Editor’s note: This story is revised from the print edition.
In the representation business, U.S. Olympians are spreading the wealth.
IMG has the most American clients (11) to qualify for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but at least 18 other agencies will have one or more athletes going to Korea, too.
Work at the top of the pyramid is spread out as well. Seven different agencies have at least one client named by SportsBusiness Journal as a marketing star of the Games (Jan. 22-28 issue). While some agencies hold a strong position in a given sport, no one can claim a dominant role in the Winter Games in general.
Lindsey VonnGetty Images
Agents say that’s a reflection of the expanding media landscape and the growing expectations of sponsors, who are seeking more original content for social and digital media than ever. Unlike stars in stick-and-ball major leagues, Olympians can’t rely on a single big contract and must aggressively work numerous brand relationships.
“There is certainly more to do, and more opportunity for any athlete than ever before,” said Patrick Quinn, partner of Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners, which represents bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and four other 2018 Olympians. “A big part of it is just building social media, and monetizing the relationships in new ways. All that stuff didn’t exist X number of Olympaids before.”
Volume is not usually the goal for agents in the Olympic space, and some, such as Wasserman and IMG, have substantial international portfolios as well. But even for agents who pursue a quality-over-quantity strategy, it’s gotten much more demanding to effectively service multiple stars.
“These guys are being built up as stars a year in advance,” said Evolution Management + Marketing’s Tom Yaps, referring to the aggressive pre-Olympic promotional efforts of NBC, the U.S. Olympic Committee and major sponsors. “We’re not just talking about Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin; the up-and-comers are getting that treatment as well, so it definitely puts a little pressure on the agents to service them.”
Agencies have to pick their battles. IMG, for instance, wants to maintain its lead in figure skating — it represents 10 of the 14 American Olympians — but “you can’t be everywhere,” said Jay Ogden, senior vice president and managing director of winter sports. They also represent skiing icon Vonn.
Elana Meyers TaylorGetty Images
“It’s really a resource issue,” Ogden said. “And it’s also a business decision we’ve made, that these are the sports we focus in on.”
Several top Olympians switched agencies since the 2014 Sochi Games: Shaun White left CAA for United Talent Agency; snowboarder Jamie Anderson left Octagon for Stanton & Co.; Meyers Taylor left Fireworks Sports Marketing for Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners; and hockey player Hilary Knight left Stanton for Wasserman. Shiffrin had been co-represented by Octagon and agent Kilian Albrecht in 2014, but now she works only with Albrecht.
CAA Sports’ Lowell Taub speculated that top-tier Olympians want to be unique within their agency, knowing that brands tend to lump stars into categories by sport and gender.
“Maybe they feel it’s better to have an agent that doesn’t have two clients who are super similar,” Taub said.
Other details of note about the Pyeongchang team:
■A total of 79 of 217 U.S. Olympians have an agent, according to SBJ research reviewed by U.S. Olympic Committee staff. (The 25 members of the men’s hockey team are excluded from this analysis because they’re not generally signed by agencies based on their Olympic expectations, and many are NCAA amateurs.)
■ CAA Sports will have just two clients competing: snowboarder Chloe Kim and alpine skier Jared Goldberg. CAA’s portfolio took hits when figure skater Ashley Wagner failed to make the team and veteran skier Steven Nyman tore his ACL on Jan. 25, though he still counts as an Olympian per USOC protocol.
Taub says it’s better than it appears. Wagner will be appearing with sponsor Toyota in Korea, and three other clients — recently retired skier Julia Mancuso, and retired Olympians Bode Miller and Johnny Weir — will all be appearing on NBC during the Games.
“These are all still household names who have had incredible commercial opportunities in the past 12 to 18 months, and we’d probably put up the revenue produced by those clients with any other agency,” Taub said.
■ Evolution, a boutique action sports shop, has seven clients on the U.S. team, all in snowboarding and freeskiing. That’s the most in those sports of any agency.
Evolution had a good 2014 with two gold medals, including from returning ski halfpipe champion Maddie Bowman. In 2016, Evolution added agent Ryan Runke from Prime Sports & Entertainment, and he brought in three clients who made the 2018 team: Ben Ferguson, Red Gerard and Chase Josey.
■ After IMG, the top agencies by numbers are: ski specialist Ken Sowles (10, including Ted Ligety) and Wasserman (nine, including Knight and freeskier Gus Kenworthy).
