The unveiling of the Most Attractive Employers in Sport 2026 shortlists continues—and today we turn our attention to one of the industry’s most competitive and dynamic categories: Sports Marketing Agencies.
From global groups with decades of experience to specialist agencies shaping new areas of the business, these organisations play an essential role across the sports industry. Their work spans areas such as sponsorship, media, events, talent representation, strategy, consulting and fan engagement—making them highly attractive destinations for professionals pursuing a career in sport.
Based on the votes received in iWorkinSport’s global survey, the following organisations have been named among the 20 most attractive sports marketing agency employers in 2026.
In alphabetical order, the Top 20 are:
- CAA Sports (includes CAA Stellar and CAA Eleven)
- Dentsu
- Excel Sports Management
- Havas
- IMG
- Infront Sports & Media
- LiveMode
- Mediacom
- MKTG Sports + Entertainment
- N3xt Sports
- Octagon
- On Location
- Publicis Sport & Entertainment
- Relevent Sports
- Roc Nation Sports
- SPORTFIVE
- TEAM Marketing
- The-TEAM (formerly Wasserman)
- Two Circles
- WePlay
This year’s shortlist reflects the breadth of the modern sports marketing industry, bringing together organisations active across talent management, sponsorship, communications, media, experiential marketing, event delivery, digital innovation and strategic consultancy.
Seventeen organisations retain their places from the 2025 shortlist, demonstrating a high degree of consistency in the agencies professionals most aspire to work for.
Three names join this year’s Top 20: Excel Sports Management, Mediacom and On Location. They replace Endeavor, SEG – Sports Entertainment Group and SISU Venture Partners / Golden Goal.
The shortlist comes from the Most Attractive Employers in Sport survey, a global study conducted by iWorkinSport. Sport professionals and students were invited to identify the organisations where they would most like to work, selecting their preferred employers across different sectors of the sports industry.
The positions shown above are alphabetical and do not represent the final ranking. The complete results—including the order of the Top 20 sports marketing agencies—will be unveiled at the Most Attractive Employers in Sport Awards ceremony on 16 October 2026.
Stay tuned as we reveal more shortlists from this year’s survey over the coming weeks.
About the Most Attractive Employers in Sport
The 2026 survey gathered responses from 1,051 participants representing 58 nationalities, reflecting the global nature of the sports industry.
The Most Attractive Employers in Sport survey examines employer branding across the industry. Rather than measuring employee satisfaction, it reflects how attractive organisations are perceived to be by professionals and students who work—or aspire to work—in sport.
About iWorkinSport
iWorkinSport is the Global Hub for all things career, recruitment and education in sport.
The company connects and provides solutions and opportunities to stakeholders throughout the sports career ecosystem, including candidates, employers, employees, students, academic programmes, HR professionals, recruitment agencies, consultants and career coaches. It also produces, aggregates and curates knowledge and content relevant to careers in sport.
For further information, contact info@iworkinsport.com.