CAA now manages contracts that could be worth nearly $1 billion in commissions, leading a group of juggernaut agencies that are pulling away from their smaller rivals.
When powerhouse talent agency CAA completed its $750 million deal for rival ICM Partners in June, it was the biggest merger to hit Hollywood representation in over a decade. Its impact on the sports world was seismic as well, bringing together two of the largest soccer talent divisions and combining rosters of stars like Manchester City’s Jack Grealish and Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min.
But that soccer shakeup was possible only because of two previous combinations: CAA’s 2019 acquisition of Base Soccer Agency and ICM’s 2020 deal for Stellar Group, then the world’s largest soccer agency, according to Forbes estimates. In fact, those mergers are only two in a long list that has redrawn the sports talent representation landscape in recent years. CAA, for instance, has gobbled up agencies including football practice Five Star Athlete Management and the coaching-focused Kauffman Sports Management Group while competitors such as Excel Sports Management, Octagon, Wasserman and WME Sports have gone on shopping sprees of their own, snapping up smaller businesses in baseball, basketball, coaching, golf, hockey, soccer and women’s sports.
The result? In an already top-heavy industry, the handful of behemoths have a lot more weight to throw around.
Forbes estimates that CAA now manages over $14 billion in active playing contracts as well as $3.8 billion in non-playing contracts for its individual sports clients, translating to commissions of up to $971 million for its agents across the life of those contracts. That cements its place as the most valuable sports agency in Forbes’ ranking, a spot it has held every year since Forbes began publishing the list in 2013. Relative to the previous edition, in 2020—which did not track endorsements or other sorts of non-playing contracts, such as coaching and front-office deals—the value of CAA’s playing contracts under management is up 58%, and its maximum commissions on those contracts are up 61%.
Wasserman ($733 million in maximum commissions), WME Sports ($588 million), Excel Sports Management ($499 million) and Octagon ($212 million) round out the top five of the list, which this year includes only agencies with a substantial presence in North America. In a sign of the growing split between the haves and the have-nots, the top five agencies’ maximum commission figures add up to $3 billion, more than double the total for the next 15 agencies in the ranking.
Perhaps no agency embodies the consolidation sweeping through the industry better than WME Sports, which ranked just 11th among North American-focused agencies in 2020. At the time, its talent representation business was largely limited to tennis and golf under the IMG banner, after the groups’ 2014 merger. But with support from parent Endeavor, whose expansive umbrella includes one of Hollywood’s traditional “big four” talent agencies as well as sports properties like UFC, WME Sports has built up a coaching representation division by luring agent Bret Just from CAA, folded in basketball agency BDA Sports Management and launched a baseball division by hiring agents Jim Murray and Michael Stival away from Excel Sports Management. In January, it brought on Joel Segal from Sportfive to join forces with former CAA agents Brian Ayrault and Ben Renzin, giving it one of football’s most star-studded client rosters.
“If you’re here with us now, your fingerprints are on the bricks that are building this thing,” Karen Brodkin, co-head of WME Sports, recalls telling her colleagues recently, adding of the agency’s transformation: “We made a really concerted decision that if we’re going to be true to this narrative that we want to be across our clients’ careers and businesses in a very holistic, long-view way, we need to get into business with them sooner. … And we did a lot of work over those years. A lot. I mean, I have the lack-of-sleep scars to show for it.”
In cases where sports agencies are expanding geographically, the trend has been for U.S.-based firms to jump to Europe or Asia, but one notable counterexample is Madrid’s You First, an international basketball and soccer agency that was founded in 2002 and picked up a significant NBA presence in 2020 by merging with Tandem Sports and Entertainment. You First had focused on organic growth before taking a more acquisition-based approach in the last five years or so, CEO and cofounder Juan Aísa says, noting that the agency has recently added offices in Austria, England, Germany and Spain.
“Size becomes quite important,” Aísa says, “because in order to compete, you need a better brand, you need more international resources, you need, for me most importantly, more services because there’s an arms race to service deeper.”
The top sports agencies of today pitch themselves as 360-degree outfits for their clients, able not just to negotiate a playing contract but to land an endorsement deal, or help create a company, or manage a social media presence. The divisions extend to TV and film, podcasting, live events, fashion, licensing—all the better to attract star athletes who want to leap from the playing field into the broader entertainment culture. Octagon president and founder Phil de Picciotto notes that his agency recently created a career development and transition division to guide its athlete clients after their playing careers end.
“If you go back 20 years, when an athlete was done practicing for the day—I don’t care what sport it was—they’d go home,” Excel Sports Management founder and president Jeff Schwartz says. “Athletes don’t go home anymore. The other 21 hours in the day is their time to also make money because of their ability to connect directly to fans.”
