Long-time media executives david levy Y chris weil are launching a new marketing agency together with Horizon MediaIt is intended to capitalize on the change that you already see underway for sports advertising.

Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E) plans to focus on marketing beyond TV commercials and in-stadium signage, which Levy called “table gambling.” Instead, it will look to create opportunities around new events, IP creation, and experiential marketing, both in the physical world and in the metaverse.

Levy, former president of Turner Broadcasting, and Weil, president of Momentum Worldwide, will serve as co-CEOs and equity partners, along with Horizon Media.

“It’s not going to be a standard 30-second TV ad,” Levy said in an interview. “And the timing couldn’t be better. Private equity firms are investing heavily in sports franchises, new leagues are forming, and NIL rights are here. This space is growing very fast and they are going to need companies like us.”

The group will not start from scratch. It is absorbing parts of Horizon’s portfolio, including more than 30 employees and an existing customer base. of the horizon Just Launched metaverse consultancy Chapter & Verse will be part of HS&E business, as will lifestyle agency Horizon Sports and entertainment Scout. Michael Neuman, who leads Scout, will become executive vice president of HS&E.

The agency’s goal is to combine the expertise of its three sponsors: Levy in content creation and sales, Weil in experiential marketing, and Horizon CEO/founder Bill Koenigsberg in brand creation. Citing an example of things HS&E might look for, Levy mentioned The Match, the golf franchise he helped create at Turner. The Match launched in 2018 using a brand new IP, with media partners, corporate sponsors and the biggest stars in the sport taking part. Its seventh iteration will take place next month.

Levy, who founded the sports consulting and investment firm Back Nine Ventures, spent some three decades at Turner’s parent company, Time Warner, where he ran the company’s networking, ad sales and distribution portfolio. He also oversaw Turner Sports from 2003 until his departure in 2019. He is currently the president of Genius Sports (NYSE: Genius) and will remain in that role.

Weil spent two decades as Momentum’s Chairman and CEO until his recent departure. While he served in that role, the agency grew from two offices to 30 global locations, eventually managing more than $5 billion in endorsement assets. Weil said in a statement that the industry needs an agency that can combine traditional marketing with new opportunities in Web3a catch-all term for the decentralized future of the internet, including blockchain technology.

“Given the fundamental changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors that continue to drive the evolution of the brand experience, both physical and digital, I believe that Web3 will be the ‘web experience,’” Weil said. “So, we are building a company that will be at the forefront of Web3 monetization in this mixed physical-digital world.”

The launch of HS&E dovetails with the recent expansion of Horizon. In recent months, the company has launched a new consulting firm called Green Thread and purchased a majority share at digital experience agency First Tube Media, which will work closely with HS&E.