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CAA Goes MMA

You should have seen this one coming for a while.  Late 2007, CAA began representing MMA apparel brand, TapouT, which sponsors over one-hundred MMA fighters.  CAA’s main tasks have been to look for licensing opportunities for TapouT in categories ranging from DVDs to truck mud flaps and everything between.  Now CAA is going back to its traditional representation role by signing its first high-profile MMA fighter – Georges St. Pierre.  The UFC welterweight champion will be looking in CAA’s direction for help with licensing, endorsement procurement, and TV/film opportunities.

Personally, I have received many pitches for MMA style TV shows.  I definitely believe that there is an expanding market for MMA fighters who are not only good at their trade, but have an impressive look and can act.  St. Pierre just teamed up with one of the top agencies that can parlay its connections in the sports world with its ties to the entertainment landscape.  Additionally, the relationship shows that CAA has bought into MMA’s relevance and believes that at least UFC has a business platform that should allow it to stick around for a while.  As far as Kimbo Slice and Elite XC, who knows.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

One reply on “CAA Goes MMA”

hi
my name is harry and I speaking from the UK.

I feel the clothing market has a strong weight behind it, as due to the recent up raw in sports and multimedia.
People are evermore watching there sports through their tv’s, laptops or even phones ( i phone) and people want what their best boxers wearing.

It is a huge market, for example in the UK, people are getting into the UFC so much more than boxing at the moment due to the recent up raw in marketing, interest and what the UFC offers.

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