Press Box PR Review
6.6/10The full-service lane's former-journalist shop: 47 named staff hired out of national newsrooms, a founder from the Ladbrokes press office, ex-Playtech CCO John Pettit as Executive Chairman since 2026-01-19, and SBC's own 2024 Media HQ partnership as the hard external anchor, selling earned media that converts to search visibility with link building as a named product line, on a betting and gaming case library from Stake to DAZN Bet that sits at the agency-published class and pricing that stays on request.
Our read
One organizer-side anchor, SBC's 2024 Media HQ partnership, over a broad but agency-published betting and gaming case library whose single quantified claim, 1 million views in payments media, belongs to PaySecure.
Betting and gaming is the flagship sector with its own sector page, a dedicated desk, and a named gaming content specialist, on a book that also runs sport, finance, consumer, and retail and hospitality.
Deep on earned media and its search conversion, digital PR, link building, content, activation, and reputation management, with no paid media and no design or video production arm.
47 named former-journalist staff including ex-Times correspondent Mark Souster, a founder with seven Ladbrokes press-office years, and ex-Playtech CCO John Pettit as Executive Chairman since 2026-01-19, on an eight-year entity with unbroken founder continuity.
The EGR B2B 2026 PR Firm of the Year shortlist plus running the SBC Summit 2024 Media HQ, both organizer-side, on UK-skewed own-domain visibility (Semrush, July 2026).
The entity is disclosed on site, all 47 staff are named, and job ads publish salary bands, against no pricing anywhere, the PR-lane norm.
Methodology. Our own score, a weighted average of six dimensions, tilted toward case evidence and gaming specialization. Weighted on the full-service agency scale, where case evidence leads at 0.20, gaming specialization and service depth carry 0.18 each, team and track record 0.16, and market presence and transparency 0.14 each. That mix prices the agency-published case class and the multi-sector book down while letting the lane's strongest team score pull the overall to the mid 6s. Read the full methodology
- The bench is the product: 47 individually named 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 on 2026-01-19.
- The strongest external fact in the lane's PR corner: SBC itself announced Press Box as its exclusive media-zone partner, with the agency's senior leaders running the Media Headquarters at SBC Summit Lisbon 2024, the industry's biggest European show.
- Earned media is wired to search, not clippings, with link building sold as a named product line and the digital-PR-for-SEO framing in place since the 2020 launch, a genuinely different proposition from classic betting PR retainers.
- A stable firm with an external record: an eight-year entity with current Companies House filings, an EGR B2B 2026 PR Firm of the Year shortlist, dated trade coverage from the 2020 launch through the 2026 chairman appointment, and Bdaily describing a multi-million-pound operation.
- The betting and gaming case library, Stake's LATAM campaign, the DAZN Bet launch, Betfred, Genting, Betfair Casino, and the Slingo sector-page roster included, is entirely agency-published, so there are no client-side or platform-published names to check the work against before a call.
- Gaming is the flagship sector of a multi-sector book rather than the whole business, with 26 of the 47 named 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.
- Commercially opaque even by PR-lane standards: no retainers, minimums, or pricing appear anywhere, and the only published commercial artifact is salary bands in job ads, so budget conversations start from zero.
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 needs a client willing to describe the work before signing, wants paid media or in-house creative production under the same roof, or insists on a gaming-only shop.
Markets & licensing
Nothing is licensable in this category, so the register question becomes which external rows the agency carries, and Press Box PR carries three hard ones. The legal entity, Good Man Communications Ltd, sits on Companies House as number 11454923, active since 2018-07-09 with accounts filed to 2025-07-31 and a confirmation statement dated 2026-07-08. SBC itself announced the agency as its exclusive media-zone partner for SBC Summit Lisbon 2024, with Press Box senior leaders running the Media Headquarters and a pre-show press briefing. And the EGR B2B Awards 2026 shortlist page lists it for PR Firm of the Year. The client work is UK-first with European launch and LATAM campaign engagements, and the posture is a regulated-market lean with offshore-facing names like Stake in the published case list, a fact of the work rather than a judgment.
The published case record is UK and European with one LATAM campaign, and no named US engagement appears in it. Nothing blocks a US brief, there is simply no anchor to point at, so a US operator or supplier is buying the earned-media method and the former-journalist bench, with no proven US press book behind it.
