Sports giant celebrates five years: Roc Nation ‘just getting started’

The global agency that represents sports icons such as Siya Kolisi has just celebrated its five-year anniversary as its footprint in South Africa continues to increase.

Roc Nation Sports International has celebrated its fifth-year anniversary. Image: X/@RocNationSI

Ever since 2019, Roc Nation Sports International has become increasingly well-known in South Africa after first finalising a management deal with beloved Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.

Since then, the likes of Cheslin Kolbe, Aphelele Fassi, Jordan Hendrikse and Beast Mtawarira have been added to their books in the rugby space, while they also represent former netball captain Bongi Msomi and boast a long-standing consultancy partnership with Mamelodi Sundowns.

As part of the expansion, some ‘next gen’ talent continues to be recruited, with South Africa clearly seen as a fruitful market for the agency, which is especially well known as it was founded by American superstar artist Jay-Z.

Five years ago, the agency opens its sports division out of its London office, and since then there has been rapid growth both in terms of their client roster as well as their scope of work.

On a global scale, in addition to representing world-class athletes such as Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Vini Jr (Real Madrid), Maro Itoje (England rugby star and Saracens captain), Marcus Smith (England and Harlequins playmaker), they have also consulted to some of the biggest organisations in world sport.

Last year, RNSI announced its acquisition of the prestigious Brazilian football agency, TFM Agency, and launched RNSI Productions, an initiative aimed at enhancing the story-telling capabilities of clients and partners around the world.

In a series of social media videos released by RNSI Productions this week, president Michael Yormark spoke about the organisation’s origin story, vision and plans for the future.

“Today we celebrate our five-year anniversary for Roc Nation Sports International, and what an incredible journey it has been… When I take a step back and reflect on the last five years, it’s truly hard to believe that a dream, a vision that started in 2017 and 2018 has now become a reality, and boy, the last five years have been truly amazing, and we’ve accomplished so much.

“During the last five years we entered the world of rugby and cricket, and we started doing sports and entertainment consulting for some of the biggest brands… Yes, football is the centrepiece, but we’ve diversified, we’ve grown and now we’re touching different sports throughout Europe and the world.”

Expanding on what the future holds in store, Yormark said the “best is yet to come”.

“Our vision from day one was simple, Roc Nation Sports International wanted to be different, we wanted to create a different approach to athlete representation in Europe and around the world. An approach that included both on field and off, we wanted to be the agency that created incredible opportunities for our players…

“We wanted to be the agency that helped our players prepare for post career, and at the end of their careers, to be able to choose what they wanted to do – and not what they had to do. And we wanted to be the agency that helped our players and our clients make a difference in their communities.”