Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 18, 2025--

Elevate, a global, integrated agency network committed to helping properties forge deeper connections with their audiences to unlock growth, today announced the strategic acquisitions of Downstream and GA. Together, the combination brings Elevate Creative to more than 250 designers, technologists, and strategists worldwide, operating from studios across North America, Europe, and Asia, and serving more than 400 combined clients globally. These acquisitions mark a bold step forward in the evolution of Elevate Creative, uniting three world-class studios to create a fully integrated design group that dissolves the traditional boundaries within the built environment between interior architecture, immersive technology, and experiential design.

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Media may CLICK HERE to download a curated gallery of creative work from Elevate Creative and its newly acquired studios, Downstream, and GA.

Chris Allphin has been appointed President of Elevate Creative and will lead the merger of these groups into a unified studio under one banner. Drew Bryant will continue to serve as Elevate’s Chief Creative Officer. This combination brings together Elevate Creative’s leadership in sports, culture, and fan-driven storytelling with Downstream’s expertise in immersive environments and GA’s legacy of refined global hospitality design. The newly integrated studio will provide clients with end-to-end capabilities to shape how people experience physical spaces and interact with brand narratives across various environments, including sports, corporate, retail, and hospitality sectors. Exceptional hospitality design spans across industries and geographies, and Elevate is now positioned to set benchmarks for world-class experiences across sporting, hotel, and commercial spaces.

"Individually, Downstream and GA are already operating at the top of their game. By joining Elevate and fusing them into one entity, we are creating a force that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere in the market. With this expansion, Elevate Creative now operates at a scale unmatched in the global sports industry, while significantly broadening our remit beyond sports into brand, corporate, and luxury hospitality environments worldwide,” said Al Guido, Elevate Chairman and CEO.

Downstream, a globally respected experiential design studio with expertise in digital and branded technology experiences, builds environments that fuse storytelling and interactive technology for the world’s most ambitious brands. Since 1988, Downstream has delivered hundreds of projects that integrate interactive digital and physical experiences in global tech hubs, flagship retailers, major sports venues, educational spaces, and other public and private destination environments worldwide. Their roster of clients includes several Fortune 100 organizations and prominent sports properties, such as Zoom, Google, Nike, Microsoft, the University of Oregon, and the Las Vegas Raiders. Downstream operates from studios in Portland and Amsterdam, bringing deep expertise in immersive technology and digital storytelling to Elevate Creative’s global platform.

GA boasts over four decades of award-winning experience in luxury hospitality design. Over the past 40 years, they have partnered with the world’s most respected brands to deliver iconic hotel, resort, and lifestyle environments across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Clients include Atlantis the Royal, 1 Hotel, Park Hyatt, Harrods, Four Seasons, W Hotels, and Shangri-La. GA’s team of over 100 designers and strategists operates from studios in London, Budapest, Kuala Lumpur, and Shanghai, delivering culturally resonant design on a truly global scale.

“We’re doubling down on our investment in the experience economy,” said Chris Allphin, President of Elevate Creative. “With these strategic acquisitions, Elevate is expanding its capabilities to include immersive digital and luxury experiences for global brands, Fortune 500 companies, and the world’s leading hotels. With this fully integrated offering, Elevate can serve clients at every stage of the experience lifecycle, from strategy and data-driven insights to design and execution. I am thrilled to partner with Sean O’Connor, Drew Bryant, and Katayon Ghassemi to bring this vision to life.”

“Today, more than ever, experience is the center of how people connect with places and with each other,” said Drew Bryant, Chief Creative Officer of Elevate Creative. “By bringing Downstream and GA into the Elevate Creative family, we are redefining what it means to design experiences within the built environment. We’re removing silos between interior design, digital experience, and immersive storytelling to create transformative spaces that speak to the heart and imagination of every fan, guest, and visitor.”

The acquisitions significantly broaden Elevate’s global footprint, with creative operations now spanning Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, New York, London, Amsterdam, Budapest, Kuala Lumpur, and Shanghai.

Inner Circle Sports served as the financial advisor to Elevate in this transaction.

