BEVERLY HILLS, CA: WME, a subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., Thursday announced it has signed a deal to acquire basketball representation firm BDA Sports Management.
In 2020, WME Sports made a minority investment in BDA to bring the basketball agency into WME Sports. This month, WME Sports will acquire the remaining ownership interests in BDA and its founder Bill Duffy will officially join WME Sports as head of its basketball division. BDA agents, staff and clients will operate under WME Sports once the deal closes.
“It is hard to name a basketball agent more respected across the league than Bill. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have him and his team fully join WME Sports as we continue this chapter of tremendous growth,” said WME Sports co-heads Karen Brodkin and Josh Pyatt. “BDA has been a great addition to WME Sports as a whole and we’re excited to continue building on this success.”
Bill Duffy founded BDA Sports Management in 1998 and is one of the most successful and respected agents in professional sports. Throughout his career, Duffy has represented 30 NBA Draft lottery picks, 44 NBA All-Star selections, and 15 NBA Champions. Duffy and his team today represent more than 40 NBA players including perennial NBA All-Star and MVP candidate 23-year-old superstar Luka Dončić, 2021-22 NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, 2022 No.2-overall pick Chet Holmgren, as well as RJ Barrett from the New York Knicks, Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns (co-repped with Innovate Sports), Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics, who last year helped lead the team to the NBA Finals. Duffy also represents a pair of 2022-23 Rookie of the Year candidates in Bennedict Mathurin of the Indiana Pacers (co-repped with Innovate Sports) and Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Duffy’s all-time client list also includes Basketball Hall-of-Fame honorees Yao Ming and Steve Nash.
“I feel as motivated as ever for this next chapter of my career leading WME Sports’ basketball division,” said Duffy. “BDA and WME Sports have worked seamlessly together the last two years and I’m eager to formalize this partnership and continue providing the best services and support to our clients throughout their careers.”
Duffy will continue to work closely with WME Sports head of basketball marketing and off-court strategy, Carlos Fleming, and with the co-heads of WME Sports Karen Brodkin and Josh Pyatt, as well as Joe Branch, who joined WME Sports last year as head of basketball strategy and business development.
WME Sports’ current roster of clients includes boldface players across the NBA, from impact veterans to rising young stars. Last year, WME Sports, through its partnerships with BDA and Innovate, netted the most lottery picks of any agency at the NBA Draft.
The past two years have marked a period of significant expansion for WME Sports, which brought together IMG’s legacy tennis, golf, action, and Olympic sports business with WME’s sports marketing and content business that helped build media brands for iconic clients like Serena Williams (Nine Two Six Productions), LeBron James (Springhill), Peyton Manning (Omaha Productions), Kylian Mbappe (Zebra Valley) and the late Kobe Bryant (Gravity). WME Sports has continued building its on-field and on-court representation services across football, basketball (including women’s basketball), and baseball as well.
As part of this transaction, WME Sports and Duffy will continue to have a commercial relationship with BDA International (BDAI) for international recruiting.
