Infront Sports & Media – Head office

The head office of Infront Sports & Media AG is the nerve centre of the Infront Group. Based in the Grafenau Building in Zug, Switzerland it is the driver of group strategy, growth and development handling a significant volume of the operational business.

Over the past three years, Infront’s considerable expansion has included the acquisition of a number of specialised companies - helping to cement its strong international position. 

The Group’s main business units - Summer Sports, Winter Sports and the central Finance/ Legal & Administration unit, as well as all key service units including; Production, Sports Services Business Development and the Media & Marketing Competence Centre are managed from the headquarters.  It also houses the Infront subsidiaries -  Host Broadcast Services (HBS) and Empire of Sports.

Functions performed  include managing key client relationships, the acquisition of marketing and media rights; a substantial proportion of group sales and consulting; group-wide creative services, communications and PR, IT management, accounting and the Legal & Tax team.

Infront Advanced Media Solutions

Infront Advanced Media Solutions is Infront’s dedicated competence centre for the distribution of new media sports rights through the provision of services to major web, mobile and IPTV players and telecoms. This service helps rights owners, such as sports federations and leagues, to exploit existing media rights more effectively by exposing sports to a highly targeted viewing group and thus increasing their audiences.

Infront Archive Management

Infront Archive Management, based in Zug, Switzerland, handles the management of FIFA Films, a one-stop-shop for rights cleared footage from previous FIFA events.

While dominated by material from previous FIFA World Cup™ tournaments, the archive also covers other FIFA events, such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the FIFA youth tournaments. All material is catalogued and quickly accessible through a purpose-built, state-of-the-art database managed by a dedicated team with long and detailed experience of the material.

www.fifafilms.com

Infront Austria

Infront Austria, formerly APF Marketing Services, has been part of the Group since 2005.

The company is a leader in the marketing of winter sports. It successfully distributed the marketing rights to the biennial FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2007 and 2009. The company also holds the major sponsorship rights to the E.ON Ruhrgas IBU Word Cup Biathlon and the IBU World Championships Biathlon through an exclusive contract with the International Biathlon Union and the national biathlon federations up to and including the 2013/2014 season. Its impressive winter sports portfolio also encompasses title and presenting sponsorships of all FIS World Cup events in the Nordic disciplines and major marketing rights to the International Four Hills Tournament.

Infront Austria’s sponsor client list is equally impressive, with a group of long-standing partners including such major brands as Adidas, Audi, Bauhaus, Bet-at-home, DKB, Ehrmann, E.ON Ruhrgas, Erdinger, Generali, Intersport, Kraft Foods, Longines, Rauch, and Viessmann.

www.infrontsports.at

Infront China

Infront China is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infront Sports & Media, based in Beijing. It has moved rapidly to become the leading sports marketing organisation in China, representing the country’s top sport, basketball. It has an office in Beijing with around 50 staff, offering a powerful combination of international expertise and local market knowledge.

The agreement with the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) covers all key aspects of not just the marketing but the development of the Chinese national teams and the CBA League. Infront has also established its “Gateway China”, specifically designed to encourage European based companies and sports, to access the Chinese market by providing experienced consultancy advice and assistance with implementation.

Infront has also formed an exclusive joint-venture with a premier basketball athlete management company in the US – Excel Sports Management – to establish a professional basketball athlete representation business in China. Its objective is to increase opportunities for Chinese players and athletes to gain experience abroad and give international stars more scope to play in China, while also providing a service that can link stars and sponsors for promotional purposes.

Infront Finland

Infront Finland is involved in many of the major sports and culture events in Finland. Its partnerships with the national federations for ice hockey, football, skiing, figure skating and athletics complement Infront’s international involvement in these sports. The company has extensive experience in event organisation and marketing and played a pivotal role in the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki and the GE Money Grand Prix in Athletics for nine consecutive times.

Infront Finland owns important rights for local FIS World Cup events. It also has an agreement with the Finnish Olympic Committee to handle sponsorship on its behalf. Infront Finland co-promotes and organizes two annual events: the LET Finnair Masters in Golf and the Finnish Sports Gala. With the Organising Committee for the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Finland/Sweden Infront provides significant services, including the distribution of the national sponsorship rights, consulting and VIP hospitality. Outside sport Infront Finland represents the City of Turku as European Capital of Culture 2011 and played a key role in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

www.infrontsports.fi

Infront Germany

Infront Germany, based in Frankfurt/Main, is one of the leading companies in the stadium advertising business in Germany, with a successful track record dating back 30 years.

It currently markets the commercial rights of seven clubs in Germany, including four Bundesliga clubs, Werder Bremen (Weser-Stadion, stadium advertising), FC Schalke 04 (Veltins Arena, stadium advertising), VfL Bochum (rewirpowerSTADION, stadium advertising) and SC Freiburg (badonova-Stadion, major commercial rights), as well as three clubs of the 2. Bundesliga - Energie Cottbus (Stadion der Freundschaft, shirt sponsorship), Fortuna Düsseldorf (Esprit Arena, stadium advertising) and Hansa Rostock (DKB-Arena, all major commercial rights). In Rostock, Infront Germany also offers first-class hospitality opportunities. During the 2008/2009 season, also Infront successfully distributed media and marketing rights to the UEFA Cup home matches of the national champion VfL Wolfsburg.

www.infrontsports.de

Infront Hospitality Management

Austria-based Infront Hospitality Management is an internationally recognised full-service hospitality operation for major sports events. The company has global network capabilities and provides clients with a range of hospitality options, from concept development to full implementation and management. It is co-owned by Kofler & Kompanie, a leading international catering company, and Infront Sports & Media.

