Categories
Coaches Headline Sports Agents Sports Business

Report: Jimmy Sexton Leaves SportsTrust Advisors To Join CAA

sdg

Late last night, Neil Stratton of InsideTheLeague.com broke a story that certainly kept me awake for a while.  The headline alone, which reads, “A super-agency goes supernova and in its place arises an even bigger agency,” made me anxious to click on the link and consume Stratton’s content.  I was not disappointed with the result.

Stratton wrote that multiple sources confirmed Jimmy Sexton’s departure from SportsTrust Advisors, and that he will be joining Creative Artists Agency (CAA).  CAA Football is currently run by agents Tom Condon and Ben Dogra.  Former defensive end Trace Armstrong represents a variety of coaches, including Urban Meyer.  Sexton represents both players and coaches.  He will be able to improve an already extremely strong CAA Football division.

If InsideTheLeague’s report is accurate, that means SportsTrust Advisors was a very short-lived experiment.  It was the brainchild of Sexton and Pat Dye, Jr., who merged their two respective companies, Athletic Resource Management (ARM) and ProFiles Sports, Inc.  Combined, the two entities represented a total of more than 40 coaches and 100 football players.  In the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, SportsTrust Advisors had three clients selected: Julio Jones (#6 overall to the Atlanta Falcons), Christian Ponder (#12 overall to the Minnesota Vikings), and Cameron Heyward (#31 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers).

Things to watch:

  • How this affects CAA’s ability to recruit players (they were already very strong at it).
  • Whether Tom Condon and Ben Dogra both continue their employment at CAA.
  • Which SportsTrust clients leave with Jimmy Sexton and which of them stick with Pat Dye, Jr.
  • How potential clients will react to the change.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.