In an unusual tie-up between two management companies, Excel Sports Management and WIN Artists are forming a commercial partnership that will give Excel’s vast roster of athletes access to WIN’s expertise in media and entertainment across broadcast, digital media and content creation.
As the worlds of sports and entertainment continue to blur, with active athletes hosting podcasts and becoming widely-followed in social media, and with retired athletes pursuing media ambitions of their own, the two companies will work together to maximize those opportunities.
Excel, which was acquired by a division of Goldman Sachs last year, has a client roster that includes the likes of Tiger Woods, Nikola Jokic, Caitlin Clark, Derek Jeter, and Clayton Kershaw, among many others. WIN Artists, owned by Patrick Whitesell’s investment firm WTSL, is run by Josh Pyatt and counts clients like Bryson DeChambeau, Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, and Derek Jeter’s Cap 2.
“While I know the partnership is unique, I do think this is one of those cases where one plus one is going to equal three, and for us to be able to come together collectively and use our resources, it’s going to be able to be great for business,” says Excel senior VP of media talent Kevin Hopkins in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I think Josh specifically, and the level of expertise that he has from a production standpoint building out production businesses for some of the top clients in the world, and I think from an Excel standpoint we feel like we’re best in class from a talent representation standpoint, and what we do on the sales and marketing side, I think when we looked at both businesses collectively here, it seemed to make a lot of sense, and even in just these first few months of us kicking this off, it’s been a really strong start.”
The companies have already worked with former MLB stars Kershaw and Anthony Rizzo, securing deals with both for NBC Sunday Night Baseball, and for Rizzo with Netflix’s opening day game and the upcoming Home Run Derby.
“We don’t represent Tiger Woods, we don’t represent Caitlin Clark. Those are two people in the marketplace that feel like they have a lot of opportunity,” Pyatt says. “Same with Clayton Kershaw, same with some other people that we’re just getting started with, and that’s what was unique and interesting about the opportunity, it allows us to grow the client roster that we have access to, and on their side it allows them to work with a group that’s true entertainment, as opposed to solely in the sports space.”
Of course, the unusual partnership also has an unusual complexifier: Both Excel and WTSL are among the potential buyers circling the assets of The Team, formerly known as Wasserman, which has scale in the sports, music and entertainment space. After founder Casey Wasserman announced plans to step aside, the company hired Moelis and rebranded for a sale, either whole or in parts.
Sources familiar with the process tell The Hollywood Reporter that both companies remain engaged, though in the case of WTSL a deal is not seen as a “top priority.”
WIN launched with the premise that athletes are in many ways the new global superstars, on social media, streaming, and other media platforms. Most notably, athletes are turning to media even as they play in the prime of the careers.
“Those conversations previously were had at the end of careers, or as things were trailing down,” Hopkins says. “Hey, what are you thinking about after football, basketball, baseball, golf? Do you want to dip your toes and go do a guest spot on a TV show? And I think the beauty of what we’re doing now is those conversations are happening, whether you’re a soon to be Hall of Famer or whether you’re a first round draft pick.”
“I think 20 years ago athletes had the mindset of ‘I’m playing my sport, my head is down, talk to me when I’m retired, and then we’ll start conversations about broadcasting,’ and now — I think I will always give Michael Strahan credit for this — he proved that athletes are more than just athletes, and you can build a successful career in the entertainment landscape just by being curious,” Pyatt says.
“And I think athletes in this day and age have grown up watching people like LeBron James build media companies while they’re still playing,” he adds. “So I think as these athletes have grown up watching these superstars build businesses on the side with people, it’s created more opportunity, and candidly, it’s created more interest from athletes to learn more about these businesses, and I think that is front and center on why this partnership makes sense.”
And while that may include deals with NBC or Netflix for on-air roles, it also means YouTube shows, podcasts, or other ventures that are more entrepreneurial in nature.
“I think our space has evolved really quickly,” says Excel head of digital media talent Ryan Orozco. “I think we’re trying to accomplish a lot of the same goals, and so we just thought that this was a great accelerant for that, and I think like we get to sort of spend a lot of our time canvassing the area on owned IP and other types of digital content as that landscape evolves very quickly.”
“We recognize that linear television can have a slightly older audience than YouTube, right?” he adds. “But YouTube is also becoming the dominant platform on television, and so I think we recognize that and want to be addressing that and addressing the sales environment that comes from that, so most [clients] are very gung ho about being across that entire stack.”
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