FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2022
General Sports Worldwide acquires theClubhouse® a sports industry leading platform for career development.
ROCHESTER HILLS, MICH. — General Sports Worldwide, a full-service global sports consulting and management firm, announced that it has acquired sports career development platform theClubhouse® as part of their rapidly growing Executive Search and Team Consulting Division.
Founded by sports industry leader Bob Hamer, theClubhouse® focuses on providing individuals who are currently in, or want to work in, the sports vertical a wide range of career development services. These services include a robust Mentorship platform, a Job Board featuring roles with top companies in the industry, Webinars on key topics, an extensive Sales Training portal, a Mental Health partnership with the #SameHere Global Mental Health Movement, and Career Services featuring one-on-one coaching and advice.
“Mentorship and career development are key components of our leadership mantra and adding theClubhouse® will allow us to share those with a larger audience and have a broader impact on the sports and entertainment industry,” said General Sports Worldwide Managing Director Lou DePaoli. “Bob’s vision, values, and approach are in sync with ours, and we look forward to consulting with him on growing and expanding theClubhouse®.”
This past September, Hamer joined ClassPass, the world's largest Fitness & Wellness aggregator. They operate in 30 countries, have more than 40,000 fitness and wellness providers on the platform and have more than 5M reservations available at any given time. Bob was brought on as a Sales Director, leading their North American Corporate Wellness team. Together they're focused on selling the ClassPass product to companies of all sizes, for them to use as an employee wellness benefit. He will remain engaged with theClubhouse® as a consultant for General Sports Worldwide. His experience in launching and expanding the platform will ensure a successful transition.
“I’ve known Lou and Travis for many years, and their industry expertise, drawing from across multiple sectors of the sports and sales world, will help take theClubhouse® to new heights,” said Hamer. “I have full faith and trust in their ability to take what I’ve built and continue its growth into the most dynamic career development platform for the sports industry. I’m very excited to see where it goes next.”
In addition to the career opportunities shared on the platform, General Sports Worldwide intends to further develop and expand the mentorship and training components of theClubhouse® and incorporate their own current training efforts. The site currently has an extensive library of seminars, thought leadership pieces and training videos that provide a strong foundation for future growth, and GSW will create new pieces of content to support those efforts for the site.
“One of the main reasons we were so interested in theClubhouse® was the opportunity it offered to share not only our experiences and expertise with its community, but also to build upon the services and expertise Bob already created to help drive deeper engagement with the members of the community,” said Travis Apple, Vice President. “At General Sports Worldwide, we want to build relationships, make connections and create value, and this platform gives us a unique opportunity to do that in a meaningful and intentional way.”
General Sports Worldwide will also look to create new avenues to promote mental health resources and expand diversity, equity and inclusion platforms to reach new audiences and offer meaningful tools to engage with and support theClubhouse® community. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
General Sports Worldwide was launched in 2020 by veteran sports industry entrepreneur Andy Appleby, and is focused in four key areas of sports:
Player Representation in the UK, Europe, and United States
Jersey/Shirt/Arena Naming Rights Brokering
Sports Team Sales, Mergers and Acquisitions
Sports Team Consulting and Executive Search