About Elevate

Elevate is a global, integrated agency network committed to helping properties, brands, and universities forge deeper connections with their audiences to unlock growth. Serving more than 1,000 clients across sports, entertainment, consumer products, retail, and more, Elevate transforms followers into devoted fans. An agency rooted in innovation, Elevate leverages EPIC, its proprietary intelligence platform powered by advanced data and AI technology. Founded in 2018, Elevate partners with clients worldwide from offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. For more information, visit www.oneelevate.com.

Elevate Creative has delivered work across more than 200 teams, colleges, and properties. The firm’s portfolio includes premier experience centers for the Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the US Open, the Calgary Flames, Chicago Fire FC, Sacramento Republic FC, and the Tennessee Titans. Elevate Creative has led stadium experiential branding for marquee franchises, including the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Capitals, and Anaheim Ducks, as well as major global events such as the NBA, MLB, and NHL All-Star Games and the College Football Playoff National Championship. With a reputation for blending storytelling, brand, and interior design, Elevate Creative helps sports properties reimagine spaces that inspire fans, elevate brands, and strengthen communities.

About Downstream

Downstream is a global experiential design studio that fuses storytelling, interactive technology, and spatial design to create compelling environments. For over 35 years, Downstream has delivered projects for Fortune 500 clients and major sports properties, reshaping how brands connect with their audiences in the physical world.

About GA

GA is an award-winning design studio specialising in luxury hospitality environments, operating from studios in London, Kuala Lumpur, Budapest, and Shanghai. For over 40 years, GA has partnered with leading hospitality operators, brands, and developers to deliver culturally resonant destinations around the world.

GA believes the most meaningful spaces aren’t created at surface level but are underpinned by rich, layered narratives. Through close examination of culture, community, and context, the studio creates environments that feel at once intuitive and unexpected.

From first sketch to final detail, GA’s process is defined by curiosity and collaboration. The result is design that resonates, endures, and feels genuinely connected to the people and places it enriches.

Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

Elevate Expands Global Creative Leadership with Strategic Acquisitions of Downstream and GA to Deliver Creative Experiences across Brands, Sports, and Luxury Hospitality

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department sued three states and the District of Columbia on Thursday for not turning over requested voter information to the Trump administration.

The latest lawsuits were filed against Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia and the District of Columbia. The Justice Department has now filed 22 lawsuits seeking voter information as part of its effort to collect detailed voting data and other election information across the country.

“We shared our nation-leading list maintenance practices and public voter roll data with the DOJ December 8 at their request, and we look forward to working together to eliminate the federal barriers that prevent even cleaner voter rolls,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement. “Hardworking Georgians can rest easy knowing this data was shared strictly in accordance with state law that protect voters’ privacy.”

The latest round comes one week after the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted against the Justice Department's request for the data. Both Republican and Democratic commissioners voiced concerns about the request last week, saying it would be illegal under Wisconsin law to provide the voter roll information that includes the full names, dates of birth, residential addresses and driver’s license numbers of voters.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said the Justice Department should be “serving the interests of the American people, not chasing conspiracy theories.”

"As has been demonstrated over and over and over again, Wisconsin’s elections are fair and conducted with integrity,” Kaul said.

The Illinois State Board of Elections declined to comment.

An Associated Press tally found that the Justice Department has asked at least 26 states for voter registration rolls in recent months, and in many cases asked states for information on how they maintain their voter rolls. Other states being sued by the Justice Department include California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Last week, the Justice Department sued Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Nevada.

The Justice Department said 10 states are either in full compliance or working toward it.

The Trump administration has characterized the lawsuits as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, and the Justice Department says the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide the voter lists and information about ineligible voters.

The lawsuits have raised concerns among some Democratic officials and others who question exactly how the data will be used, and whether the department will follow privacy laws to protect the information. Some of the data sought includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

“The law is clear: states need to give us this information, so we can do our duty to protect American citizens from vote dilution,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. “Today’s filings show that regardless of which party is in charge of a particular state, the Department of Justice will firmly stand on the side of election integrity and transparency.”

Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, contributed to this report.

FILE - Election workers process ballots for the 2024 General Election, Nov. 5, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

FILE - A voter leaves Albion Town hall after casting their ballot on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, in Albion, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)