The history of Sporteo starts off with the end of a career. After playing his final match as a professional footballer in 1988 Josef Lenhart from Austria sets up his company, Lenhart Sportmanagement AG, in Eschen, Liechtenstein. In his role as a consultant for players, clubs and sponsors he starts to score a string of successes. First at regional then international levels before he finally makes his international breakthrough.

By 1998 Lenhart Sportmanagement AG has become the largest marketing partner in Austrian football, is successfully handling international transfers of players and is also able to position itself successfully outside the world of football through its management of individual sportsmen and women, the purchase and sale of TV rights, and the planning and staging of sports events. In 2000 it enters a strategic alliance with Jürgen Werner Sportmanagement GesmbH, a business set up in 1998: the two companies work together as StarFactory International AG until 2005. In 2007 the full-service sports agency specialised in all-round sports management and integrated sports communications is rechristened Sporteo, International Sportmanagement AG and moves to its new home in Schaan, Liechtenstein.