By becoming the SBF Group, the agency, responsible for events such as Uphill Marathon and XTerra, is developing projects with Centauro and Nike
The sports events agency X3M is experiencing a new moment after being acquired by the SBF group, owner of Centauro and Fisia, the official distributor of Nike in Brazil, and the media platform NWB, sportstech OneFan and FitDance.
“It accelerated everything, we took a ride on a rocket”, says Bernardo Fonseca, founder and CEO of the company, which grew up in the sports market with events where experience has always been a very present value, such as the Uphill Marathon and XTerra.
By becoming the SBF Group, which seeks to create an ecosystem to connect to various sports practices and speak to various audiences, Fonseca’s expectation is to take proprietary projects to other levels and advance in actions with the other companies in the network, with the which sees a current integration of around 70%.
“We are already growing before plugging in”, he explains. “X3M is the only sports entertainment agency that has 250 stores to interact in some way, a channel as mediatic as FitDance, a content generator like NWB. We are sailing slowly, but we are already surfing a business that fills us with pride”.
The development of projects in the group has been driven by the sports retailer. For her, he created a 21 km relay race, the “Centauro Reveza”, in September, with the proposal to build communities; and also the Black Friday Race, scheduled for São Paulo and Rio Janeiro, at the time of the traditional sale, where athletes will be able to collect discounts, positioned in QR Codes, as they advance in the distance – the fastest can have even better prizes.
And yet an event with a broader spectrum, the “FitFestival”, which should be held in November in São Paulo, dialoguing with the fitness community and, at the table, positioning the FitDance platform.
“One of the pillars that Centauro wants and sought with us is to build projects”, says Fonseca, for whom this type of action shows a little of the strategies and different concepts that the agency wants to offer. In addition, X3M is also producing the “Nike Trophy, recently unveiled by the sports equipment manufacturer to engage with the running community.
This happens as the events themselves continue to grow. The Uphill Marathon, known for the Serra do Rio do Rastro (SC) route, won the Serra dos Órgãos (RJ) version last year and will have two more editions in 2022, Nova Friburgo and Corcovado, both in Rio de Janeiro. There are new destinations and also distances, both to attract beginners and to test the limits of trailblazers – in 2023, there will be a version with 170 km in Serra do Rio do Rastro. And XTerra has expanded the franchise, has new formats and even more television.
A move that made the agency double in size in terms of number of employees and in spaces after the ‘deal’, with the gain in muscle and inflow of investments. “X3M continues to hire,” he says excitedly.
Revenue, which used to be between 90 and 95% from proprietary events, with the payment of registrations by athletes, is moving towards greater diversification among the pillars on which it operates. 40% of the owners; 40% tailor made, which is the creation of projects for brands, such as Centauro events; and 20% of production, as in the example of Nike, which involves the operationalization of the idea.