RTL Group SA

04/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/09/2025 08:57

Fremantle goes sports

Fremantle goes sports
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Fremantle goes sports
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Fremantle announces the launch of Fremantle Sports, a new business unit focused on telling entertainment stories from the world of sports.

Building on the company's impressive IP (intellectual property), Fremantle Sports aims to tell captivating stories within the sports world, humanising athletes, teams and federations. Through its vast creative network, Fremantle Sports will deliver top-tier sports projects on a global scale, enabling sports talent and rights holders to connect with their worldwide fanbase.

Fremantle is already well-established in sports content with its portfolio of international labels having already made waves in the sector. These include 72 Films' award-winning All or Nothing (Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur) for Amazon, UFA's All or Nothing: The German national team in Qatar, Fremantle Australia's Matildas: The World At Our Feet for Disney+, Wildside's My Name is Francesco Totti for Sky, Fremantle Italy's Underwater: Federica Pellegrini for Amazon, En Cero Coma's Los Williams for ETB in Spain and Netflix, and Monster Films' Dirty Sports: The Biathlon Scandal for TV2 in Norway.

The launch of Fremantle Sports forms part of the company's wider growth strategy, building on the successful expansion of Fremantle's Drama & Film and Documentary businesses in recent years. The new unit will focus on non-scripted and factual documentaries and new digital formats, working with the Fremantle Entertainment, Documentary and Drama & Film teams.

Fremantle Sports will be led by Owain Walbyoff who has been appointed as the new Director of the unit. In this role, Owain will lead and develop Fremantle's sports strategy, focusing on expanding the company's global sports content offering through partnerships with rights holders, brands, first-look deals and co-productions.

The creation of the new global sports entertainment unit has been spearheaded by Amelia Brown, CEO of Fremantle UK, Gabriella Carriere, Group Head of Strategy, Georgette Schlick, CEO of Fremantle Northern Europe, Jeff Hasler, President of Original Productions; and Mark Reynolds, Global Head of Documentaries and Factual.

Jennifer Mullin, Global CEO of Fremantle, says: "Expanding our sports capabilities is an exciting next step in our growth strategy, following the successful blueprint that has delivered continued growth across our Drama & Film and Documentaries pillars. Thanks to our exceptionally talented cohort of labels, we already have a strong offering for the genre, which we are thrilled to be evolving with Fremantle Sports under the expert guidance of Amelia, Gabriella, Georgette, Jeff, Mark and Owain. We look forward to providing global audiences with compelling sports storytelling and sports formats that engage the passions and desires of fans around the world."

Fremantle Sports will leverage the extensive expertise of Fremantle and its labels, including 72 Films, UFA, TalkbackThames, Fremantle Australia, Fremantle North America, Wildside, Naked, Fremantle Italy, Beach House Pictures, Silvio Films, Original Productions, Stand By Me, November Film, En Cero Coma and Monster Films.

Contacts

Oliver Fahlbusch

Executive Vice President Communications & Investor Relations, RTL Group

+352 / 24 86 5200

[email protected]

Irina Mettner-Isfort

Vice President Media & Investor Relations

+49 221 456 56410

[email protected]

RTL is Europe's leading entertainment brand standing for entertainment, independent journalism, inspiration, energy and attitude. With our TV channels, streaming services, radio stations and online platforms in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Hungary and Luxembourg, we reach millions of people across Europe every day. The RTL brand is owned by RTL Group.

About RTL Group

RTL Group is a leading entertainment company across broadcast, streaming, content and digital, with interests in 60 television channels, seven streaming services and 37 radio stations. The Group's families of TV channels are either number one or number two in six European countries, while RTL Group owns or has interests in radio stations in France, Germany, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Deutschland is the Group's largest business unit and Germany's first cross-media champion, operating across TV, streaming, radio, digital and publishing. RTL Group's streaming services include RTL+ in Germany and Hungary, Videoland in the Netherlands and M6+ in France. Fremantle is one of the world's largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, responsible for more than 11,000 hours of programming per year, alongside an international network of teams operating in 27 countries. The streaming tech company Bedrock, the ad-tech company Smartclip and the social media company We Are Era are also owned by RTL Group. As a market leader, RTL Group strives to foster alliances and partnerships within the European media industry, for example by building a one-stop advertising sales house in Germany with Ad Alliance and driving international advertising sales with RTL AdAlliance. Bertelsmann is the majority shareholder of RTL Group, which is listed on the Luxembourg and Frankfurt stock exchanges and in the MDAX stock index.

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RTL Group SA published this content on April 09, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 09, 2025 at 14:58 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]