Young Money Sports

Dec 14, 2017

SportsMoney I cover the intersection of sports and money. Share to facebook Share to linkedin Rap mogul Lil Wayne started a sports agency a few years ago and is now looking to grow it out. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for BACARDI) Roughly four years have passed since rapper Lil Wayne announced that he was entering the world of athlete representation, using the Young Money brand to entice athletes to choose his agency. Yet, there was little to discuss about Wayne or Young Money Sports after plenty of rumors in the industry surrounding the announcement. Then, in 2016, Young Money Sports merged with another young startup named APAA Sports Group to become Young Money APAA Sports . It united an entertainment icon in Lil Wayne with Adie von Gontard, whose great grandfather founded Anheuser-Busch and whose grandfather owned the St. Louis Cardinals. Armed with capital and swag, Young Money APAA began to truly put together a plan to slowly, and somewhat quietly, create football and basketball divisions. It signed basketball players such as Kansas' Frank Mason and Arizona's Kadeem Allen. On the football side, it focused on LSU, persuading players like Lewis Neal and Duke Riley to join as clients. Now, Young Money APAA has its biggest announcement to make since its inception. It has purchased a previous competitor in PlayersRep Sports Management , which primarily focused on representing U.S. football athletes. Individuals already at PlayersRep Sports will immediately come in to operate as the football division at Young Money APAA. Existing PlayersRep Sports clients include New England Patriots' Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon, Philadelphia Eagles' Lane Johnson, Cleveland Browns' Jason McCourty, Denver Broncos' Todd Davis and Oakland Raiders' Seth Roberts. Veteran agents Ken Sarnoff, David Lee, Cody Recchion and Nicole Lynn will continue their employment, but at Young Money APAA. "Our current and future clients are the ones that will really benefit from this move," said PlayersRep Sports co-founder Andy Simms. "The goal is to be the best sports agency, and with the resources, connections, and staff we now have at Young Money APAA, we will make it happen." Young Money APAA is based in Dallas. The acquisition of PlayersRep Sports will allow the company to expand its offices to Cleveland, Chicago and North Carolina.