In an unusual tie between two management companies, Excel Sports Management and WIN Artists are forming a business partnership that will give Excel’s extensive roster of athletes access to WIN’s media and entertainment expertise across broadcast, digital media and content creation.
As the world of sports and entertainment continues to blur, with active athletes hosting podcasts and growing social media followings, and with retired athletes pursuing media ambitions of their own, the two companies will work together to maximize these opportunities.
Excel, which was acquired by a division of Goldman Sachs last year, has a client list 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 managed by Josh Pyatt and has clients including 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 think this is one of those cases where one plus one equals three, and for us to be able to work together collectively and use our resources will be great for business,” says Kevin Hopkins, senior vice president of media talent at Excel. Hollywood Reporter. “I think Josh specifically, and the level of experience that he has from a production standpoint in building production businesses for some of the best clients in the world, and I think from an Excel standpoint that we feel like we’re best in class from a talent representation standpoint, and what we’re doing on the sales and marketing side, I think when we looked at the two companies together here, it made a lot of sense, and even just in the first few months of starting this, it’s off to a really strong start.”
The two companies have already worked with former MLB stars Kershaw and Anthony Rizzo, landing deals with both NBC Sunday Night Baseball, and Rizzo with Netflix’s Opening Day Game and the upcoming Home Run Derby.
“We don’t represent Tiger Woods, we don’t represent Caitlyn Clark,” Pyatt says. “Those two people in the market feel like they have a lot of opportunities.” “Same with Clayton Kershaw, same with some of the other guys that we’re just starting out with, and that’s what’s been unique and interesting about this opportunity, it allows us to grow the list of clients that we have access to, and on their side, it allows them to work with a group that’s real entertainment, rather than just working in the sports space.”
Of course, the unusual partnership also has an unusual complexity: both Excel and WTSL are among the potential buyers circling the assets of The Team, formerly known as Wasserman, which has a broad reach in sports, music and entertainment. After founder Casey Wasserman announced his plans to step down, the company hired Moelis and rebranded it for sale, either entirely or in parts.
Sources familiar with the process say: Hollywood Reporter That the two companies remain involved, although in the case of WTSL the deal is not seen as a “high priority”.
WIN was launched on the premise that athletes are in many ways the new global stars, on social media, streaming, and other media platforms. It is worth noting that athletes resort to the media even when they are playing at the beginning of their careers.
“These conversations used to happen at the end of a career, or while things were going,” Hopkins says. “Hey, what are you thinking about after football, basketball, baseball, golf? Do you want to dip your toes in and go guest spot on a TV show? And I think the beauty of what we’re doing now is that these conversations are happening, whether you’re a soon-to-be Hall of Famer or whether you’re a first-round pick.”
“I think 20 years ago athletes had the mentality of ‘I’m doing my sport, my head is down, talk to me when I retire, and then we’ll start conversations about broadcasting,’ and now — I think I’ll always give Michael Strahan credit for this — he’s proven that athletes are more than just athletes, and you can build a successful career in entertainment just by being curious,” Pyatt says.
“And I think athletes in this day and age grew up watching people like LeBron James build media companies while they were still playing,” he adds. “So I think as these athletes have grown up watching these stars build businesses alongside people, it has created more opportunities and, frankly, created more interest from athletes to learn more about these businesses, and I think that’s the main reason why this partnership makes sense.”
And while that might include deals with NBC or Netflix for on-air roles, it also means YouTube shows, podcasts, or other projects of an entrepreneurial nature.
“I think our space has evolved very quickly,” says Ryan Orozco, head of digital media talent at Excel. “I think we’re trying to accomplish a lot of the same goals, and so we thought this was a big acceleration of that, and I think we’re going to be spending a lot of our time sort of examining the area around proprietary intellectual property and other types of digital content as that landscape evolves very quickly.”
“We realize that linear TV can have a slightly larger audience than YouTube, right?” He adds. “But YouTube has also become the dominant platform for TV, and so I think we recognize that and we want to address that and address the sales environment that comes from that, so most people [clients] Very excited to be across this entire collection.
