We
breathe
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breathe
soccer
In January, ISL moved it’s American Headquarters from Charlotte, NC to Miami, FL. The move signified the growth and continued expansion of ISL Agency, a growth that would be difficult to imagine when we began.
Moving a headquarter over 700 miles, to one of the most renowned cities in the world is never an easy task, but ISL Miami HQ is truly up and running. We are proud of how the space has come together, and we now continue to establish ourselves in one of the largest Sports Business markets in the world. While our employees are all over the world, Miami HQ is what connects all corners of our business, and will see employees come and go during their work travels.
Check out the new space below, and next time you’re in Miami, our doors are always open. We’ll see you in Miami soon!
For the second time this year the ISL family got together to celebrate achievements, milestones, discuss company vision for 2020 and to bond over good food and healthy athletic competition.
This past May marked ISL’s 6th year anniversary as a company. What started off as a dream by a couple of childhood friends from Spain has blossomed into a global sports management powerhouse, with 8 locations across the United States and Europe, with 100+ full time employees working with a variety of clients and projects.
Upon arrival in the historic Catalonian city we were met by the mountainous terrain in the distance and the salt air from the nearby coast line. With a sense of electricity that is seemingly unique to this part of the world we converged onto the southern part of the city. Our time together was limited, so we were determined to maximize it.
Events were held at the world famous David Lloyd Club Turo Sports Facility, the location of WTA Tournaments in recent years, for our corporate meeting with the executive team and all of the directors. ISL CEO, Alex Isern, opened up by welcoming us, some pleasantries, anecdotes and the itinerary for the day. Shortly after concluding his remarks we jumped right in.
An array of topics were covered by each of the departments that make up ISL as a whole. This was a great way for each director to level set the expectations of their respective department. Senior Executives and C-Suite discussed how we can all work together in tandem for the greater good of the company to improve programs and our customer or client experiences.
What was set for a 3 hour block of presentations and open discussion flew by, and before we knew it both Alex Isern and Marc Segarra (Co-Founder) were up front delivering their concluding remarks and heartfelt thanks to each of us for the hard work and dedication that has been put in to getting ISL Agency to where it is today.
Shortly after the conclusion of the meeting the team made there way to locker rooms to change out for the first of hopefully many more future Padel competitions to come. Padel is a racquet sport, which is both fast and highly entertaining to play and watch. After a spirited afternoon of competition, laughter and one rolled ankle, a pair of champions were crowned. From the courts we made our way out for an evening of fellowship over good food and wine. As the evening drew to a close we were all reminded of how fortunate we are to be in each others lives. Not just from a professional point of view, but because we genuinely work together like one big happy family, and although it may not have been the sole purpose of the trip, it was the lasting impression we all walked away with.
A successful week was rounded out with a surprise visit from our old friend and partner, Bobby Epstein – the owner of COTA, who had travelled to Barcelona to catch up with the ISL owners and team before everyone headed back to their respective parts of the world. “Since I met Marc and Alex I knew they were going to build something unique. Their work ethic, passion, and business acumen are very impressive and I’m very excited to start doing things together. ISL has a tremendous potential in the US and I look forward to pushing the boundaries of this industry” – Bobby Epstein. We are truly grateful for this relationship and look forward to many fruitful years ahead.
As part of our 6 year anniversary celebration, we’re taking the time to look back at our short yet productive history as a company. Over the past several months, we have been revealing our story, bit by bit, a story that wouldn’t exist without everyone who has helped support ISL along the way.
For our fourth look back at our story, we take a look as we began to truly expand, and grow in ways we couldn’t imagine.
As part of our 6 year anniversary celebration, we’re taking the time to look back at our short yet productive history as a company. Each month over the next several months, we’ll be revealing a part of our story, a story that wouldn’t exist without everyone who has helped support ISL along the way.
For our third look back at our story, we take a look at some of the biggest milestones that changed the future of the ISL family, and propelled us forward for years to come.
As part of our 6 year anniversary celebration, we’re taking the time to look back at our short yet productive history as a company. Each month over the next several months, we’ll be revealing a part of our story, a story that wouldn’t exist without everyone who has helped support ISL along the way.
For our second look back at our story, we have a look at when ISL truly began to establish itself, and continue to prepare for the growth that we couldn’t predict to come.
ISL executives were fortunate to attend Sports Business Decision Makers Summit to take in some great insights into current sports business and marketing trends.
While a majority of the Miami, FL event held at the W Hotel focused around sponsorship and partnerships, the summit also covered investment in sport, global expansion of sports brands, sports fans, collegiate athletics, and much more. Read up on some of the major insights discussed, and social media highlights.
