The sports agency industry is undergoing one of the most active and transformative periods of consolidation in its history. Long dominated by boutique representation firms with only a few global giants, the sector is now attracting significant outside investment enabling agencies to pursue acquisitions designed to expand scale, integrate services and create new revenue verticals. 

Goldman Sachs’ (Goldman) November 2025 acquisition of Excel Sports Management (Excel) for approximately $1 billion serves as a high-profile instance of a major investment bank taking a controlling stake in a sports talent agency. Goldman’s entry into agency ownership represents an inflection point: validation from a blue-chip financial institution that sports representation platforms are now sophisticated advisory businesses capable of generating scalable returns. Beyond this single transaction, the Goldman-Excel deal signals that athlete representation has matured from a relationship-driven commission business into a scalable, institutionally backed advisory platform capable of generating diversified returns across multiple revenue streams. 

Goldman’s Entry: Why a Bank Bought an Agency

With Excel’s approximately 750 athletes earning billions in aggregate career income, Goldman can now cross-sell wealth management, tax planning, trust structuring and investment advisory services. These are services Goldman’s Private Wealth Management division already provides, but historically without direct agency relationships. Excel ownership embeds Goldman at the earliest and most critical moment: contract signing, when athletes face complex financial decisions and are most receptive to guidance. 

Leonard Seevers, a partner in Goldman’s Alternatives group, emphasized that Goldman would “deliver our One Goldman Sachs approach... leveraging our expertise as a global investment bank, premier wealth manager and one of the world’s largest investment managers.” 

Excel’s structure also generates revenue from multiple sources—player commissions, consulting retainers, sponsorship advisory fees, creative services and event production—creating the predictable, diversified cash flow that institutional buyers prize. Post-acquisition, Excel will be at the intersection of athletes, corporate brands and sports properties, giving Goldman access to relationships across the entire sports ecosystem.

Scale as a Strategic Imperative

The Goldman-Excel deal also underscores a broader industry trend: scale is increasingly a competitive necessity. Larger agencies can provide deeper service lines, greater negotiating leverage and more sophisticated commercial opportunities for their clients. 

Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) landmark 2022 acquisition of ICM Partners (ICM) exemplifies this dynamic. The $750 million transaction brought ICM’s sizeable international sports practice into CAA’s portfolio, materially expanding CAA’s global athlete footprint. Combined with TPG’s subsequent sale of CAA to Artémis for $7 billion in September 2023, the message is clear: agencies with true global reach and multi-sport capabilities command premium valuations.

Wasserman has pursued similar strategy through serial acquisition of sports agencies, including deals in MLB, rugby, European football and entertainment that not only add clients but also capabilities, intellectual property and geographic reach. Excel’s prior acquisition spree spanned creative marketing, coaching representation and NFL talent and positioned the agency as a full-service platform capable of serving athletes across their commercial lifecycle, precisely the profile Goldman found attractive.

Vertical and Horizontal Integration: Building Full-Stack Athlete Platforms

Scale provides the foundation, but vertical and horizontal integration drive differentiation. Modern agencies increasingly offer representation that encompasses media, marketing, name, image and likeness (NIL) strategy, production and intellectual property development under a single roof.

Wasserman’s 2023 acquisition of Brillstein Entertainment Partners further demonstrates the turn toward content-driven vertical integration. Owning both the talent and the production capabilities allows agencies to monetize athlete IP through documentaries, podcasts, digital media and brand partnerships, capturing value previously left to third parties or negotiated on an ad-hoc basis.

At the other end stands Endeavor, whose ownership of UFC and formation of TKO Group (combining WWE and UFC) blends athlete representation, media rights, event ownership and hospitality. Silver Lake’s $25 billion take-private of Endeavor in March 2025 validated the vertically integrated model. While not a traditional agency deal, TKO’s structure demonstrates the industry’s movement toward controlling multiple layers of the sports value chain.

Sports Agencies as an Attractive Asset Class for Financial Buyers

The most significant recent shift is the entry of institutional investors, private equity funds and now major banks into the sports agency ecosystem. For financial buyers, athlete-representation platforms offer several compelling characteristics:

• Recurring revenue: Multi-year player contracts, sponsorship advisory work and marketing retainers generate predictable cash flow that isn’t dependent on any single transaction or client.

• Revenue diversification: Modern agencies earn far beyond contract commissions (typically capped at 3-4% by players’ unions). Advisory, brand marketing, NIL consulting, executive search and content production create multiple margin-accretive revenue streams.

• Upside through content and IP: Control over athlete-driven media creates high-margin opportunities. Agencies increasingly act as IP managers, not just contract negotiators.

• Demographic tailwinds: Athlete earnings are exploding. NBA supermax contracts now exceed $300 million, NIL has created a new class of college athlete millionaires and endorsement values continue to rise through direct-to-consumer social media monetization.

The Institutional Capital Inflection Point

Goldman’s decision to acquire Excel signals confidence that the agency business has matured beyond boutique operations into an asset class worthy of permanent institutional ownership. If other banks or institutional asset managers follow suit, the industry may shift toward models in which athlete representation becomes a strategic point of entry into wealth management, investment banking, alternative investments and corporate advisory rather than a standalone talent business. The era of the modern sports agency that is backed by Wall Street, operating globally and controlling multiple value-chain layers has arrived.