The Hollywood Reporter - 31.07.2019

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The Report

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 16 JULY 31, 2019

SIMMONS: ALLEN BEREZOVSKY/GETTY IMAGES. PAUL: JERRITT CLARK/GETTY IMAGES FOR UNINTERRUPTED. DAVIS: KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAG

ES. GREEN: NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES.

JAMES: ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES. WALL: DAVE REGINEK/GETTY IMAGES. LEVINE: DANIEL ZUCHNIK/GETTY IMAGES. ZIMMER:

ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES FOR CHRYSALIS.

W

hen Rich Paul met LeBron James at
the Akron-Canton Airport back in
2002 — Paul was 21 and James was
a teenager heading to Atlanta for the NCAA
Final Four — he probably never imagined that
someday he’d represent James in NBA deals
worth $342 million and counting. Seventeen
years later, with 23 NBA players at his Klutch
Sports Group, Paul is breaking into the
Hollywood firmament via an investment from
UTA and the newly created position of head
of UTA Sports. It’s an effort by the Jeremy
Zimmer-led agency to establish a sports busi-
ness amid a content arms race that is looking
to athletes as creators.
The deal gives UTA an on-court business to
the tune of $1 billion in contract value as well
as instant credibility in athlete representation
at a time when star players — unshackled by
unwritten constraints of the past and exer-
cising their social media-powered branding
prowess — are increasingly in-demand. (The
NBA players’ union caps agent commission at
4 percent, and it’s even less for rookie con-
tracts; sponsorship and endorsement deals
are far more lucrative.)
But Paul, 37, and UTA have formidable
competition in this space from powerhouse
CAA Sports and Endeavor-owned WME (the
latter will continue to represent James and
Maverick Carter’s Spr i ng H i l l Enter t a i n ment
shingle and its nearly two dozen projects in
development). Those who know Paul say he
is a tireless dealmaker, but his brashness has
made him a controversial figure. He roiled the
agent world in 2012 when he defected from
CAA to form Klutch (which now has offices
in Cleveland and Los Angeles) and took James
with him. This year, he engineered Anthony
Davis’ very public trade from New Orleans to
the Lakers. “This is very real opportunity, and

sorting out whether it will manifest into a real

business that can be meaningful or whether

it will amount to a press release really comes

down to how much of a priority it is in the long

term,” says Kyell Thomas, managing director

of Octagon Entertainment, the

sports agency that handles con-

tracts for a roster of top athletes

that includes Stephen Curry, Aly

Raisman and Simone Biles.

While UTA’s stake in Klutch

is described as significant (the

value of the investment was not

disclosed), some industry observ-

ers wonder why the agency would

not insist on buying it outright,

thereby gaining more control. “When was the

last time there was a strategic partnership

among agencies that worked?” asks one agent

rhetorically. “What you have to do is acquire

them and get them fully integrated.”

CAA is dominant in athlete representation,

and WME has brokered a succession of con-

tent deals, including those involving Curry,

David Beckham, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant

and Odell Beckham Jr., the last one a recent

production pact with Brent Montgomery’s

Wheelhouse Entertainment.

The Howie Nuchow and Michael Levine-run

CAA Sports — which represents thousands

of athletes — boasted a total contract value

of $9.4 billion in 2018 with clients such as

Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and

Carmelo Anthony. The agency brokered deals

for Anthony’s YouTube channel and NFL broth-

ers J.J., T. J. and Derek Watt’s Ultimate Tag game

show set to launch on Fox, and it teamed Wade

with Imagine Documentaries for a film about

the former Miami Heat star that will air on

ESPN in 2020. “Athletes are not staying in one

lane,” says Lori York, CAA television and cross-

over sports agent. “They have become arbiters

of style and culture and advocates for impor-

tant issues. People want to hear from them.”

WME partner Josh Pyatt first signed James

and Carter in 2014, and that relationship has

been an industry game-changer. These days,

seemingly every sports star is vying for a

production deal. “Everybody now wants to be

in this space,” says Pyatt.

And now with UTA, Klutch will be able

to offer its non-LeBron players similarly

synergistic opportunities in TV, film and pub-

lishing. Paul already represents the off-court

endeavors of his other clients, including Davis,

Draymond Green and J.R. Smith. (Paul held

talks with Endeavor, which has a well-estab-

lished athlete sponsorship and endorsement

business with IMG and entertainment prac-

tice with WME. In the end, UTA was far more

aggressive, sources say.) “LeBron showed that

you could win championships and multitask,”

notes Montgomery. “And these players under-

stand that their calls get returned a lot quicker

when they’re at the top of their game. They’re

capitalizing on their moment.”

Rich Paul and client Ben Simmons

during a 76ers game in January.

As top athletes increasingly look for Hollywood deals, Rich Paul seeks

to even the playing field alongside heavyweight divisions at CAA and WME:

‘Everybody now wants to be in this space’ BY MARISA GUTHRIE

Will LeBron’s Agent Lift UTA

to Dunk on Its Rivals?

Zimmer

Levine

CAA SPORTS

It reps more than

2,000 active athletes

for $2.35 billion in

commissions in

2018. Its football
      deals alone — led by
      agents Todd France
      and Tom Condon
      — amounted to
      $4.1 billion.

WME AND IMG

WME has forged

deals for LeBron

James and Maverick

Carter’s SpringHill

Entertainment and

for Stephen Curry

and Jeron Smith’s

Unanimous Media

at Warner Bros. and

Sony, respectively.

IMG is a leader in

the lucrative athlete

endorsement and

sponsorship sector

with star clients

including Novak

Djokovic (who

netted $30 million

in endorsement

earnings this year),

Serena Williams

($25 million) and

Jordan Spieth

($29 million).

UTA SPORTS

The newly formed

unit under Klutch

Sports founder Rich

Paul reps James and

22 other NBA players

on the court.

Agency Sports Representation Race

Agent Rich Paul (center) has a roster of clients including

(from left) NBA stars John Wall, LeBron James, Draymond Green

and Anthony Davis.