Portfolio Sport

Portfolio Sport – Sports Management agency

Background  

Portfolio Sport is a UK based management agency, working with a selection of extraordinary global athletes.  

From the top names in triathlon, cycling and running, to adventurers taking on expeditions in some of Earth’s most extreme environments, Portfolio Sport’s mission is to increase exposure, attract supporters and raise the profile of its athletes.  

Brief  

Sway PR was tasked to work with various athletes, sharing their stories and achievements with general and specialist media titles to create interview opportunities that raise the athletes’ profiles, position them as experts in their field, and attract supporters.  

We were also tasked to manage the company’s LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter profiles, sharing achievements of its 20+ athletes across international events.  

Strategy  

Treating each athlete as an individual project, we focused on three main media types: national print and broadcast media, media local to each athlete, and specialist sport titles. As well as sharing news of time sensitive achievements and results, we focused on human interest stories relevant to each athlete.  

For example, in 2023 Sam Holness became the world’s first autistic athlete to compete at the IRONMAN World Championships. Starting by reaching out to media with the widest reach, we secured Sam interviews on national broadcast channels like 5 News and Sky News.  

We then focused on print and online media with national readership, securing interviews with The Times, The Telegraph and The Sun, before reaching out and securing features in sport specific media like Runner’s World, Tri 247 and 220 Triathlon.  

Outcome  

Since 2020, we’ve created over 1500 pieces of media coverage (excluding social media) for 10 Portfolio Sport athletes, securing interviews with the top five UK broadsheets, and top six UK tabloids.  

We secured dozens of local BBC news pieces, inviting BBC Cornwall to a training session with Julia Davis, creating TV and radio opportunities with the BBC for Jonny Huntington, and organising BBC interviews for Neah Evans with her local station, BBC Radio Scotland, as well as BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC World Service.  

Across specialised titles for sport and fitness, the athletes have been featured multiple times in popular titles like Women’s Running and Women’s Fitness, plus various niche titles for specific sports like Cycling Plus, Cycling Weekly and Cyclist.  

We’ve become trusted contacts for media to approach with requests for industry names like the Red Bulletin (Red Bull’s own magazine), The Times and Cycling Plus for story and interview requests.   

Over a one-year period, LinkedIn followers increased by 35% and Instagram followers were doubled.  

A word from the client

“Simply the best PR agency I’ve had the privilege to work with.”

Ryan Bowd, Portfolio Sport Founder