Want to put your company name on a sports team? Sponsor an event to reach your target audience and market? Make your mark on the world through sports? The Mana Global Sports and Entertainment Group makes it happen through an unparalleled network and credentials in endurance sports innovation as the prime turnkey solution for clients entering the wide world of sports and entertainment.
Building brands, campaigns, and experiences people connect and care about is a passion at Mana Global. Led by CEO and two-time Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack alongside COO Wojciech Kruczynski, the Mana team is responsible for some of the most important innovations in triathlon including Super League Triathlon, the Bahrain Endurance 13 Team – and now the creation and delivery of the Pho3nix Sub7 and Pho3nix Sub8 Project, Powered by Zwift.
Working hand-in-hand with the Pho3nix Foundation, Mana Global saw the development of the Sub7 and Sub8 through from a casual dinner conversation three years ago to the behemoth endeavor it has become.
Phoenix Foundation founder Sebastian Kulczyk says, “Without their help we wouldn’t be able to organise such a splendid event. And they are also the driving force behind the Phoenix Foundation. Whatever crazy ideas you’re going to see in the coming years, that’s probably going to be the three of us sitting somewhere and thinking, ‘What else can we do? There’s something crazy out there that we can try. And we’ll try to put [it] in motion, [bring it to] life.”
McCormack recalls the genesis of the project. “It was a crazy idea that we came up with about two and a half years ago in Bahrain. And I was really inspired at the table that day, with Daniela Ryf, who was a current world champion. There was Jan Frodeno [who] was a world champion. There was Alistair Brownlee. There was Mo Farah. There was Mark Cavendish. And we were talking about originally breaking eight hours for the women. Was it possible? And the boys put their hands up and said, what about seven hours?… I think we were all moved by the fact that Mo Farah, who’s one of the greatest runners of all time, and Mark Cavendish suddenly got engaged in this conversation around our sport.
“We sat back and went, ‘Wow, you know, this is pretty cool.’ And Sebastian put his hand up and said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s have a crack if you want do it.’”
Kruczynski says, “This event expressed the beliefs that we have in our company: Defy The Impossible… From just the vision and an idea, we came through the three years and we are sitting here two days from actually doing something big in history.”
The company has also recently entered the athlete management space, drawing on firm integrity and decades of experience to represent clients such as Ironman vice world champion Kat Matthews, European champion Joe Skipper, Rio Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman, and three-time paratriathlon world champion Lauren Parker. Two of these athletes are racing on Sunday.
Mana Global was launched by McCormack and Kruczyński in 2018 through the merging of their logistically diverse companies operating in the sport and entertainment space.
McCormack is one of the most financially successful triathletes of all time; his innate ability to build a brand and elicit huge partnership deals within the sport of triathlon made his move into the corporate world an impactful transition from his athletic career. Under his watch, multimillion-dollar sports resort development Thanyapura launched and was awarded Asia’s Premier Sports Resort for four consecutive years, was a preferred Olympic training base for multiple nations, and became the benchmark for sport and wellness in Southeast Asia. After stepping down from his operational role, McCormack founded the MINC Group to consult in the space of sports, wellness, and logistics.
Kruczyński is the director of Endu Sport, founder and organiser of the Enea Tri Tour, the largest series of triathlon events in Poland. Along with cycling events all over the country, Kruczyński is also heavily involved in the entertainment space delivering concerts and TV production for events and clients all over Poland and into the UK.
He worked directly with McCormack on the delivery of the biggest triathlon event in Poland, growing the Poznan Triathlon Festival from an event of 1,200 competitors to more than 10,000 athletes competing over the weekend under the Challenge Triathlon brand and later hosting the European Championships for triathlon and multisport.
This affinity and alignment saw these two entrepreneurs merge companies after delivering the Super League Triathlon series in 2018 and building the biggest professional triathlon league in the world. The merger expanded the range and diversity of services and networks on offer.
The new entity takes its name from ‘Mana’, a potent concept in the Polynesian and Maori cultures. It is honour, respect, reputation, and power conferred through excellence of service and association. Mana Global is committed to delivering the best in sports and entertainment management, with pride, boldness, and authority.
Mana Global continues to grow, now with multiple global offices, a highly experienced team and many exciting client projects in the works.
Kruczynski states, “With Pho3nix [Foundation] we are able to develop worldwide projects: Pho3nix Kids events organised around the world, education program programs to inspire young generations. Also the mentoring programs such as Pho3nix Future camps, working with the Pho3nix Athletes Program to support athletes around the world so they can actually do what they want to do. And the dreams become actually real.
“We also started operation and partnership with Araya International [organising] friendly football matches for Brazil and Argentina. The last few years have been very busy. We are aiming very high. We’re looking at the sky and thinking there’s no limits, and this is who we are and what we do.”
