By Michael Bürgi  •  February 10, 2026  •

Ivy Liu

Publicis is putting to use its acquisition of creator agency Influential in 2024, but is also tapping into its data powerhouse, Epsilon, to marry data resources to its creator-led marketing. The effort will tap into creators, athletes, NIL talent, and sports-culture influencers, while Publicis Sports provides intelligence on fan bases, guides on sponsorships and then activates on them, using Epsilon data to help get to more deterministic data power of Epsilon. 

“Because of our data, we can take a very unique approach to identifying the right talent and athletes/creators not just by traditional metrics,” said Deering. “More and more, the people around athletes and their lifestyle are of interest to their communities. This would generally be missed if a brand is setting a specific demo to go after, but with our data we can identify these untapped audiences to provide extended reach and additional relevance. This allows for the strategy to create even more relevance and scale.” 

Actual investment will still reside with the investment group within Publicis. According to Ryan Detert, Influential’s CEO, clients have been approached, but he declined to identify any in specific, saying only that FMCG, consumer electronics, retail, automotive, and technology are actively looking to work with Influential Sports. 

“The launch of Influential Sports builds on work already underway with Fortune 500 clients across multiple verticals,” said Detert. “We aren’t disclosing individual client investments, as these programs are highly bespoke and closely tied to each brand’s broader media and growth strategy. That said, the early demand and adoption we are seeing reflect strong client trust in creator-led sports marketing and interest in a more connected, performance-driven approach.”  

Deering explained the idea is to “provide brands with an end-to-end solution that enhances how they show up in sports culture, own major moments, and connect that relevance to real business outcomes.” Given the number of opportunities that will be happening this year, the unit will have its hands full. “By bringing together creator-led activations, fan intelligence, and measurement, we are enabling clients to plan earlier, activate smarter, and measure more clearly. Success is defined by long-term client impact, performance, and relevance, not by a single revenue number.”

Influential Sports will tap into some 15 million creators that including athletes, NIL talent, and sports-related creators, added Detert. “Rather than spotlighting individual names from a fixed roster, our approach is to match brands with the right trusted voices based on audience, affinity, and performance signals,” he said.  

Jay Pattisall, vp and senior agency analyst at Forrester, isn’t remotely surprised by the movement into sports by the big agencies – citing his firm’s research that shows four in 10 online Millennial (37%) and Gen Z (43%) adults indicated that they watched more sports broadcasts in 2024 than 2023. That has marketers paying attention too, he noted, citing stats that show 39% of U.S. B2C marketing executives plan to increase their investment in large-scale sports sponsorships, while another 28% plan to enter the space for the first time.

“Sports are the last and most consistent shared experience for U.S. consumers – look no further than Super Bowl 60 or the Winter Olympics,” said Pattisall. “Marketers are keen to take advantage of the mass interest. The holding companies’ latest approach is to use their data/ identity graphs and influencer management capabilities to reach U.S. consumers in the most authentic way possible: social influencers.”

Just last week, Publicis also struck a deal with Magic Johnson Enterprises last week, a move that goes beyond sports but will certainly include sports connections. And it cut a partnership with Genius Sports last November — a move that rival holdco WPP Media also made just last week.