53Six Joins The FUEL Group
FUEL, Ireland's leading experience and entertainment group, has acquired 53Six, the Dublin and London-based sports marketing agency. 53Six will keep its brand and continue to be led by co-founders Tom Fox (CEO) and Marcus McDonnell (COO) as part of the FUEL group.
The deal reflects a wider shift across entertainment, as live experiences, sport and culture converge around fandom, participation and community. Together, the two businesses offer clients an end-to-end model: world-class live experiences and content, backed by the fan data and insight to prove their impact.
Headquartered in Dublin with teams in the US and UK, FUEL delivers more than 650 experiences across 55 cities for clients including PayPal, Coca-Cola, Google, Meta and World Rugby, and runs festivals including WellFest, Beyond the Pale and Kaleidoscope. Founded in 2016, 53Six spans strategy, creative, content, performance media and data for clients including Arsenal, Juventus, UEFA, the IRFU and Leinster Rugby.
FUEL Co-Founder and Managing Director Jamie Deasy said: "We're delighted to welcome 53Six into the FUEL group. We've known Tom, Marcus, and the team for some time, and there's a very strong cultural fit and shared ambition between our two companies. 53Six brings deep expertise in sport, performance marketing, and audience intelligence, while FUEL brings scale across live experiences, entertainment, and high-end content production. Together, we are building an end to end global growth engine for clients around fandom, combining world class live experiences and content with the fan-data and insight to demonstrate their impact, while creating significant growth opportunities for both businesses internationally."
Tom Fox, Co-Founder and CEO of 53Six, added: "We were looking for a strategic partner that understood how sport and live experiences are increasingly interconnected, and could further accelerate our growth internationally. Since day one, we've believed in the power of sport to create meaningful shared experiences, and in today's world, that belief feels more relevant than ever."