Boutique independent agencies argue that their mammoth competitors can’t offer the same level of personal service, that clients get lost amid the hundreds or even thousands on the roster. The larger agencies reject this criticism, noting that in many cases they have better agent-to-client ratios than their smaller competitors and that these small firms often need to team up with a larger agency when their clients want to venture outside of sports.
In any case, as player salaries climb and new avenues of business open up, there’s enough money to go around—and to keep fueling growth.
“I truly believe that as successful as the sports business has been in the last couple of decades, its greatest days are ahead of it,” says Howie Nuchow, co-head of CAA Sports. “The amount of different places the sports world is spreading into—whether it’s metaverse, whether it’s real estate development, whether it’s financial institutions being allowed to get more involved in ownership of teams—it is just leading people to be that much smarter, and to need that much more great advice to succeed.”
MOST VALUABLE SPORTS AGENCIES 2022
📍Los Angeles
Key Sports: Football, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball, Soccer
Key Clients: Devin Booker, Sidney Crosby, Jack Grealish, Trea Turner, T.J. Watt
Estimated Clients: 2,900
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $14.01 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $3.76 billion
Maximum Commissions: $971 million
CAA clients Sidney Crosby, Devin Booker and Jack Grealish.
Photos by Getty Images (from left): Mark Blinch/NHL, Stephen Maturen, Alex Livesey
📍Los Angeles
Key Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Football, Hockey, Golf, Olympics, Rugby, Action Sports
Key Clients: Nolan Arenado, Connor McDavid, Megan Rapinoe, Cameron Smith, Klay Thompson
Estimated Clients: 2,000
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $7.68 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.81 billion
Maximum Commissions: $733 million
Wasserman clients Nolan Arenado, Megan Rapinoe and Klay Thompson.
Photo by Getty Images (from left):G Fiume, Ira L. Black/Corbis, Ezra Shaw
📍Beverly Hills, California
Key Sports: Football, Basketball, Tennis, Golf
Key Clients: Novak Djokovic, Luka Doncic, Khalil Mack, Jordan Spieth, Serena Williams
Estimated Clients: 790
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $3.02 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $3.38 billion
Maximum Commissions: $588 million
WME Sports clients Jordan Spieth, Luka Doncic and Serena Williams.
Photos by Getty images, from left: Jared C. Tilton, Sarah Stier, Vaughn Ridley
📍New York City
Key Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Golf
Key Clients: Paul Goldschmidt, Nikola Jokic, Collin Morikawa, Arike Ogunbowale, Tiger Woods
Estimated Clients: 450
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $3.6 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $2.15 billion
Maximum Commissions: $499 million
Excel clients Arike Ogunbowale, Paul Goldschmidt and Collin Morikawa.
Photos by Getty images, from left: Ethan Miller, Michael Reaves, Stuart Franklin/R&A
📍 McLean, Virginia
Key Sports: Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Tennis, Soccer, Olympics
Key Clients: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Leon Draisaitl, Julio Rodriguez, Xander Schauffele, Tristan Wirfs
Estimated Clients: 710
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $2.51 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $730 million
Maximum Commissions: $212 million
Octagon clients Xander Schauffele, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tristan Wirfs.
Photos by Getty images, from left: Luke Walker/R&A, Stacy Revere, James Gilbert Photo
📍Newport Beach, California
Key Sports: Baseball
Key Clients: Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa, Bryce Harper, Max Scherzer
Estimated Clients: 110
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $3.83 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $80 million
Maximum Commissions: $206 million
📍New York City
Key Sports: Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Rugby, Cricket
Key Clients: LaMelo Ball, Saquon Barkley, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Marcus Stroman
Estimated Clients: 190
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $2.01 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $570 million
Maximum Commissions: $203 million
📍Laguna Hills, California
Key Sports: Football
Key Clients: Dak Prescott, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson
Estimated Clients: 240
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $4.41 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.01 billion
Maximum Commissions: $181 million
📍Los Angeles
Key Sports: Basketball, Football
Key Clients: LeBron James, Jalen Hurts, A’ja Wilson, Chase Young
Estimated Clients: 120
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $2.19 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $80 million
Maximum Commissions: $100 million
Klutch clients LeBron James, Jalen Hurts and A’Ja Wilson.
Photos by Getty images, from left: Harry How, Tim Nwachukwu, Kelly Defina
📍Madrid
Key Sports: Soccer, Basketball
Key Clients: Desmond Bane, Davide Calabria, Ja Morant, Alexia Putellas
Estimated Clients: 860
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $860 million
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $120 million
Maximum Commissions: $93 million
📍New York City
Key Sports: Golf, Football, Tennis
Key Clients: Bryson DeChambeau, Leylah Fernandez, Xavien Howard
Estimated Clients: 250
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $220 million
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $540 million
Maximum Commissions: $87 million
📍Mississauga, Ontario
Key Sports: Hockey
Key Clients: Erik Karlsson, Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos
Estimated Clients: 180
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.88 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $10 million
Maximum Commissions: $76 million
📍Irvine, California
Key Sports: Football, Baseball, Basketball
Key Clients: Ronald Acuña Jr., Cooper Kupp, Robert Williams III
Estimated Clients: 430
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.66 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $10 million
Maximum Commissions: $60 million
Rep 1 clients Ronald Acuna Jr., Cooper Kupp and Robert Williams III.
