About Us
Bringing together the World of Sports and Business
Founded in 2001, Holywood-based Premier Sports Management is arguably the leading corporate hospitality consultancy in Northern Ireland and is a specialist in developing the relationship between sports and business both locally and on the international stage.
Led by well-known business personality Mike McLean, the company has gone from strength to strength in the six years since inception. Today Premier Sports Management is involved in almost every high-profile sporting event brought to Northern Ireland. Its clients are composed of leading international brand names and locally home-grown businesses across a number of sectors.
As a consultancy, Premier Sports Management advises its clients on how they can maximise their own customer relationships via sporting sponsorships and corporate entertaining that is focused on the return on investment.
The sporting events served by Premier Sports Management include rugby, golf, horse-racing football and motor sports. But the consultancy takes a strategic approach to identifying the sporting events it believes most closely match their client's brand values. For example, in addition to the sports served locally, Premier Sports Management has developed exclusive international hospitality events for clients ranging from highly tailored ski weekends in the Alps, an off-limits package for The Ryder Club and ring-side seats at some of the world's most sought-after sporting events.
Premier Sports Management is the exclusive corporate hospitality provider for all Ulster Rugby games. When, for the first time in 50 years, an international rugby match was played at Ravenhill, Ulster Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) turned to Premier Sports Management to develop a superior corporate hospitality event that would match the historic sentiment of the evening. Almost 400 corporate attendees were entertained within the consultancy's plush custom-built hospitality marquee for the historic Ireland v Italy World Cup play-off.
Premier Sports Management also hosted one of the most memorable evenings for Northern Ireland's corporate football followers. The consultancy played a key role in bringing arguably the biggest football club in the world to Northern Ireland. It took center stage when English Premier League Champions Manchester United played a historic game against Glentoran at The Oval in East Belfast in August 2007.
Most recently, the company exclusively provided all corporate hospitality for The Walker Cup which took place in September 2007 at the Royal County Down Golf Club. Also in September, Premier Sports Management was selected to manage all corporate hospitality for the Irish leg of the World Rally Championship in November 2007, which will encompass a special unique event at Stormont Castle to be attended by Northern Ireland's senior politicians, business leaders and the world's media.
Since opening in 2001, Premier Sports Management has established a reputation for first-class corporate hospitality at every event. Culinary excellence, attention to detail and creative entertainment are cornerstones of the company's approach.
Years of focusing on strategic client consultancy and delivery of premium corporate hospitality events has led to recent exclusive agreements with world-renown sporting organisations. Along with its corporate clients who entrust Premier Sports Management with their most important customers, these organisations also entrust the consultancy with safeguarding and promoting their brand at a local and international level.
In terms of consultancy, Premier Sports Management advises its clients on taking an analytical and sophisticated approach when deciding on the right kind of client hospitality. The consultancy believes that evaluation is vital and advises that corporate hospitality analysis is central to its client's customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Mike McLean, Managing Director of Premier Sports Management commented: "We are finding that larger companies are spending more money on fewer clients and allowing for more one-on-one time at events. We advise our clients to work on a ratio of 5 to 1 in terms of return on investment from corporate hospitality. The banking sector continues to be one of the biggest buyers of corporate hospitality in Northern Ireland but we are seeing growth across almost every sector including technology, accountancy, law and property.
Premier Sports Management's clients include Bank of Ireland, Belfast Harbour Commissioners, BT, Ulster Bank, Vodafone, Deloitte, Hewlett Packard, BTW Shiells, Northern Bank, Flybe, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Microsoft. The company is passionate about delivering and has handled corporate hospitality for over 10,000 people these corporate clients in the last year alone.
Mike McLean, Managing Director of Premier Sports Management commented: "2007 has been a year of significant milestones for Premier Sports Management. We have worked hard to be the leader in the sports hospitality Ireland-wide and internationally. We are proud to work in partnership with number of professional organisations including Ulster Rugby, the Irish Rugby Football Union, Manchester United Football Club, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews for the upcoming Walker Cup and many more."
Mike continued: "In my view, sports and business are delicately intertwined and the relationship continues to evolve. We are happy to be at the centre of this evolution in Northern Ireland; helping our clients grow their businesses by association with competitive sports and helping sporting organisations understand the value of their brand. The economic potential of Northern Ireland's passion for sport should not be underestimated?if managed properly; I believe it can provide a huge boost to the local economy whilst also benefiting future generations."
Premier Sports Management is committed to helping a number of charities. Through its corporate hospitality, it has helped raised over £16000 in total in the last year alone for a number of worthy causes including The George Best Foundation, IRFU Charitable Trustand The Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children.
Mike McLean concluded: "Having fun and ensuring others have fun is central to our business ethos. But overall we get our greatest buzz from helping companies to drive their revenues by effective use of hospitality and events."