Next year "promises to be a year of dramatic import for the Hollywood talent agency ecosystem, one that could define the next decade," according to James Andrew Miller in a special to the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Ever since the "representation wonderland opened its doors to private equity money, vocabulary about the business, evaluations of company performance and projections into the future have been in flux and in play." With fewer movies being made and with "big TV backends dwindling ... client commissions are hardly viewed as the sole avenue to success." CAA Sports, for example, probably will make '17 its "third year in a row as the agency’s top dog in terms of revenue, and player representation makes up only a quarter of the division’s receipts." But an "even more vivid example of this transformation is that WME-IMG now brings in" roughly 75% of its revenue from "outside traditional client services." That is "not just a paradigm shift, it’s a striking reminder that for some, the game has moved onto a much larger playing field." The first and "perhaps most obvious query" regarding '17 is whether or not WME-IMG or CAA will "file for an IPO." In CAA’s case, the answer is "almost certainly no." Private equity firm TPG Capital, which owns 53% of the agency, "behaves as if it is in no rush." Its "massive wealth" -- capital under management of $75B -- "allows it to have more runway and more patience than most other private equity firms." Miller notes in the case of WME-IMG, it "probably will take much of the next year, if not longer, for the books on UFC to be fully analyzed, dressed up and absorbed into the larger WME-IMG narrative." WME-IMG co-President Mark Shapiro and his team have "aggressively focused on a 360-degree approach for the UFC and other properties involving brand extensions, content creation, event ownership, rights fees, naming rights and more."
A WHO'S WHO: CAA agent Nick Khan has "led an aggressive hunting spree for clients including Kirk Herbstreit, Michelle Beadle, Tim Tebow, Colin Cowherd, Skip Bayless, and Stephen A. Smith." Recently, Khan "closed a deal for Mike Greenberg that makes him one of the highest-paid sports personalities at ESPN and beyond." Miller: "Could there be a better port of entry into the ever-changing intersection of media, technology, culture and finance than the agency business? Perhaps, but it’s doubtful." For all their "scrambling for deals, companies like CAA and WME-IMG also are -- more than ever -- compelling laboratories that investigate the myriad riddles of the content universe." But it is "still about dollars" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/6 issue).