Photos by Getty images, from left: Kevin D. Liles, Katelyn Mulcahy, Maddie Meyer
📍Chicago
Key Sports: Basketball, Football
Key Clients: Bradley Beal, Gordon Hayward, Kyle Lowry
Estimated Clients: 340
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.02 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $220 million
Maximum Commissions: $55 million
📍Los Angeles
Key Sports: Baseball, Football, Basketball
Key Clients: Reggie Bullock, Jarvis Landry, Justin Verlander
Estimated Clients: 150
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.15 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $10 million
Maximum Commissions: $54 million
📍Los Angeles
Key Sports: Baseball
Key Clients: Manny Machado, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto
Estimated Clients: 40
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.04 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $10 million
Maximum Commissions: $53 million
📍 Brooklyn, New York
Key Sports: Baseball
Key Clients: Charlie Blackmon, Nathan Eovaldi, Logan Webb
Estimated Clients: 90
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $810 million
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $10 million
Maximum Commissions: $43 million
ACES clients Logan Webb, Charlie Blackmon and Nathan Eovaldi.
Photos by Getty images, from left: Michael Zagaris, Nuccio DiNuzzo, Kevin C. Cox
📍Miami Beach, Florida
Key Sports: Football, Baseball, Basketball
Key Clients: Shane Bieber, Tony Bradley, Tyreek Hill
Estimated Clients: 200
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $1.24 billion
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $20 million
Maximum Commissions: $41 million
📍Los Angeles
Key Sports: Football, Baseball, Basketball, Action Sports
Key Clients: Patrick Mahomes, Nigel Sylvester, Tua Tagovailoa
Estimated Clients: 170
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $810 million
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $60 million
Maximum Commissions: $38 million
📍Dallas
Key Sports: Golf
Key Clients: Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler
Estimated Clients: 40
Estimated Playing Contracts Under Management: $0
Estimated Non-Playing Contracts Under Management: $300 million
Maximum Commissions: $38 million
METHODOLOGY
Forbes’ 2022 list of the most valuable sports agencies includes agencies with a substantial presence in North America, ranked by an estimate of the maximum commissions they can generate from the contracts they manage. Unlike some previous editions of the list, this ranking does not include firms that do the bulk of their business in Europe, whether soccer-focused agencies like Gestifute or marketing-focused agencies like TEAM8 (which is based in Ohio but has the vast majority of its contracts under management attached to Roger Federer). However, the overseas divisions of the ranked agencies are included in their contract and client estimates. You First, which is headquartered in Spain, was included in the ranking on the basis of its 2020 merger with Virginia’s Tandem Sports and Entertainment.
The list considers both playing and marketing contracts for clients in all team sports at the ranked agencies (including sports that have a relatively small presence in North America, such as cricket and rugby). The list also considers marketing contracts for clients in individual sports, such as golf and tennis, as well as clients who are retired. In addition to endorsements, the non-playing contract estimates include contracts for coaches and sports media personalities and athletes’ content deals. All figures reflect only individual talent; agency divisions that represent brands or sports properties like leagues and teams are not included. Clients from outside the sports world are also excluded in the case of agencies that have entertainment divisions, such as CAA and WME.
Contract figures represent estimates of the total value of all active deals under management, including both money that has already been paid out and money that has yet to be paid. To calculate commissions on playing contracts, Forbes multiplied the contract value by the maximum agent fee allowed by that league’s players’ union (3% in the NFL, 4% in the NBA and the NHL, 5% in MLB) or by an average commission rate in cases where no maximum exists (such as 10% in European soccer and basketball). In golf and tennis, agents traditionally do not earn commissions on their clients’ prize money; for those athletes, only endorsement contracts are reflected in the ranking. Forbes assumes a 20% commission rate on endorsement contracts, and lower rates on other sorts of non-playing contracts according to industry standards.
All figures are Forbes estimates as of July 2022, compiled through conversations with industry insiders and with the help of public reports and databases such as Spotrac, Inside the League, PuckPedia, CapFriendly and Capology. Forbes’ contract total estimates are rounded to the nearest $10 million while maximum commission estimates are rounded to the nearest $1 million. Some clients and contract figures that could not be independently corroborated were not included.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2022/11/17/the-most-valuable-sports-agencies-2022-the-rich-get-richer-amid-a-wave-of-consolidation/