.
Adding football rights in particular markets is an active consideration with Iris mulling bids for pockets of rights amid the ongoing or upcoming international tenders from Lega Serie A, the English Football League and France’s LFP Media.
While some consultancies operate solely on a commission basis, Iris will be in a position to put down minimum guarantees within reason, according to Francini.
He told SportBusiness: “We will not shy away from brokering and distributing [media] rights in ways that make sense. That may be a global rights deal or much more carefully selected bundles of rights in specific territories.
“We are open to taking risks – albeit mitigated risks – and we have the autonomy and capital to do that within certain magnitudes.”
Iris is also actively looking at ‘complementary’ mergers and acquisitions to expedite its growth.
In terms of organic growth, Iris will have a headcount of around 20 by 2024, according to Francini. Along with the rights sales executives, there will soon be a recruit in project management and another in the investment division.