RTL Group today announced that it will be investing in attractive segments of sports rights marketing again from now on, andhas re-established the marketing agency UFA Sports.

UFA Sports has its headquarters in Hamburg and will mainly be active in international marketing of media rights to sports events. UFA Sports will initially be managed by Philip Cordes, who will gradually expand the company’s management by other experiencedexecutives. Cordes served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sportfive Group from July 2004 to February 2007, after holding various executive positions at UFA Sports and later at Sportfive.

Elmar Heggen, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of RTL Group and head of its Corporate Centre, said: “One of the three pillars in our successful corporate strategy is a systematic diversification of our revenue streams, along with tapping new lines of business. Our reentry into sports rights marketing is a step that makes perfect sense in rounding off our portfolio. I am delighted that we were able to recruit Philip Cordes, an executive we know and who has proven an successful manager, to build the business for us.”

UFA Sports CEO Philip Cordes said: “I’m very happy about the trust placed in me by RTL Group, and about its recognition of the strategic importance of international sports rights marketing. We have ambitious targets and are confident that we will very soon re-establish UFA Sports as an important player on the market with contemporary, futureproof business models.”

The UFA Sports rights agency was originally established in 1988, as a wholly owned subsidiary of the UFA group, which was merged into CLT-UFA in 1997, and later into the newly created RTL Group in 2000. Through a series of mergers and transactions, the former UFA Sports became a major part of what today is known as the Sportfive Group. In November 2006, RTL Group sold its 25 per cent stake in Sportfive to the French media conglomerate Lagardère.

About RTL Group

RTL Group is the leading European entertainment network, with interests in 42 television channels and 32 radio stations in ten countries and content production throughout the world. The television portfolio of Europe’s largest broadcaster includes RTL Television in Germany, M6 in France, Five in the UK, the RTL channels in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia and Hungary, Ren TV in Russia and Antena 3 in Spain. RTL Group’s flagship radio station is RTL in France, and it also owns or has interests in other stations in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Group's content production arm, FremantleMedia is one of the largest international producers outside the US. Each year, it produces more than 10,000 hours of programming across 55 countries.