Press Box PR Review
6.6/10An earned-media and digital-PR agency whose 47-person bench is hired out of the national newsrooms, founded by an ex-Ladbrokes press chief and chaired since January 2026 by ex-Playtech CCO John Pettit. It ran the Media HQ for SBC at the 2024 Lisbon summit, and pricing is on request.
Our read
- The bench is the product: 47 staff hired on a former-journalist policy, national-title CVs including ex-Times rugby correspondent Mark Souster, a founder with seven years running the Ladbrokes press office, and ex-Playtech CCO John Pettit moving from 2020 investor to Executive Chairman in January 2026.
- Press Box ran the Media Headquarters at SBC Summit Lisbon 2024 as SBC's exclusive media-zone partner, staffed by its own senior team.
- Earned media is wired to search, not clippings, with link building sold as its own product line and the digital-PR-for-SEO framing in place since the 2020 launch.
- Eight years in business, a multi-million-pound operation, and a place on the EGR B2B 2026 PR Firm of the Year shortlist.
- Gaming is the flagship sector of a multi-sector book rather than the whole business, with 26 of the 47 staff on the Sport desk and three on B2B, so a gaming retainer buys a specialist desk inside a generalist shop.
- No paid media arm and no in-house design or video production, so a buyer that wants performance UA or heavy creative production alongside the PR needs a second vendor.
- Pricing is on request, so the budget conversation starts at proposal stage.
An operator, supplier, or affiliate brand that wants earned coverage from a former-journalist team with links and search movement counted as the outcome, especially for launches, sponsorship amplification, and UK and European press-office retainers.
A buyer that wants paid media or in-house creative production under the same roof, or insists on a gaming-only shop.
Markets & licensing
Press Box PR works UK-first. Betfred, Genting, Betfair Casino, OLBG, and Bet St George are UK briefs, DAZN Bet was a European market launch, and Stake a LATAM brand-awareness campaign for an offshore-facing brand, with affiliates served globally alongside the operator work.
Client work is UK and European with one LATAM campaign. Nothing blocks a US brief, and a US operator or supplier buys the earned-media method and a bench hired out of UK national newsrooms.
The London and Manchester offices are here, and so is most of the client work. The founder's Ladbrokes press-office years and the Westminster media experience travel well for a UK-licensed operator's regulatory and responsible gambling comms.
- SBC Summit Media HQ partnershipSBC
- Exclusive media-zone partner for SBC Summit Lisbon 2024, with Press Box senior leaders managing the Media Headquarters plus a pre-show press briefing
- EGR B2B Awards shortlistEGR
- PR Firm of the Year 2026 shortlist, alongside Square in the Air and PRace · The win went to Square in the Air at the June 2026 ceremony
Clients, partners & engagement
Agencies are judged on the accounts they already run and the platforms and registries they work through. The delivery model shows how the team is staffed day to day.
Work runs through sector desks staffed on a former-journalist hiring policy. Engagements run as retained press office, project campaigns, and launch work, with earned coverage built to convert into search visibility.
Proposal-first. It starts with an intro call and a brief.
Services & sectors
Earned media built by former journalists and pointed at search: digital PR campaigns and link building as the core product, retained press office with reactive commentary and crisis comms around it, and a brand-activation arm that runs stunts, sponsorship amplification, kit launches, and events, sold through sector desks where betting and gaming is the flagship.
Link Building
Former journalists earning coverage that converts to search performance, with link building sold as a line of its own, not folded quietly into PR retainers.
- A digital PR agency using its former-journalist standpoint to help brands capture more traffic through search
- Betting and gaming work spans link building, digital PR, brand activation, content marketing, and reputation management
- Digital PR for SEO and responsible gambling communications have been part of the offer since the June 2020 launch
- Works with sportsbook and iGaming operators as well as affiliates globally
- Campaign shapes run from market launches (DAZN Bet in Europe) to brand awareness among LATAM bettors (Stake)
Press Office
Retained press office, reactive news and expert commentary, product launches, and reputation management including crisis comms, staffed by a bench hired on a former-journalist policy with national-title CVs.
