Rob Swain (left) and Alfonso Alanis-CueIntersport
Chicago-based Intersport is the latest of several major U.S. sports marketing companies to launch a soccer-focused partnership practice ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. The business unit, known as Intersports FC, will be led by soccer industry veterans. Alfonso Alanis Cue and Rob Swain This follows Intersport's acquisition of boutique agency O Street Consulting, the terms of which were not disclosed.
Alanis Cue and Swain bring decades of experience in the business of soccer to join an established sports marketing firm with offices in four major U.S. markets and over 200 employees. Prior to founding O Street in 2019, Swain was one of the few Americans working as a commercial legal advisor at FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Alanis Cue's background includes overseeing development and marketing strategy for MP & Silva in the Americas and partnership marketing at MLS. He also worked at Frito-Lay three years into his career, where he first met the president of Intersport. Brian Graybill.
“We bring specialized expertise and knowledge in the soccer sector and Intersport, as a major agency, has the capabilities and resources: talent, activation capabilities, production capabilities and a team that works directly with brands,” Alanis Cue says, “so we felt it was complementary.”
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Intersport FC will primarily focus on partnership consulting for brands that want to use soccer as a way to reach young, multicultural consumers. Swain said the group is also open to working with clients in the real estate sector. He said he believes many marketers are only focused on 2026 World Cup activity, but Intersport FC plans to help brands find opportunities related to different leagues, players and federations.
“This isn't strictly about 2026,” Swain said. “This is about creating very specialized solutions for clients and expanding beyond just the event and pre-event lead-up. This is really creating an entity that will hopefully last well beyond 2026.”
As commercial interest in football grows ahead of the World Cup, sports marketing businesses of all sizes are vying for position in the football world.
Chicago-based Revolution and Wisconsin-based GMR Marketing each launched soccer-focused divisions last year. Richie GrahamFor Soccer Ventures has acquired Chicago-based Gilt Edge Marketing, combining two soccer-focused marketing agencies. Kyle SheldonThe longtime MLS club marketing executive is launching his own boutique firm called Name & Number in late 2022, which he recently bolstered with the acquisition of Katlyn Stevens Digital LLC for a six-figure sum.
