The Leaders Group, Inc.

What The Leaders Group, Inc. does

The Leaders Group, Inc. is a private B2B intelligence platform serving the global sports, esports, and gaming industries. Formed in April 2019 by Advance and American City Business Journals, the company consolidates a portfolio of established brands including Sports Business Journal (a multiplatform sports business media), Sports Business Daily, Leaders in Sport (premium networking and insight for senior sports executives), The Esports Observer, SportTechie, and Newzoo (a leading provider of PC and console games data). The company is headquartered in Charlotte, NC, employs 251-500 people, and operates as a subsidiary of Advance, a private family-owned media, communications, and technology conglomerate.

The company delivers its offering through four product pillars: Market Intelligence and Analytics (timely data and intelligence for daily business decisions), Networks (connectivity among league operators, team owners, facility operators, vendors, brands, and merchants), Events (high-value industry events with data-driven content), and Media (real-time news, insights, and analysis). Its go-to-market is enterprise B2B direct sales, targeting the global sports, technology, media, and entertainment ecosystem. The underlying platform is a portfolio of interconnected brands rather than a single unified technology stack, with the value proposition centered on combining content, data, networking, and events under one corporate entity.

The business model is multi-revenue-stream: subscriptions and data licensing (likely the Newzoo and SBJ data products), event sponsorships and ticketing, advertising and media revenue, and membership/network fees for executive access. The company does not disclose pricing, revenue, or customer logos; the customer base is described as horizontal across senior executives, league operators, team owners, facility operators, vendors, brands, and merchants. No external funding rounds have been disclosed, and the company is structured as an intra-group consolidation under Advance rather than a venture-backed entity.

Name

The Leaders Group, Inc.

Legal name

The Leaders Group, Inc.

Website

https://leadersgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Leaders Group is a private B2B intelligence platform serving global sports, esports, and gaming professionals through a portfolio of brands including Sports Business Journal, Leaders in Sport, and Newzoo, offering market data, executive networking, events, and media.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Business Intelligence & Media

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113), Management of Companies and Enterprises (551)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Thought Leadership & Executive Visibility (BPAFADAG), Reputation Management & Executive Thought Leadership (MPAAADAK)

Keywords

• Sports business intelligence
• Gaming market data
• B2B sports media
• Esports business insights
• Sports executive networking

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Leaders Group is a global B2B intelligence platform that delivers data, media, events, and professional networking to sports, esports, and gaming business professionals. Its portfolio includes Sports Business Journal (multiplatform sports business media), Leaders in Sport (executive networking and insight), and Newzoo (PC and console games market data), organized around four offerings: Market Intelligence and Analytics, Networks, Events, and Media.

Product overview

Leaders Group is a global intelligence platform that delivers information to sports and gaming business professionals to optimize their corporate performance. The platform operates as a portfolio of interconnected brands across Market Intelligence and Analytics, Networks, Events, and Media. The core product portfolio includes Sports Business Journal (premier multiplatform sports business media), Leaders in Sport (premium networking and insight for sports executives), and Newzoo (leading provider of PC and console games data). These products collectively provide critical and timely global data, industry thought leadership access, real-time news, and analytics to support daily business decisions in the sports, esports, and gaming ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sports Business Journal: Premier multiplatform media company in sports business providing award-winning media content, unparalleled networking opportunities and market-leading data.
• Leaders in Sport
• Newzoo

Products and services

• Sports Business Journal The premier multiplatform media company in sports business, providing award-winning media content, networking opportunities, and market-leading data to sports industry professionals and executives.
• Leaders in Sport Provides premium networking and insight to senior executives in professional sport globally, with the goal of accelerating the pace of change within the sports industry.
• Newzoo The leading provider of PC and console games data, offering trusted and unique data, insights, and guidance to enable gaming, media, and tech companies to thrive in the games market.
• Market Intelligence and Analytics Critical and timely global data and intelligence needed to support daily business decisions for sports, esports, and gaming professionals.
• Networks Access and connectivity to globally relevant networks including league operators, team owners, facility operators, vendors, brands, and merchants to facilitate knowledge sharing, best practices, commerce, and opportunities across the global sports, technology, media, and entertainment ecosystem.
• Events High value events with local to global perspectives through data-driven content and access to relevant industry thought leaders, practitioners, and investors in sports and gaming.
• Media Delivery of real-time news, insights, and analysis from industry and functional experts across the sports, technology, media, and entertainment ecosystem.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Front Office Sports: Emerging digital-first sports business media company covering leagues, teams, and the business of sports — a direct substitute for SBJ's news and analysis offering targeting the same professional readership.
• Newzoo (peer-as-brand context): Listed here only to flag Newzoo's competitive set — the company itself is a subsidiary of Leaders Group, but its market includes other gaming data providers such as Sensor Tower and Ampere Analysis, illustrating the competitive pressure on this franchise.
• Two Circles: Sports marketing and data-driven services agency working with leagues, teams, and brands globally — comparable in serving the same B2B sports buyer with data, analytics, and audience activation offerings.
• SportBusiness (Deltatre): Sports industry intelligence, events and consulting brand within the Deltatre group, providing news, data and executive networking — highly comparable to Leaders in Sport and SBJ's combined offering.
• SportsPro: Global sports industry media, events and intelligence platform covering business, technology, and marketing — a closely aligned peer across Leaders Group's Events, Media, and Networks channels.
• Sportico: B2B sports business news and data outlet launched by Penske Media, directly competing with Sports Business Journal for the same executive audience in the U.S. sports business vertical.
• IEG / Engine Sport (now Engine): Sponsorship intelligence, valuation, and consulting platform for the sports industry — a comparable research and advisory franchise targeting the same sponsorship decision-makers in the sports ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Sensor Tower: Larger mobile and cross-platform digital intelligence provider whose gaming data products compete head-on with Newzoo, while its broader portfolio extends well beyond games into app and ad intelligence.
• Gartner: Premier subscription-based B2B research and advisory firm — relevant as both a strategic model (where Thune spent 14 years) and as a competitor for enterprise intelligence budgets across the sports, media and technology ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Wood Mackenzie (sports coverage): Verisk-owned research and analytics firm expanding coverage into sports and entertainment data — a partial-overlap competitor in data subscriptions for the same category of enterprise buyer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Leaders Group, Inc.