- Retained press-office work with reactive news and expert commentary desks
- Reputation management includes crisis communications
- The founder ran the Ladbrokes press office for seven years, including Ladbrokes News and the operator's Westminster media engagements
- The launch team drew from The Sun, the Independent, the Mirror, the Express and Daily Star, BT Sport, and Amazon, and the current roster includes ex-Times rugby correspondent Mark Souster
- A dedicated gaming content specialist covers casino, bingo, and poker (Kayley Cornelius, Content Marketing and PR Manager)
Brand Activation
Creative stunts, sponsorship and partnership amplification, influencer work, kit launches, and events, the arm that turns a rights deal or a launch into earned coverage.
- Sponsorship amplification includes Betfred's headline sponsorship
- Stunt-led campaigns include Midnite's Built Different kit launch, an April Fools activation, and the Blades Salon partnership, plus a Betfair Casino differentiation campaign with a stunt sponsorship activation
- Kit-launch pedigree beyond gambling: British and Irish Lions and Ireland Rugby, plus the Wolves FC 25/26 kit
- OLBG's Euros campaign and Genting's depositing-player acquisition work
- Influencer partnerships plus events and experiences round out the activation work
The history
Longevity in this industry usually comes with a change of owner somewhere in it.
Alex Donohue founded Good Man Communications Ltd in July 2018 after seven years in the Ladbrokes press office, where he ran Ladbrokes News and fronted the operator's Westminster media engagements, followed by a spell heading ODDSbible at LADbible. The agency's full public launch came in June 2020, with a launch team hired from The Sun, the Independent, the Mirror, the Express and Daily Star, BT Sport, and Amazon. John Pettit, ex-Playtech Chief Commercial Officer with more than 20 years in gambling, sports betting, and tech, invested in 2020, advised as a non-executive, and became Executive Chairman in January 2026, by which point the firm was a multi-million-pound operation serving operators, suppliers, and fintech businesses. Today it runs 47 staff across London and Manchester.
Brands & clients on the platform
Corporate
Leadership
Milestones
- 2018
Alex Donohue founds Good Man Communications Ltd in July 2018 and runs it as Managing Director from the start, after seven years in the Ladbrokes press office and a run heading ODDSbible.
- 2020
The agency launches publicly in June, hires its launch team from national newsrooms, and takes investment from ex-Playtech CCO John Pettit.
- 2024
SBC names Press Box PR its exclusive media-zone partner, with the agency's senior leaders running the Media Headquarters at SBC Summit Lisbon 2024 plus a pre-show press briefing.
- 2026
John Pettit is formally appointed Executive Chairman on January 19, 2026 after six years as investor and advisor, and the agency makes the EGR B2B Awards PR Firm of the Year shortlist, with the win going to Square in the Air on June 3, 2026.
Where they're pushing next
- European operator launch work, as with DAZN Bet
- LATAM brand campaigns, as with Stake
- Supplier-side B2B comms under the dedicated B2B desk
Awards & recognition
Longevity and ownership
Switching vendors is expensive, which makes the company's staying power part of the purchase. What the contract says about your data decides how expensive an exit gets.
Press Box PR vs alternatives
Most buyers in this market shortlist three or four vendors long before they take a single sales call.
| Attribute | Press Box PR | Square in the Air | GameOn | ActiveWin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 | 2006 | 2007 | 2013 |
| Team | 47+ | 50+ | 20+ | — |
| Pricing | On request | On request | On request | On request |
| Market posture | Mixed | Licensed only | Licensed only | Licensed only |
| Minimum engagement | On request | — | — | — |
Pricing & terms
Press Box PR quotes pricing per project. Here's how the model and the terms are structured.
The engagement
Path to launch
- 1Send a brief through the site's contact channel and book the intro call.
- 2The proposal comes back in one of three shapes: a retained press office, a project campaign, or a launch engagement
- 3Delivery sits with the sector desk that fits the brief, betting and gaming for operator and affiliate work, B2B for supplier-side comms
- 4Set the reporting cadence on coverage, links, and search movement against the campaign goals
Support & account management
You can't demo service before you sign, so what a vendor puts in writing is the only floor you can hold it to.