The Dublin agency with truly global ambitions
QHUBEKA is the Zulu word for moving forward. It fits into what Trevor Twamley and his colleagues at Sport Endorse are trying to do, as they help the African cycling team, Qhubeka Assos, secure a major sponsorship – around €15m is needed to compete on the UCI world team circuit in 2021.
Twamley is also trying to source a Volvo for cyclist Nicolas Roche in Monaco and rearrange a tour of the Giants Causeway and Game of Thrones territory for a four-ball of NFL and NBA stars.
‘It’s never dull,’ quipped Twamley, a genial Kerryman and co-founder of Sport Endorse, the Dublin-based company whose chief mission is to provide an improved ‘sports representation for all through smart accessible technology’.
Essentially, the company provides an on-line marketplace for athletes to mix and mingle with potential sponsors.
The engine that drives it all is called the ‘Sport Endorse Platform’, where you’ll find over 650 elite athletes, embracing 55 sports and more than 100 brands.
There are sports coaches and even TV presenters in there, too.
Companies log on to the platform and post what they’re offering, the service involved and the financial return. Depending on the gig, it may appeal more to New York Giants tight end Evan Engram than Dublin footballer Dean Rock; or to paralympian Jordan Lee rather than Denver-based mountain climber Sasha DiGiulian.
‘Companies post up promotion opportunities which the athletes can see. For an average endorsement, you might get thirty athletes who go for it, although athletes don’t know what other athletes are expressing an interest.
‘The platform was built to offer a direct route to athletes, many of whom don’t get a look-in for these types of sponsorships,’ explained Twamley.
Logging on last Thursday, I noticed a pitch for €4,000 for a brand ambassador for a global nutrition brand which had received 86 applications from athletes.
Less lucrative was €80 for promoting sports snack bars even if such opportunities tend to include plenty of product as well as the fee.
Rising stars of sport, from archery and athletics to rowing and rugby, are all available for ‘endorsements’ through the platform, which carries the social media influence of each sporting figure.
For example, rugby international James Lowe has a healthy 40,000 followers on Instagram; Roche has over 110,000, while Engram is close to 225,000.
All athletes are encouraged to post-video content on their profile page – the message being the more visible they are, the more likely they are to spread the appeal of the brand they promote.
Last Friday week, 21 athletes landed endorsements. One of them, 400m runner Sharlene Mawdsley, bagged a year-long gig as brand ambassador for a nutrition firm.
As the ‘middlemen’, the Sport Endorse platform receives a commission on all deals, big and small.
The Donnybrook-based company kicked off at the tail end of 2016 with Olympian Michael Conlan as their first client.
Soon, they had a second, fellow boxer, Jason Quigley, who remains part of their expanding ‘team’.
The growth in the past 18 months was accelerated by the live launch of the platform before Christmas, which has seen over 130 athletes and 50 companies sign up.
The latest recruit this week was Limerick hurling goalkeeper Barry Hennessy – teammate Aaron Gillane is already on board.
Networking through an American sports lifestyle contact has enabled Twamley and Co. to woo almost 50 American sports stars to the website.
They include NBA ace Torrey Craig of the Milwaukee Bucks, Super Bowl winner Prince Amukamara, and fellow NFL stars, Marcus Williams (New Orleans Saints), Harold Landry (Tennessee Titans) and Engram.
They were due to travel to Ireland last year before Covid-19 scuppered plans.
There are MLS players on the platform too, as well as footballers from these islands, headed by John Egan, the Sheffield United and Ireland international.
The Kingdom connection opened the way for Twamley to engage Egan about endorsing an immune booster, Revive Active, which is made in Mullingar.
Twamley is keen to expand the footballing arm of Sport Endorse, with an eye on branching into directly representing players from Ireland, Europe and beyond. The African market is one he’d like to tap into.
Having the experience of League of Ireland stalwarts, Aaron Callaghan and Kevin Deery as part of the Sport Endorse team, with all their contacts, should help open a few doors.
Likewise, Keith Higgins, the recently retired Mayo footballer, should bring much GAA nous as new partnerships manager for Sport Endorse.
Away from the platform hub, Twamley has other balls in the air, like finding a sponsor for Power Maxed Racing in the British Touring Car Championships, and assisting with sponsorship for Qhubeka Assos.
The cycling angle is fitting as Twamley’s grandfather won a gold medal for cycling in the 1932 Tailteann Games. The unusual surname is very much embedded in Ireland and can be traced back to the 1700s and the village of Shillelagh in County Wicklow.
Twamley previously worked for the Sunday Tribune and Setanta before identifying a gap in the market to provide a direct route for commercial opportunities between sponsors and sportspeople.
The company’s logo is akin to a football club crest and carries the five colours of the Olympic movement, blue, yellow, black, green and red.
Just as those colours connect flags across the world, so Twamley won’t rest until athletes from all corners of the globe are engaging with sponsors and brands on the Sport Endorse platform and filling in their diaries.
His race is only starting.