“Sports represent a nexus of culture and entertainment,” says Andrew (Ace) Thomas, co-founder of Culture Sports and Entertainment. With these words, he sets the tone for a sports agency that has taken the industry by storm. Culture Sports and Entertainment was founded by Thomas and his partner, Chris Gaston, with a singular goal: to offer athletes and professionals a multi-dimensional sports agency that blended the best components of major and boutique agencies. And they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Thomas and Gaston have assembled a team of specialists to tackle this industry, including Edric Dennis, Director of Client Services, and Donny Beacham, Director of Player Operations. Together, the team provides a unique experience for its clients. “Navigating an athlete’s career can necessitate relationships and resources that many athletes just do not have the time to acquire and manage,” says Thomas. “Culture Sports and Entertainment was founded to fill in the necessary gaps.”
At Culture Sports and Entertainment, customization is the name of the game. “We aspire to be dynamic in the sense that we not only equip players with the resources they need to develop as athletes, but also in other areas,” adds Thomas. The organization provides a variety of services, ranging from contract negotiation to personal branding to a family-like and friendly environment. “When our clients are at ease, they perform at their best,” Gaston says. “We assist our clients at every stage of their careers, ensuring that all of their needs are addressed as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.”
The firm’s main focus and goal is to make players feel at-home with their manager and staff. “Then we get down to work,” says Thomas. And work they do. With over thirty years of expertise increasing their clients’ revenues and fighting for what they feel their clients are worth, the firm lives and breathes contract negotiation. “We only take on a small number of clients,” says Gaston “because if we do represent a player, we battle for and believe in them mercilessly.”
But what sets Culture Sports and Entertainment apart from other sports agencies is their approach to personal branding. “When developing our players’ professional and media personalities, we consider what they enjoy, don’t enjoy, want, want to avoid, and who they truly are as people,” says Thomas. The firm understands that a blanket brand approach commonly provided to athletes is not in the best interest of the athlete. “We believe that brands should be based around people,” he explains. And in order to do so, you must first get to know the individual.
Culture Sports and Entertainment takes pride in getting to know its clients as well as the industry. The firm will create possibilities for players to pursue their unique interests through their pool of professional contacts. “We feel that sports represent a nexus of culture and entertainment,” says Thomas. “And we are here to redefine the athlete-manager relationship.”
In a world where athletes are often seen as nothing more than a commodity, Culture Sports and Entertainment is a breath of fresh air. They truly aim to provide players with anything they could require and support them in their careers, with Thomas and Gaston happy to take the lead in a world of sports combined with culture and entertainment. “Players are managed by us,” says Thomas. “But we also aim to help them grow as family members and individuals in a society that revolves around culture and media.” Culture Sports and Entertainment is the agency that truly puts the athlete first.
