Earlier this week, Liz Mullen and David Broughton wrote in Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal the following statement: CAA Sports, in two short years of existence, has become the dominant sports agency in the United States. Earlier this month, Jason Belzer positioned CAA as the second strongest American agency behind Wasserman Media Group (WMG). The difference between earning the number one or number two spot is minimal and purely based on the opinion of who is making such rankings. Both companies and the others highlighted by SBJ and Belzer are doing just fine and have little to worry about in the near future.
The way that CAA and WMG have acheived their successes in the sports domain has been through the acquisition of prominent agents. Before CAA and WMG; however, the first company name that comes to my head when I hear acquisitions in the sports realm is Blue Equity (BEST). In fact, BEST may soon see its name up there in the discussion with CAA and WMG as the top companies representing professional athletes.
SBJ’s list of the top five agencies ranked based on the salaries of their athlete clients is as follows:
- CAA – $670 million
- WMG – $451 million
- Octagon – $333 million
- Boras Corp – $326 million
- Priority Sports – $279 million
