Agencies Jointly Represent Commercial Rights for World’s Top Players and Coaches, including Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodríguez, Bernardo Silva, João Félix, Dele Alli, Renato Sanches, and José Mourinho
CAA Sports, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Polaris Sports, a leading Sports Marketing Management company, today announced that they have extended their global partnership. Led by CEO Luis Correia, Polaris Sports and CAA Sports originally partnered in 2008, and since have jointly represented the commercial rights for many of the world’s premier football players, managers, and coaches, including five-time Ballon d’Or-winner and UEFA Champions League all-time leading goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo; FIFA World Coach of the Year José Mourinho; Golden Boot-winner James Rodríguez; Manchester City Midfielder Bernardo Silva; Tottenham Hotspur Midfielder Dele Alli; and Bayern Munich Midfielder Renato Sanches, among many others. Most recently, Polaris Sports/Gestifute and CAA Sports signed new clients Atlético Madrid Striker and teenage superstar João Félix and Real Madrid Forward Vinícius Júnior for global representation.
“In our business, partnerships are rarely as smooth, seamless, and mutually beneficial as the one we’ve shared with Luis, Jorge, and their team at Polaris Sport for more than a decade,” said Michael Levine, Co-Head, CAA Sports. “We have worked well together for so long that it feels as if Polaris is part of our extended CAA family. We look forward to continuing to innovate together on behalf of our long-standing clients within the sport of global football.”
CAA Sports and Polaris Sports, led by CEO Luis Correia, work collaboratively to create global commercial opportunities for its shared athlete clients in the areas of endorsements, licensing, publishing, speaking engagements, motion pictures, television, video games, and digital media. On behalf of Ronaldo, CAA Sports and Polaris Sports have orchestrated one of the most comprehensive commercial portfolios in all sports, making Ronaldo the most marketed athlete in the world. The companies have brokered global agreements with Nike, American Tourister, Clear, DAZN, Altice, MTG, Sixpad, Dubai Holding, Crunch Fitness, CR7 Fashion and CR7 Beauty, and helped grow his CR7 business into such categories as footwear, men’s furnishings, fragrance, and apparel. Additionally, the companies brokered a deal for Ronaldo, the most followed athlete on social media with nearly 400 million subscribers, to executive produce a scripted drama series for Facebook Watch.
Polaris Sports and CAA Sports also further solidified Mourinho’s position as the most marketed coach in international football through an unmatched portfolio of endorsement partners, including global partnership deals with American Express, Yahoo!, Jaguar, Heineken, Mastercard, British Telecom, adidas, and Hublot, in addition to a book publishing deal with Headline, the UK-based imprint of Hachette.
“For over a dozen years, our strategic alliance with CAA Sports has been very successful, which makes this partnership renewal so special and relevant,” said Correia. “We have developed deep personal and business relationships throughout this period, which have enabled us to create and develop fantastic opportunities for our clients.”
A dominant force across all areas of the global sports marketplace, CAA Sports agents and executives operate on five continents, and have orchestrated more than $33 billion in client revenue-generated transactions. CAA Sports leads all agencies in total on-field contract value under management, exceeding $9.3 billion. Last month, the agency announced that it had acquired Base Soccer Agency, a full-service football agency, representing and dealing with more than 300 international football players, coaches, and world-leading managers, both on and off the pitch, further solidifying its leadership position in the global representation of sports talent.
Having initially forayed into sports through athlete representation, today, CAA Sports is a diversified sports enterprise with global operations encompassing 19 divisions, including property sales, brand consulting, licensing, and media rights. CAA Sports’ award-winning Property Sales and Brand Consulting arms represent such renowned properties as Formula 1, Madison Square Garden, NCAA, City Football Group, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Golden State Warriors, USGA, Top Rank Boxing, and Riot Games, in addition to 30+ global brands, including JPMorgan Chase, Bose, Mondelez, Google, Tissot, and Pizza Hut. In 2013, the agency formed the Geneva-based CAA 11, which represents the highly coveted broadcasting, sponsorship, and licensing rights to all UEFA National Team competitions and the Nation’s League.
CAA China, a world class entertainment and sports platform, formed in partnership with CAA and CMC in 2017, provides sports marketing, brand consulting, and athlete representation services to clients, focused on traditional sports, eSports, and crossover entertainment. The agency also works in the areas of broadcast rights, sponsorships, and IP. In August 2018, Momentum Sports, one of China’s leading sports representation companies, merged into CAA China, further enhancing the agency’s efforts in sports throughout Asia.
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ABOUT POLARIS SPORTS
Polaris Sports is one of the world’s leading commercial agencies, representing some of the top players, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Falcao, David De Gea, Bernardo Silva, and Gonçalo Guedes, among others, as well as young exciting talents such as João Félix, Vinícius Júnior, Renato Sanches, and André Silva. The company, which is part of Jorge Mendes’s (Gestifute) ecosystem, has a global presence and currently works with many of the biggest brands and media outlets in the world. Polaris Sports is also active in social media, with clients reaching nearly 600 million followers, creating exciting projects in the area.
ABOUT CAA SPORTS
The five-time recipient of the award for “Best in Talent Representation and Management,” presented by the Sports Business Journal, CAA Sports represents more than 2,000 of the world’s best athletes in such sports as baseball, football, hockey, basketball, soccer, Olympics and action sports, in addition to coaches, on-air broadcasters, and sports personalities. Beyond traditional athlete representation, CAA Sports provides unique opportunities for clients off the field, in areas including licensing, endorsements, speaking, philanthropy, books, and video games. CAA Sports also works in the areas of broadcast rights, corporate marketing initiatives, and sports properties for sales/sponsorships, and received the award for “Best in Corporate Consulting” at the 2018 Sports Business Awards, and “Best in Property Consulting, Sales, and Client Service” in 2014, 2016, and 2019.
CAA Sports is a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). CAA represents the most creative and successful artists working in film, television, music, theatre, video games, and digital content, and provides a range of strategic marketing services to corporate clients. For more information about CAA Sports, visit www.caa.com.
CONTACTS: Beth McClinton and Nick Gower, CAA, beth.mcclinton@caa.com and nick.gower@caa.com
