Rich Paul On What’s Next For Klutch Sports Group

This week at NXSTREAM, Klutch Sports Group founder, Rich Paul, sat down with WNBA athlete and ESPN broadcaster, Chiney Ogwumike, to discuss what’s next for Klutch Sports Group and its partnership with United Talent Agency.  

On Klutch’s 2019 partnership with UTA, Paul said, “It was about not just resting in your success and realizing that you have to continue to grow.” The deal saw UTA make a “significant investment” into Klutch, with Paul becoming the Head of UTA Sports and a member of the agency’s board.

“I never wanted to be in a position where someone asked me for help and I didn’t have the help to give them,” Paul reflected. “I could get it done, don’t get me wrong—I have a lot of allies—but I wanted a true partner, someone we could integrate and grow with.”

In UTA—which then represented athletes for non-sports activities, but didn’t have a sports division—Paul saw opportunity to strengthen his offerings to athlete clients.  

“There are only two ways to grow: through expertise and experience or go out and raise money to find the expertise and experience,” Paul said. “It was already [at UTA] and it made sense; they didn’t have sports.”

Since joining with UTA, Klutch’s clients have appeared in movies and on television. Paul notes that venture opportunities for his clients have expanded.

“There are very few guys who are going to need every toy in the toy box,” Paul remarked on the services an agency offers. “But sometimes, you just flip the toy box over to see what toys are in there to play with. That’s how I view our relationship, in terms of having an unlimited amount of resources and being able to cross-partner.”

So, what’s next for Klutch Sports?

“We are really busy in the acquisition space,” Paul said. “Klutch Sports Group’s focus will always be on championing young people and giving them opportunities through which they can develop. We will continue getting into other sports and content development. We sold the Bulls’ [jersey] patch and Rockets’ [jersey] patch. We are representing coaches and general managers, too, and our football representation is successful.”