UTA
Rich Paulgetty images
Rich Paul (co-head, UTA Sports; founder and CEO Klutch Sports)
Andrew Thau (COO, UTA; co-head, UTA Sports)
Danny Barton (vice president of sports content, UTA)
When Hollywood talent agency UTA acquired Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports in 2019, it officially signaled its intention to take on rivals CAA and WME in the sports world. Danny Barton, who oversees sports content, joined in 2021 from Fox, where he’d produced films about Mets legend Tom Seaver, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the disappearance of Tom Brady’s jersey following Super Bowl LI and a basketball team at San Quentin State Prison. And earlier this year, UTA doubled down on its sports plans by naming UTA chief operating officer Andrew Thau as co-head of UTA Sports alongside Paul.
“We have big ambition, big aspirations, and it just felt very natural at this time to sort of take this next step for the organization,” said Thau at the time. Paul and Thau have both suggested it was a natural evolution for the firm — and one that formalized an already strong relationship between the two — and Thau has indicated that UTA will be open to scaling its sports business through further acquisitions.
Paul has shown an eye for content production with the 2021 debut of “Klutch Academy,” a five-part BET series showcasing how he and a half-dozen elite prospects prepared for the NBA Draft, and producer credits on LeBron James-associated projects “Shut Up and Dribble” and “More Than an Athlete.”
UTA’s sports division will help Klutch’s client athletes — which include stars like Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young — bridge the gap into the entertainment landscape. Paul said his goal is to provide athlete clients with access to both an education and UTA’s extensive resources in the content space, including the ability to meet with individuals working in film, television, podcasting and broadcasting.
“From a client perspective, the first thing to do is educate them in that content space,” Paul said. “When you look at a place like UTA, they’re the experts in that field. So how do we build an initiative within our ecosystem that allows us to then partner with clients and give them the back office and infrastructure to then go out and be in that space in a very elevated way?” — Chris Smith
