Independent creative public relations agency The Romans has launched its Sports & Entertainment division in the Middle East and North Africa, appointing former Burson sports lead Sam Buckett as managing director.
The launch makes MENA the second market to introduce the agency’s global Sports & Entertainment offering, following the UK.
The division will focus on public relations and influencer campaigns, partnerships and sponsorships, content and creative activations, and reputation management.
The Romans said the launch would bring a decade of experience in earned-first, fan-focused creative work to the region. Its global sports and entertainment clients have included WWE, UFC, Formula E, Formula 1, Oakley and Puma.
Buckett joins from Burson in Saudi Arabia, where he led its Sports & Entertainment division. His regional experience includes two years in the kingdom and work in Qatar during the FIFA World Cup.
In his new role, Buckett will lead the division’s regional portfolio, develop partnerships and expand the agency’s work across sports, entertainment, talent, fandom and culture.
“The Romans have built a knock-out reputation globally as one of the best teams in Sports and Entertainment PR,” Buckett said. He said he was pleased to bring the offering to MENA and aimed to deliver work that other agencies in the region could not conceive.
Buckett said fans were often treated as a captive audience and that the agency intended to offer a different approach to sports and entertainment public relations.
Joe Lipscombe, partner at The Romans MENA, said the agency had appointed Buckett to lead the new division, adding that sports and entertainment were part of the agency’s core offering.
Lipscombe said fans in the region deserved more than what he described as repetitive campaigns centred on logos, kit collaborations and the same footballers.
The division will build on the agency’s regional client portfolio, which includes Ethara, the business behind the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It will also support the agency’s global portfolio.
Chris Allen, executive director of Sports & Entertainment at The Romans, said Buckett’s experience across several countries had given him an understanding of fandom in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Allen said the appointment would help the agency expand its existing sports work in the region and develop campaigns for brands and organisations.
The launch follows the agency’s expansion in MENA since opening its Dubai office in 2024. The Romans said it had won six Agency of the Year titles in less than two years and built a client portfolio including Porsche, Binance, Ethara, WaterWipes, Costa Coffee and SharkNinja.
Lipscombe said the agency was accepting briefs and looking to recruit talent for the division.
