Agon appoints commercial director to lead sponsorship for World Chess
Agon, the commercial venture that acquired the rights to the World Chess Championships earlier this year, has hired Chris King as commercial director.
Agon, led by founder and CEO Andrew Paulson, has tasked King with leading the negotiations with a number of partners to sponsor and distribute the next World Chess Championships Cycle, which starts in London next March.
King has brought experience from his ongoing board advisory role at Sports Recruitment International, which he co-founded 11 years ago, as well as his global network of relationships from across the world.
King commented: “I am enormously excited to work with Andrew and his focused team to help establish World Chess as a commercial proposition that can and should be in the same commercial league as poker and golf, for example.”
Michael Squires, chairman of Sports Recruitment Group, also said of the appointment: “Chris has put a tremendous amount of hard work into building Sports Recruitment International and will continue to remain as a key advisor to the firm and to work with some key clients. We wish him every success with this exciting new opportunity."
Discussions are already underway between Agon and potential marketing partners in the technology, media, industrial and financial sectors for sponsorship of the World Chess Championships.