The client list of is an impressive one in the context of sport and includes BMW Sauber Formula One Team (Hospitality worldwide), Moto GP (VIP Catering Europe), Bregenz Festival & Festival Hall (Catering) among others. The company also provides services to events of the Infront portfolio, such as the IIHF World Championship – where it has been involved since the 2005 event – the FIM Superbike World Championship and the 2009 FIS Alpine Ski World Championship in Val d’Isere, France.

Infront Italy

Infront Italy was established in 2007, following Infront’s acquisition of a 100% shareholding in Media Partners, based in Milan and Rome.

Infront Italy is the exclusive media rights advisor to Italy’s Lega Calcio for all its properties including Serie A and B (starting from the 2010/11 season). It also handles the management and marketing of the broadcast rights, the new media rights and majority of the marketing rights for the FIS Alpine and Nordic Ski World Cup, together with the FIS Snowboard and Freestyle World Cup events. The company holds an extensive portfolio of media and/or marketing rights, including the CEV European Championship, the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship, four Serie A clubs – A.C. Milan, S.S. Lazio, U.S. Palermo and Cagliari Calcio – as well as the annual Piazza di Siena equestrian event in Rome.

Infront Motor Sports

Infront Motor Sports, formerly FGSport, is based in Rome and is the promoter of the FIM Superbike World Championship and partner of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) since 1989. It is one of the leading promoters in motor sport. The company was founded in 1975 and is led by Maurizio Flammini (President), Paolo Flammini (CEO) and Vincenzo Lamaro (Managing Director).

The series is the only motorcycle World Championship using production bikes from the world’s leading manufacturers such as Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha, competitively engineered to boost performance, with top speeds exceeding 300 km/h.

The 2010 Championship is the 23rd racing season in the history of the event consisting of 13 rounds in 12 countries.  With 130 permanent riders from 19 countries competing in the three classes of the Championship, Superbike is a truly global sport. It is not only popular throughout Europe, but also in Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa and the USA.

www.worldsbk.com

Infront Sweden

Infront Sweden has a strong track record in event marketing. Its portfolio includes a major long-term partnership with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association for its commercial rights as well as the national federation for athletics and curling and the International Floorball Federation for the biannual World Championships.

www.infrontsports.se

Host Broadcast Services (HBS)

Host Broadcast Services (HBS), as a dedicated, independent host broadcast specialist, helps sports federations, organising committees and rights holders worldwide to broadcast their events in the most exciting and effective way. It provides the full spectrum of host broadcast services, to a highly developed and technologically advanced standard.

HBS works with international federations including FIFA for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and UEFA for the UEFA EURO 2008™, national leagues, such as Ligue 1 in France, as well as the organisers of multi-sports games. It is in charge of events which typically run for weeks or even months; involve several years of planning, the creation of an International Broadcast Centre (IBC) and the provision of tailored facilities and services.

HBS has established a dedicated production division to expand the multimedia and production capabilities of the Infront Group and develop new business in the area of sports production. This Production & Programming division focuses on production-led projects, working on shorter timescales where a smaller infrastructure is required. The division works to the same high quality level as the HB division and uses the same methodologies, systems and techniques to deliver world-class products and solutions.

www.hbs.tv

Empire of Sports (EoS)

Empire of Sports Ltd. is a joint venture company controlled by Infront. It has been formed with F4, a leading video game development company known for its expertise for online worlds and state-of-the-art graphics, to develop and build Empire of Sports – an innovative online sports gaming platform. The company’s headquarters is based in Zug, Switzerland; the F4 development office is based in Paris, France.

Empire of Sports is the world’s first true multi sports gaming world and offers a wide range of exciting sports games such as tennis, basketball, skiing, bobsleigh, fitness, track & field and football. It is a real 3D virtual world that can accommodate millions of players across the globe to interact socially, to challenge one another in sporting competition, and even rise to star status. Capitalising on the unprecedented rise in persistent gaming worlds, EoS opens up a completely new frontier for brands, media companies and rights holders.

www.empireofsports.com

Football Media Services (FMS)

Football Media Services (FMS) is a joint venture, co-owned by Infront and the Japanese advertising company, Dentsu. It is based in Singapore. The joint venture has been appointed by FIFA to act as its exclusive sales representative in key Asian territories with respect to the distribution of all television, radio, broadband internet and mobile broadcasting rights to the 2010 & 2014 FIFA World Cups™ and all other FIFA Events 2007-2014. FMS is staffed by a team drawn from both Infront and Dentsu, all of whom have extensive experience in marketing the FIFA World Cups™ and related events.

www.footballmediaservices.com