Fox Unit Will Announce Merger With L.A. Sports Marketing Firm

A Fox Entertainment Group Inc. operation that handles sports marketing and advertising for several area sports teams and venues today will announce a merger with a Los Angeles firm that specializes in arranging sports marketing deals, including naming-rights deals for sports facilities.

The deal will blend Envision, a sports and entertainment marketing firm founded by Jeff Knapple, with Fox Sports One, the sports marketing arm of professional baseball’s Dodgers, hockey’s Kings and professional soccer’s Galaxy.

Fox Sports One, which is co-owned by sports moguls Rupert Murdoch and Philip Anschutz, also represents Dodger Stadium, a Fox property, and Staples Center, in which Anschutz is majority owner.

The companies did not release Envision’s financial data or discuss the deal’s value. The company that will be known as Envision will have about 30 employees and be headquartered in an office building near Staples Center.

The merger is driven in part by an ongoing consolidation in the sports marketing world, where competitors are scrambling to create one-stop shopping opportunities for advertisers. The deal also mirrors a recent decision by Fox to bundle advertising sales departments at its 11 sports channels and 14 television stations under one roof.

“This deal will allow us to leverage our broadcast and cable operations around the country and enable us to provide integrated services to teams, universities, conferences and advertisers nationwide,” said Randy Freer, executive vice president of Fox Sports Net.

In the U.S., the new company is being positioned as a one-stop shopping center for university administrators, arena operators, advertisers and others in the sports marketing industry. Knapple said the deal also gives Envision the ability to compete on a worldwide scale, particularly in Europe, where Fox owns broadcast outlets and athletic teams.

Envision, which negotiated Staples Center’s naming rights deal, also has brokered naming rights for such facilities as Philips Arena in Atlanta, Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, and St. Louis’ Kiel Center. Envision also has packaged sponsorship deals in the auto-racing world.

“Sports One and Envision together now create one of the larger sponsorship and marketing companies in this country,” Knapple said. While Envision will incorporate Fox broadcast and Internet components into deals, Knapple said, the company won’t be precluded from packaging deals with other broadcast companies.

Knapple will serve as president and chief executive of the company to be owned by Murdoch’s Fox, Anschutz Corp. and Knapple.