The UK is where everything sits: the Companies House entity, the London and Manchester offices, the UK-skewed own-domain visibility, and the bulk of the case library, Betfred, Genting, Betfair Casino, OLBG, and Bet St George among the names. 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.
- Companies House registrationUnited Kingdom
- Good Man Communications Ltd, company 11454923, private limited, SIC 70210 public relations and communications activities, incorporated 2018-07-09, registered office in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire · Active, accounts filed to 2025-07-31, confirmation statement 2026-07-08 (2026-07-16)
- SBC Summit Media HQ partnershipOrganizer-side (SBC)
- Exclusive media-zone partner for SBC Summit Lisbon 2024, with Press Box senior leaders managing the Media Headquarters plus a pre-show press briefing · SBC's own announcement, published 2024-09-12, with SBC Marketing Director Dennis Algreen quoted
- EGR B2B Awards shortlistOrganizer-side (EGR)
- PR Firm of the Year 2026 shortlist, alongside Square in the Air and PRace · Organizer shortlist page, 2026-07-16, with the win going to Square in the Air (ceremony 2026-06-03)
Licensing tier: It splits cleanly: the entity and the organizer rows come from outside, while every named client campaign comes from the agency's own case library. A buyer checking before a call can check the firm, its filings, and its industry standing, and should treat the campaign write-ups as the agenda for reference requests.
No organizer page carries a 2026 media-partner row, so the partnership stands as a 2024 fact.
No restricted-market posture applies to a PR agency, and the agency publishes none (2026).
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, Leadership, B2B, Consumer, Sport, and Retail and Hospitality, staffed on a former-journalist hiring policy. Betting and gaming is the flagship sector served by a dedicated desk, and the engagement shapes visible from the case record are retained press office, project campaigns, and launch work, with earned coverage built to convert into search visibility.
Proposal-first. No onboarding timeline or minimum is published, and the entry point is an intro call and brief (2026-07-16).
Services & proof
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.
Digital PR & Link Building
The proposition the agency leads with: former journalists earning coverage that converts to search performance, with link building sold as a named product line on the betting and gaming sector page rather than folded quietly into PR retainers.
- A digital PR agency using its former-journalist standpoint to help brands capture more traffic through search (Jul 2026)
- Link building is a named product line on the betting and gaming sector page, alongside digital PR, brand activation, content marketing, and reputation management
- The search framing is original, not retrofitted: the 2020 launch coverage already described digital PR for SEO and responsible gambling communications (2020-06-25)
- The sector page describes a trusted partner to multiple sportsbook and iGaming operators as well as affiliates globally
- Campaign shapes in the case library run from market launches (DAZN Bet in Europe) to brand awareness among LATAM bettors (Stake)
Press Office & Reputation Management
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 & Sponsorships
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 work in the case library 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
- Named briefs with substance behind them: OLBG's Euros campaign and Genting's depositing-player acquisition work
- Influencer partnerships and events and experiences round out the activation list
The history
Sales decks get rewritten for every deal. A dated record doesn't.
Alex Donohue incorporated 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 gambling trade coverage, and 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 was formally appointed Executive Chairman on 2026-01-19, with Bdaily describing the firm at that point as a multi-million-pound operation serving operators, suppliers, and fintech businesses. Today it runs 47 named staff across London and Manchester with betting and gaming as the flagship sector of a multi-sector earned-media book.
Brands & clients on the platform
Corporate
Leadership
Milestones
- 2018
Good Man Communications Ltd incorporates on 2018-07-09, and Alex Donohue's managing-director role dates from the same month after seven years in the Ladbrokes press office and a run heading ODDSbible.
- 2020
The agency launches publicly in June with gambling trade coverage, hires its launch team from national newsrooms, and takes investment from ex-Playtech CCO John Pettit.
- 2024
SBC announces Press Box PR as 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 (announcement 2024-09-12).
- 2026
John Pettit is formally appointed Executive Chairman on 2026-01-19 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 2026-06-03.
