Portas Consulting find ideal fit in CAA Sports

Article posted by Coliseum, May 16^th, 2025

Image: Coliseum GSVA

The CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has agreed on a deal to acquire Portas Consulting, a premier global management consulting firm, subject to customary regulatory approval.

‘VARIETY’ stated that the Executive Chairman and Founder David Portas and the Managing Partner, Portas Consulting, Donal McElwee, along with their team of 160 consultants and staff who have completed projects in more than 40 countries worldwide, will join the agency.

Los Angeles (US)-based the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is the leading entertainment and sports agency with global expertise in filmed and live entertainment, digital media, publishing, sponsorship sales and endorsements, media finance, consumer investing, fashion, trademark licensing, and philanthropy.

Portas Consulting help the sports organizations achieve sustainable success through innovative strategies and operational excellence. They are dedicated to maximizing the benefits of sport and physical activity for the Governments, the sports bodies and corporates and through them for the society. Portas Consulting has offices in Dubai (UAE), London (UK), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), and Singapore.

‘VARIETY’ further stated that the award-winning sports consultancy, which will be rebranded to CAA Portas, collaborates with the Governments, the federations, the Olympic committees, the leagues, the clubs, the investors, Ministers, Boards, the C-suite executives, the senior sports leaders, and the private sector organizations to develop innovative strategies that improve performance, enhance participation, optimize governance, and drive commercial growth. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pointed out Paul Danforth, CAA Managing Director and President, CAA Sports, “The global sports marketplace is evolving rapidly creating unprecedented opportunities for the agency and our clients in both established and emerging markets. As CAA Sports continues its international growth plan we remain focused on creating new service offerings that we can deliver to the clients to accelerate their business objectives. The Portas Consulting is a best-in-class management consultancy whose like-minded leadership and collaborative approach to client service will fit seamlessly into the CAA Sports ecosystem. By adding this unique expertise to our already robust suite of services we are uniquely positioned to help shape the future of the global sports industry.”

Founded in 2006 Portas Consulting consistently ranks among the top sports management consulting firms providing its clients in the sector with a more tailored and specialist service and deeper subject matter expertise than the generalist management consultancies. Delivering impact across all areas of the sports economy Portas’ recent programs include: Transforming the sports economies, creating national sports policies, increasing sports participation, winning bids for the major events, optimizing the leagues and the clubs, securing increases in funding into sport at a national and City level, optimizing the global sporting calendars, supporting the federations, the leagues and the clubs with their investments and long-term commercial sustainability and providing sports investment advisory, and feasibility studies for the sports assets.

Averred McElwee, “Portas’ mission is to transform the world through sport. We have grown organically by 30 percent annually throughout the last 10 years to become the leading independent advisor to the senior leaders in sport. Our new goal is to expand even faster to create a world leading end-to-end advisory business. The CAA Sports is the ideal fit to achieve this growth and diversification for the benefit of the industry, our clients and our people.”

The CAA Sports is a diversified sports enterprise with global operations encompassing 18 divisions including property sales, brand consulting, media rights, executive search, venue development, and athlete representation. Since its inception the CAA Sports has completed more than $11 billion in new sponsorship business on behalf of its property clients and orchestrated precedent-setting naming rights agreements including the National Football League (NFL) team San Francisco 49ers’ 68,500-capacity Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Golden State Warriors’ the 18,064-capacity Chase Center in San Francisco, California, and the NBA team Los Angeles Clippers’ 18,000-capacity Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The agency’s industry-leading sports media advisory practice has structured and negotiated more than $100 billion in media rights deals since its formation in 2010. The award-winning CAA Brand Consulting is currently advising, managing and activating on more than $4 billion in sponsorship rights deals on behalf of its global brand clients.

In 2017, the agency launched CAA ICON, the leading Owner’s Representative and strategic management consulting firm, which oversees the development, design and construction of major stadiums worldwide and the CAA Executive Search becoming the first major talent agency in the United States to build an executive search practice serving the sports, entertainment and the media industries. The agency most recently announced the launch of CAA Global Family Office Advisory to help support the unique complexities of generational wealth. Providing a level of strategic insight, cultural fluency and global connectivity that is unmatched in the industry the CAA Global Family Office Advisory helps the Family Office clients navigate structure and design, family governance and operational efficiencies and provides board, leadership, philanthropic and human capital advisory.

The CAA Sports represents more than 3,000 of the world’s best athletes in such sports as baseball, football, hockey, basketball, and soccer in addition to coaches, on-air broadcasters and sports personalities. For nine consecutive years the agency has topped Forbes’ Most Valuable Sports Agencies list with $14.1 billion in current active contract value under management and nearly $4 billion in client marketing revenues.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 420 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue