Sports New Media (SNM) is something of a curiosity. Combining both media management and a technology platform, it works with athletes, sports agents, sporting associations and sport governing bodies to manage their social media activity, especially on Facebook. SNM has become one of the few Facebook Preferred Marketing Developers in part because its platform, Syocial, allows it to manage, moderate, analyse and publish to over 100 million fans across thousands of Facebook pages. So it’s a sort of hybrid agency, but it’s somewhat more than that, since Syocial can be used by any business as well. And now IMG, the global sports, fashion and media company says it has acquired a minority equity stake in SNM (terms were not disclosed). IMG Worldwide is a global sports, fashion and media business, operating in 30 countries around the globe.
Jae Chalfin, Founder, and Nick Thain, CEO, say the partnership will allow them to bring fans, athletes and brands closer together through social media. SNM has 25 employees based in London. Its Syocial platform can be used by any business for £750 a month and works across web, iOS and Android.
As well as managing the profiles for hundreds of sports men and women, SNM also operated operates sports-oriented websites such as GiveMeFootball which act as complementary content for its social media fans.
Something of a silent success story, SNM has managed to land official relationships with UEFA, Sky Sports and the Football Association, among others, becoming a highly successful supplier and manager of sports fan pages. Part of its success has been in turning fanatical fan pages into officially managed and controlled pages for its clients.