Where they're pushing next
- European operator launch work, the DAZN Bet class of engagement
- LATAM brand campaigns, the Stake class of work
- 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
No two vendors describe themselves the same way, which makes their own claims hard to line up. Every name here answers the same fields, so you can see where this one sits against the closest alternatives.
| 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 | None published | None published | None published |
The take: Square in the Air is the head-on comparison: a single-vertical betting and gaming integrated marketing house with in-house creative, design, and video production, which took the EGR B2B 2026 PR Firm of the Year win both agencies were shortlisted for. Press Box answers with a multi-sector former-journalist bench, a search-outcome product with link building sold as its own line, and the SBC 2024 Media HQ partnership as its organizer anchor. GameOn and ActiveWin fill other corners of the full-service lane, so pick Press Box when the brief is earned coverage that feeds search, run by ex-newsroom staff, and the trade-off of a generalist book around a flagship gaming desk is acceptable.
Pricing & terms
Press Box PR quotes pricing per project. Here's how the model and the terms are structured.
The engagement
Nothing about price is published: no retainers, no minimums, no packages (Jul 2026), the PR-lane norm. The engagement models visible from the case shapes are retained press office, project campaigns, and launch engagements. The one commercial artifact anywhere is that job ads publish salary bands, a Media Relations Executive role in Sport listed at 26,000 to 28,000 pounds, which reads as a staffing signal rather than a rate card. Plan for a proposal-first process off an intro call and brief, and anchor the scope to coverage, links, and search movement so the search-outcome positioning is contractual rather than implied.
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.
Frequently asked
The things operators actually ask before signing.
Is Press Box PR a gaming specialist agency?+
Betting and gaming is the flagship sector, not the whole book. The agency runs a dedicated betting and gaming sector page describing itself as a trusted partner to multiple sportsbook and iGaming operators as well as affiliates, staffs a gaming desk with a named content specialist covering casino, bingo, and poker, and its founder spent seven years running the Ladbrokes press office. Around that sit sport, finance, consumer lifestyle, B2B, and retail and hospitality desks, with Sport the largest at 26 of the 47 named staff. A gaming buyer gets a specialist desk inside a multi-sector shop.
How does Press Box PR differ from Square in the Air?+
They collide on UK betting PR retainers and diverge everywhere else. Press Box is a multi-sector earned-media and digital-PR shop that sells search outcomes, with link building as a named product line and gaming as its flagship sector among six. Square in the Air is a single-vertical betting and gaming integrated marketing house with in-house creative, design, and video production. Both made the EGR B2B 2026 PR Firm of the Year shortlist, and Square in the Air took the win at the 2026-06-03 ceremony. The choice is a search-wired former-journalist bench versus a gaming-only integrated house.
Which betting and gaming brands has Press Box PR worked with, and how solid is the evidence?+
The case library names Midnite, DAZN Bet (European launch), Stake (LATAM brand awareness), Betfred, Betfair Casino, Bet St George, OLBG, Genting, and The Health Lottery, with Betfair, Slingo, OLBG, and Sporting Life on the sector-page roster. All of it is agency-published. The rows that come from outside are different in kind: SBC itself announced the agency running the Media HQ at SBC Summit 2024, and LBBonline covered the Sussex Cricket partnership. Treat the case write-ups as the agenda for reference calls, not as settled results.
Who owns and runs Press Box PR?+
The legal entity is Good Man Communications Ltd, Companies House 11454923, incorporated 2018-07-09 and active with current filings. Founder Alex Donohue has been Managing Director throughout, after seven years in the Ladbrokes press office and a spell heading ODDSbible at LADbible. John Pettit, the former Playtech Chief Commercial Officer, invested in 2020, advised as a non-executive, and was formally appointed Executive Chairman on 2026-01-19. The senior team under them includes Jack Mansell (Managing Director, Sport), James McMath (Head of B2B), and Katie Storey (Director, Consumer).
What does Press Box PR cost?+
Pricing is on request, the PR-lane norm, with no retainers, minimums, or packages published as of 2026-07-16. The engagement shapes visible from the case record are retained press office, project campaigns, and launch work. The one commercial artifact the agency does publish is salary bands in its job ads, a Media Relations Executive role in Sport listed at 26,000 to 28,000 pounds, which says more about how it staffs than what it charges. Plan on a proposal-first process starting from an intro call and brief.