ML Marketing, the leading sports social first agency in Central Europe, is pleased to announce the appointment of lead global sports executive Luis Vicente to its advisory board.

Founded in Vienna, the marketing agency represents the strategic and operational integration of sports and social media projects like no other and has been expanding rapidly for several years. ML Marketing now employs around 60 people at six locations (Vienna, Lucerne, Düsseldorf, Budapest, Istanbul, and Riyadh) and offers a wide range of services - strategy, social media management, research and insights, Marketing and Partnership plan and execution, influencer marketing, content creative, production and distribution as well as community management through its 24/7 newsroom. Additionally, live streams and podcasts are produced in the in-house studio.

Luis Vicente is a vastly experienced sports executive with a 30+ years track record of driving innovation, transformation, commercial growth, brand, digital and fan engagement in Sport. He is known as an industry thought leader and as lead evangelist in business transformation in sport.

The Portuguese National is currently the Chairman of Europe’s athlete-led investment platform, APEX, founding member and advisory board member of Mercury/13, a lead women’s football multi club ownership group, advisory board member at Baller League, the world’s fastest growing 6-a-side football league blending traditional football with the street football culture, advisory board member at SEH Fussball, a lead central European multi club ownership group and advisory board member at Common Goal, the lead global football focused social for good network.

Previously, Luis was Group CEO at Eleven Sports (now part of DAZN), a digital first global sports broadcaster and member of the board of parent company Aser Ventures, a sports focused investment platform that included ownership of previous Premier League club Leeds United.

Luis was also a member of the Management Board at FIFA and the Football Governing Body first ever Chief Digital Transformation & Innovation Officer, with responsibility for championing new technologies, gaming, data and content strategies.

Luis has served as well as Chief Marketing, Commercial and Digital Officer of La Liga historic football club Valencia CF, Head of Partnerships at Manchester City and advised at Board Level Real Madrid CF on football transfers and commercial development. Luis has also advised C-Level and ownership at Red Bull in Football, Motorsport and Sailing, Ferrari and Lotus in Formula 1 and as well at A1GP, the first ever Motorsport World Cup.

Luis was also a sports and commercial agent, managing some of the world biggest football stars of the 90’s and the 2000’s, including Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario and Andryi Shechenko. Luis joins in a decisive moment of ML Marketing's scaling and internationalization, bringing in his vast experience, expertise, network and innovative thinking as well as his pioneering capabilities in transform and scale sports projects globally.

Luis Vicente: "I have dedicated my life to the mission of rethinking and transforming this incredible industry and give back to this outstanding community called sports. As part of this process, we need more disruptive, creative and ambitious organizations like ML Marketing. I am very happy to join their Advisory Board and join Michael, Viktoria and the incredible ML Marketing family, together, in their fast growing international journey”

Viktoria Geresi, COO & Co-Owner: "Luis is a pioneer in his field and has an incredible sense for innovation and people. His approach is disruptive and goal-oriented, and his quality standards are of the highest, which is a perfect fit for us. He interacts and impacts with all our departments and delves deeply into the subject matter, which offers incredible added value for our agency. We are therefore very proud and grateful to have Luis on board and can hardly wait to shape our future together with him."

Michael Litschka, CEO & Co-Owner: "With Luis, we’re not only welcoming one of the most distinguished minds in the international sports industry to our Advisory Board – we’re bringing on board a visionary who shares our ambition of becoming a global leader as a Social First agency. His experience, network, and innovative mindset are true gamechangers for the next chapters of ML Marketing. Exciting projects and strategic developments are already on the horizon and will be announced step by step in the coming months."