Lucky Generals today announced the introduction of its sports marketing agency, Dark Horses.

It’s the first launch within the Lucky Enterprises holding group structure, and is being headed up by former Business Director at BBH Sport, Simon Dent.

Dent was the first hiring at BBH Sport and was instrumental in the division’s growth, helping win business such as Samsung, Harlequins Rugby Club and Wasps before leaving earlier this year.  A qualified solicitor, prior to BBH he had spent more than 10 years working as a sports agent and lawyer.

We sat down with him to chat about his new venture.

First up, you could have moved to any agency in London – why Lucky generals?

I chose lucky generals because they are an independent agency with amazing clients, great leaders and a passion for entertainment. I wanted to merge my contacts in sport with their creative and strategic firepower to shake up the industry.  We’re joining forces to create a new type of agency, one built for the modern sports world.

What do you mean ‘built for the modern world’?

Marketing is changing rapidly. There are so many agencies out there working on social and digital strategy, others on PR or sponsorship. Successful brands must be constantly active on every platform, we want to become the sports marketing agency that can act as a one stop shop. Within 5 years, I expect us to be at the forefront of every one of these disciplines. We’ll be working with everyone, from brands to governing bodies, rights holders and talent to deliver a new type of sports marketing agency.

What changes do you see happening over the next 5 years in sports marketing?

I think and hope that the big change will be fans getting some power back. For too long they’ve been neglected and a pretty powerful movement is gathering a head of steam.

Traditional sports marketing agencies assume a captive audience of fanatics, in a world that revolves around sport. We know that this isn’t true; people have got other things going on in their lives.

They need to be entertained, so we are going to work hard to entertain them.