The pandemic may have upended the sports world, but business is booming for its top agencies.
By the numbers: The 40 most valuable sports agencies in the world negotiated deals worth over $56 billion in 2020 and brought in commissions worth $2.9 billion — a 10% rise from 2019 and a 55% gain since 2015, per Forbes.
Creative Artists Agency tops the rankings for 2020 and was the top agency by commissions in the NFL and NBA, second in the NHL and fourth in MLB.
Klutch Sports Group — founded by LeBron James' agent Rich Paul — had the best year, jumping all the way to No. 8 in terms of contracts negotiated.
Top agents: MLB superagent Scott Boras sits atop the list after negotiating $3.2 billion worth of contracts and bringing in $161.1 million in commissions.
Rounding out the top five are three soccer agents — Jonathan Barnett, Jorge Mendes and Mino Raiola — and NBA agent Jeff Schwartz.
The rest of the top 10 features three MLB agents — Casey Close, Joel Wolfe, and Sam and Seth Levinson — plus Paul and NFL agent David Mulugheta.