Gareth Balch first started dabbling with data in pursuit of a simple goal: to run a bit faster. While training to compete in the 800 metres for team GB, he began learning how to code so he could search for something in his own performance numbers that might give him an edge on the track.
Though he got quicker, that early embrace of analytics ultimately failed to bag him a spot on the British Olympic team heading to Beijing in 2008. But it did give him a glimpse of a different future. Balch came to realise that new technology — from the smartphone to social media platforms — and changing social attitudes would dramatically change the world of sport.
“I was of a generation where we all cared about experiences much more than things,” says Balch. “My parents cared much more about the washing machine they got given as a wedding present, or their sofa. I didn’t care about any of those things. We were going to be an experiential generation and infuse that with a connected generation. It was really clear to me that the sports industry had to go in a different direction.”
In 2011, Balch, Claire Rogan and Matt Rogan co-founded Two Circles — a sports agency rooted in analytics that began life as a tiny team working from a kitchen table. The aim was to harness data to give sports bodies a much more detailed understanding of their fans, and so generate new ways to sell products and services to them.
“Sports need to get rewired to give fans what they want, by knowing fans best, knowing fans deeply on a personal level, so that you can create these experiences for them,” explains Balch. “I was deeply curious about how data could change that.”
Now, 13 years on, the business Balch leads as chief executive employs about 1,000 people across the globe, works with more than 900 organisations, and last year reported revenue of £70mn.
From its base inside a WeWork office in London’s Holborn, Two Circles covers all corners of the industry — from advising on stadiums to marketing media rights, and even helping devise new competition formats. Its client list includes the English Premier League, Wimbledon’s tennis Championships, the NFL, and the Ryder Cup, as well as dozens of sports teams.
The company’s first client was the England and Wales Cricket Board. In the summer of 2011, it was looking for someone to help it understand cricket fans better. Two Circles suggested a new approach: collating data from each of the 18 county clubs to create a single, centralised database of who watches and plays the game. That willingness to explore uncharted waters remains a core principle of the company, which still counts the ECB as a key client.
“I often walk around the place and say, I’m not qualified to do my job,” says Balch. “I’d never been the CEO of an organisation, I’d never line managed anyone before I did this. A big part of what we’re doing here is: we’re explicitly not qualified to do it, but that’s why we’re doing it. That’s the opportunity with doing something that has never been done before.”
In 2015, Two Circles was acquired by global advertising agency WPP, and grew from 30 employees to 150. Uefa, which governs European football, became its first client outside the UK, and offices began opening overseas — first in Bern, then New York and Los Angeles.
After US-based Bruin Capital bought the company in 2020, it embarked on a string of acquisitions in areas including ticketing and content production. Bruin then sold Two Circles to British private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners earlier this year, in a deal worth more than $300mn.
In September, Otro Capital and David Blitzer — the Blackstone executive who co-owns several big sports teams including the Philadelphia 76ers — became minority shareholders.
Their infusions of capital have enabled another acquisition spree. In October, Two Circles bought Kore, a US-based intelligence platform that works with dozens of sports teams and leagues, and then added Swedish broadcast agency Spring Media.
“The range of work is enormous, but the central thesis is the same,” Balch says. “We’re realising that sports have been built predominantly for white, western, middle-class affluent males — and, actually, the data is going to help us realise there’s lots of other humans in the world who also like sports. As more and more humans have the time and money to engage in these pursuits, there’s an opportunity to diversify the sports industry and make it for everybody.”
Looking ahead, Balch sees several trends that will continue to alter how sports businesses operate. The big events, teams and leagues will keep growing, but he expects to see more and more new formats emerge as rights holders seek to repackage what they do, to reach different audiences. Recent examples include the launch of The Hundred, the short-form cricket competition aimed at families.
At the same time, sport content will increasingly move beyond live, long-form matches, with further room to grow in areas such as documentary series telling personal stories off the pitch. And the live experience will continue to become more premium — as demonstrated by the current wave of investment in stadiums to increase the space dedicated to high-paying VIP spectators.
But, as costs for sports fans keep rising — for tickets, subscriptions, merchandise and food — how can owners and governing bodies avoid squeezing their loyal customers to the point of revolt? And do fans really want to be ‘monetised’?
“One of the biggest things that sports fans deserve is to feel valued,” argues Balch. He insists that companies such as Two Circles have a responsibility to their clients to strengthen, rather than exploit, long-term fan relationships.
“The number one way to grow the asset value [of sport] is to grow the number of people who care about you, how often they care about you, and how they evidence that in their spending habits,” he stresses. “We want to give them what they want.”
