World Rowing appoints leading global communications group Havas to drive its sponsorship offering

World Rowing, the international governing body of the sport of Rowing, announces a new partnership with Havas Play, Havas’ global network with expertise across sponsorships, partnerships, experiential, social, influencers and branded content.

The collaboration marks another significant step in World Rowing’s long-term commercial strategy to expandand maximize its sponsorship opportunities worldwide. Under this collaboration, Havas Play will lead World Rowing’s global sponsorship sales mandate, bringing together the assets of World Rowing, European Rowing, leading Member Federations, selected Organising Committees and owners of high-profile Rowing Regattas. This unified approach creates a very attractive one-stop solution for brands, seamlessly connecting them to Rowing’s most influential platforms at the global, national and local levels.

By fully integrating Havas Play into all facets of its sponsorship process, World Rowing will leverage the group’s deep expertise in data, creativity, and media to deliver powerful value propositions for partners, thereby ensuring measurable and competitive results across markets. The partnership will also allow for a collaboration with other sports marketing agencies where required for effectiveness in the approach to selected global brands.

Christian Osterode, Head of Broadcast & Marketing at World Rowing, said:
“Havas leverages the best data, technology, and AI to create personalised campaigns and effective connections between brands and consumers. With the core purpose of making a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and people, it uniquely combines creativity, media, and emerging techniques through the Group’s global strategy, Converged.AI, to offer full-service marketing solutions for its clients. Our sport offers an authentic an attractivebrand stage in this context.”

Adds Yann Baffalio, Head of Havas Sports, part of Havas Play: “We are truly excited to partner with World Rowing. Rowing is a sport with tradition, innovation and growing global resonance. In addition, World Rowing, as the international governing body, stands for a remarkable set of values, comes with exceptional governance, and is known worldwide for being at the forefront of sustainability initiatives. It provides a unique platform for brands to engage with valuable demographics and tomorrow’s decision makers.”

Havas Play’s 300+ experts in 21+ countries create experiences that are intertwined with consumer passions and activate in the spaces that matter most to people. By connecting with people and communities, partnering with World Rowing enables the organisations to showcase the full breadth of these capabilities while creating innovative opportunities for brands across multiple markets.

About Havas Play:

Havas Play puts brands at the heart of sports, music, gaming, and fandom. The network is founded on the belief that all brands can earn attention and create enduring business impact by activating consumers’ passions. Havas Play is uniquely positioned to deliver meaningful experiences across six core services: 1.) Strategy, Consulting & Ideation; 2.) Branded Content; 3) Experiential + Live; 4) Social + Influencer; 5) Partnership + Sponsorship; 6) Analytics. Havas Play enables brands around the world to Play like never before. For more information, visit the website or follow Havas Play on LinkedIn or Instagram.

ABOUT WORLD ROWING:

World Rowing (previously named FISA (from the French, Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron) is the governing body of the Olympic sport of Rowing. Empowered by its 159 member National Rowing Federations it sets the rules and regulations for the practice of the sport, in all its forms including Classic Rowing, Coastal Rowing, Connected/Indoor Rowing and Para-Rowing across grassroots, masters, and level. As part of its mandate, World Rowing oversees sanctioned events and provides advice and expertise for the organisation of Rowing regattas. The Federation also works on coaching education and other matters relating to the sport and its development. www.worldrowing.com