Philipp Grothe, ”Football Focus”

The Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast by Marcus Luer

Philipp Grothe, best known as the co-founder and driving force behind the KENTARO agency in the UK, a true pioneer and entrepreneur in the sports business over the past 20+ years. Great stories from Philipp’s career across UFA, IMG, KENTARO and what he is doing now.

Key Highlights

1. Early days, coming out of Law School in Hamburg, Germany, lots of side hustles, own Ad agency, a Band, running two clubs, etc
2. First job, UFA Sports, part of Bertelsmann Group in Germany, second largest Media group in the world at the time
3. Competition with Kirch Media Group in Munich – small group of young sports marketing pioneers developing industry in Europe
4. Interesting time, growth of Private TV networks in Europe, downfall of the Iron Curtain, new Eastern European countries opening-up
5. European Football at the height of the “decentralized” era, different agencies from across Europe/UK chasing after pieces of the cake
6. Stories on how deals were done both with the clubs and broadcasters, mostly trading with 2ndand 3rd party rights
7. The power of Football, closely linked to powerful people in politics, creating entire new channels with key matches
8. How the money of the Champions League has skewed the balance of power in the various domestic European leagues
9. Next stop, IMG London – or from Guetersloh to Cleveland – learning different cultures
10. IMG – key parts at the time, IMG Talent management and TWI Media/production at the time – company not in great shape at the final days of Mark McCormack
11. Looking to build the House of Football – including building a Super agency – not everything worked and why
12. Being very German and contradicting Bob Kain at the first meeting in Cleveland
13. Bundling of rights, the oldest agency trick in the world
14. Setting up KENTARO in a hotel in London (Kentaro meaning Lion Mother), good timing, next boom years coming
15. Heavy focus on Football and some Boxing (Sauerland), stay focused on core competence important
16. Key to early success, quick decision-making process compared to bigger agencies or institutional money and always hungry for the next deal (always as good as your last deal)
17. Not always dealing with the person you thought you were dealing with, some painful lessons
18. New concept of “two National teams playing in a third country – neutral ground”, starting with England vs Argentina in Switzerland. Brazil World Tour is born, 120 games later and the stories behind it
19. Kentaro by numbers, over 500 players under contract, over 150 employees, over E$ 200 mil in revenue at the peak, but also overheads of E$ 20 mil – feeding the beast
20. Asian Football stories, Thai FA and how this leads to helping purchase Manchester City for Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra (former Prime Minister)
21. Managing egos, the key skill for anyone running an agency & what happened to Kentaro at the end
22. Moving back to Germany, this time Berlin, new company Akani – focused on sports and entertainment, football, celebrities, MENA region, etc
23. Final thoughts on Covid and impact on Football, industry in review over the past 20 years, agency business never stops, similarity to Investment Banking

About

Philipp started his career after his law degree at University in Hamburg at Bertelsmann’s Ufa Sports in 1994. He was responsible for the international football division of the company dealing with federations, leagues and clubs during a time, where broadcasting rights became "golden dust“ for TV-channels across Europe and the rest of the world.

In 2000 Philipp moved to London and became the Managing Director of the football division of IMG, founded by Mark McCormack and the biggest sports rights agency in the world. In 2003 he set up together
with his partners his own agency Kentaro, one of the leading marketing companies in the football business in the following years. Philipp relocated in 2017 back to Germany, where he is still active in the business focussing on digital activities and revenue generation for various rights holders in Europe and the Middle East.

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