Virgil van Dijk & Kai Havertz team up with LA Lakers sensation LeBron James as UTA takes over agency
The agency representing some of the biggest names in football – including Virgil van Dijk – is now under the UTA umbrella with LeBron James.
WHAT HAPPENED?
ROOF (Representatives Of Outstanding Footballers) has been acquired by UTA (United Talent Agency), expanding the group’s global sporting reach by entering the soccer market. It is a move that will put management of footballing superstars like Van Dijk and Kai Havertz under the same parent company as LeBron and other top basketball players.
In recent years, UTA’s sporting portfolio has been led by KLUTCH, which represents basketball icon James and has negotiated $4 billion worth of contracts on behalf of its clients across the NBA, WNBA, NFL and MLB. As part of the takeover, UTA said that ROOF will integrate with KLUTCH “to reimagine the landscape of representation for a new generation of top football stars”. But ROOF will retain its own name and founding management. As it stands, ROOF represents around 130 players and 20 coaches across Europe’s big five leagues. But the ambiiton is international expansion beyond current bases in London, Madrid and Munich.
