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\n\tIn an unusual tie-up between two management companies, Excel Sports<\/a> Management and WIN Artists are forming a commercial partnership that will give Excel\u2019s vast roster of athletes access to WIN\u2019s expertise in media and entertainment across broadcast, digital media and content creation.<\/p>\n \n\tAs 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.<\/p>\n \n\tExcel, which was acquired<\/a> 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 <\/a>by Patrick Whitesell\u2019s investment firm WTSL, is run by Josh Pyatt and counts clients like Bryson DeChambeau, Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s Jersey Legends, Peyton Manning\u2019s Omaha Productions, and Derek Jeter\u2019s Cap 2.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhile 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\u2019s going to be able to be great for business,\u201d says Excel senior VP of media talent Kevin Hopkins in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>. \u201cI 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\u2019re 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\u2019s been a really strong start.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe 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\u2019s opening day game and the upcoming Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t represent Tiger Woods, we don\u2019t represent Caitlin Clark. Those are two people in the marketplace that feel like they have a lot of opportunity,\u201d Pyatt says. \u201cSame with Clayton Kershaw, same with some other people that we\u2019re just getting started with, and that\u2019s 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\u2019s true entertainment, as opposed to solely in the sports space.\u201d<\/p>\n