Fans in Asia, are different to fans in Europe, who are different to fans in South America, who are even more different to fans in North America. Each region brings different challenges, and North America appears to be the most challenging, yet most rewarding. O’Callaghan cited 2 important strategies that build the FC Barcelona fan base in the United States, those were the presence of a North American office, and the expansion of Grassroots efforts like the world famous Barca Academies. ISL continues to execute the major Barca Academy grassroots strategy, and growing the famous FC Barcelona brand.
Eelco van der Noll, head of Partnership and Sponsorship for Anheuser-Busch inBev, spoke on the Brand side of sponsorship and partnership. One key topic was on the value of the Esport target market for brands. All the major sports and leagues primary targets vary in ages, however they are all primarily 30+ years old. Esports primary target market, 24-30 years old, is an extremely valuable age range for building lifelong brand affinity.
As a major focus of the event was on partnership and sponsorship, we had to mention some of the modern approaches to the effective marketing strategy. Chief Revenue Officer for Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, Adam Davis, spoke on a modern approach to partnership marketing. Today, brands are looking for partners, not sponsors. Traditional stock sponsorship packages are a thing of the past. Instead, the approach to a modern conversation needs to have the mind frame of improving the business for each side of table, and it’s an ever evolving relationship.
After years in the background providing unique soccer experiences to those in need, the charitable arm of ISL now has a voice and a platform to achieve even more. We are proud to unveil ISL Foundation. ISL Foundation has a new logo, a new website, and easier access for those seeking to help the Foundation vision.
ISL Foundation strives to positively affect change and provide young athletes the opportunity to enjoy their sport, all while learning lifelong lessons to serve them well for the rest of their lives. Through a multitude of sports projects, ISL Foundation affords our communities a helping hand for young athletes to achieve and exceed their goals.
With the new platform, ISL Foundation can now actively reach out to our communities at large, as well as open up doors to valued corporate partners. Our support system will make a greater impact for the good, and continue to put more smiles on the faces of young athletes and their families in need.
If interested in helping or getting involved with ISL Foundation, please visit our new site, ISLAgency.com/foundation, and please reach out. We’d love to hear your ideas, and any support helps the Foundation achieve it’s goals!
Over the years, the ISL charitable arm, ISL Foundation, has worked hard with our communities and our partners in order to put on programs, both big and small. Be sure to check out some of our past works below!
Once again the ISL directors and executives team got together to welcome in the new year as a company and to level set from our last family get together in Barcelona, 2019. Over the course of the week we heard from each of the department heads about the progress of each team, the vision for 2020 and how we could each partner up together in expanding the ISL brand around the globe, all the while giving our clients the best possible experience.
Ahead of the company’s 7th anniversary in May, both co-founders Alex and Marc, took the opportunity to share their gratitude to all in attendance for of the hard work and efforts being poured into expanding the ISL brand into new markets, as well as set the stage for the presentation portion of the corporate meetup by giving a high level overview from the past year to date.
In addition to the presentations from the more visible parts of the company, back office departments including marketing, HR and operations were also given the chance to share updates to processes, discuss current statuses and give future outlooks. Overall, the time spent together and hearing from each department gave each of us a better perspective of the hard work and efforts being put forth to truly deliver an unparalleled experience for our clients and guests into focus.
That said, it couldn’t be all work and no play. Once the corporate portion was taken care of and out of the way, we (as a family) took the opportunity to explore the city that never sleeps by taking in the local cultural flair and fun that makes up this eclectic destination spot of the U.S. and has become a global home of our headquarters.
Unfortunately, like all good things, it must come to an end and our trip was soon over. However our engines were all refueled to tackle new opportunities ahead, relationships strengthened and fortified, but more importantly know that we are working together as a team and that we have each others backs.
Watch out 2020!
We are excited to reveal our rebrand of ISL Futbol to ISL. Our new brand reflects the growth and evolution of ISL in the Sports Business industry. In the last 6 years, ISL has continuously connected the world’s biggest sports organization and athletes with their fans and properties all around the globe.
Our new brand provides the opportunity to better tell our story and align our expertise and services to our clients and customers.
This new symbol continues to hold onto the existing ISL Futbol expectations of what our original mark and values stood for, while simultaneously moving the brand forward. Our efforts were centralized around maintaining the iconic and recognizable mark, and was achieved by carefully deconstructing the existing mark and our history. Our rebuilding process informed our work and perspective as we developed our brand and story.
Be sure you’re following all of our social media handles found in the top right of this page for exciting announcements, news, blogs, videos and other great stories about our community around the world. Like, share, favorite, love, and get excited about the new brand.
We couldn’t have done all of this without your support, and we are extremely excited for this new chapter.
For more information on our brand, and the meaning behind it, read up below!
As part of our 6 year anniversary celebration, we’re taking the time to look back at our short yet productive history as a company. Over the past several months, we have been revealing our story, bit by bit, a story that wouldn’t exist without everyone who has helped support ISL along the way.
For our fourth look back at our story, we take a look as we began to truly expand, and grow in ways we couldn’t imagine.
