I was contacted recently by someone who was interested in getting to know more about the games industry in Ireland. The person in question was Russell Murphy and the company, BSI Entertainment Ltd. Why were they contacting gd.ie? Well, their business is matchmaking rights owners and sponsors to entertainment producers. I went along to find out more.

BSI Entertainment Ltd (BSI) is an international sports marketing and entertainment company founded in London in 1997. In the last 10 years BSI has represented a wide range of international rights holders, sponsors and licensors in sports premier echelons; Formula 1, MotoGP, World Rally Championship, Rugby, Football and Golf for whom they have developed sponsorship and licensing campaigns. They opened an Irish office in January 2008.

Over the past 6 years, BSI has developed a successful licensing division that leverages a global network and contact base in the sport and entertainment arena. They have worked with some of the largest video game publishers and developers (e.g. EA, THQ, Eidos, Acclaim and Disney) and built a reputation for negotiating licenses with rights owners, Federations, regulatory bodies and multinational companies in the sporting and entertainment categories.

BSI works with all the leading car manufacturers, Motorsport, Rugby, Football, Golf and Tennis federations to licence their Intellectual Property (IP) for inclusion in video games. Key titles they have worked on include Juiced Racing, EA, F1 Racing Series, Eidos, Football Championship Manager series, Acclaim, World Championship Rugby.

Interestingly from our perspective BSI also assists in the development of new game content and the creation of exclusive intellectual property for leading publishers. BSI is always seeking to work with owners of new IP that has been broadcast and would be suitable for the gaming sector.

BSI is located in the House of Enterprise building at 20 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin 2. You can call them on +353 (1) 6432313 or email Russell; russellml@bsientertainment.com