Updates on CAA After Departure of Powerful Agent Nick Khan to WWE
On Wednesday, powerful sports media talent and rights agent Nick Khan announced he was leaving CAA to become President and Chief Revenue Officer of WWE. Khan left CAA on good terms. Nonetheless, his departure creates a power vacuum not just at CAA but in the entire sports media industry because of how much influence and leverage he had.
As first reported by John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, Matt Kramer and Tom Young are the new co-heads of CAA's sports broadcasting. Kramer represents Adrian Wojnarowski, Doris Burke, and Omar Raja; Young's clients include Tony Romo and Joe Buck, and he did the TV deal with Dwyane Wade at Turner Sports.
A source said CAA's Alan Gold told colleagues on a conference call that the firm is retaining the SEC, Top Rank, and WWE live rights accounts that Khan oversaw. Ishmael Hinson, who's worked under Khan and Jimmy Sexton -- the super agent for football coaches and players who reps nine of the 14 SEC head coaches including Nick Saban and Kirby Smart -- is expected to help Gold with the workload of rights deals Khan oversaw in that role.
Rival agents across the business are gunning for Khan's high-profile former broadcasting clients as we speak. Industry sources expect CAA to retain Adam Schefter, Sage Steele, Rex Ryan, Joe Davis, Kevin Negandhi, and Allie LaForce.
Sources said CAA is making an "all hands on deck" push to retain Kirk Herbstreit, including outreach from CAA Sports co-head Michael Levine. Levine is a giant in the industry and some of the work he has done includes marketing and sponsorship with superstar athletes like Aaron Rodgers and Dwyane Wade.
Jimmy Sexton is also an asset for CAA in terms of retaining football broadcasters.
Other former Khan clients include Max Kellerman, Mike Greenberg, Jalen Rose, Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd, and Outkick founder Clay Travis.
In addition to Kramer and Young, several sports media agents who Khan worked with closely for years remain at CAA. Matt Olson's clients include Ariel Helwani and Laura Rutledge; Michael Klein's include Bomani Jones and Mina Kimes; David Koonin's include Maria Taylor and Damien Woody. Together, Klein and Koonin represent Pat McAfee.