Klutch Sports Beginnings
Founded in 2012, Klutch Sports Group has steadily climbed the upper echelons of the sports world in momentous fashion.
Their founder is Rich Paul, a Cleveland, Ohio native whose unorthodox career trajectory and close ties with basketball icon LeBron James have him at the center of basketball discourse. What’s unique about this relationship is that it started with a throwback Warren Moon NFL jersey. In 2002, before Rich Paul got on a flight to Atlanta to get more throwback jerseys to sell out of his trunk in Cleveland, a 17-year-old LeBron James spotted the jersey and showed Paul high praise. It was a Columbia blue, Houston Oilers throwback that’s still donned by high-profile athletes today. Rich Paul would go on to sell James a vintage Magic Johnson jersey and a Joe Namath jersey.
Today, the business and friendship they share is because of Paul’s street smarts and savviness. Paul and Klutch Sports Group have come this far because of Paul’s outspokenness and no-nonsense agenda. The mantra, “More Than an Athlete” was stamped by LeBron James, but it rings true for all Klutch business practices. Rich Paul is a pioneer in the ‘life after sports’ notion and non-conforming pathways for athletes.
In 2018, he advised his then 18-year-old client, Darius Bazley to do an internship at New Balance for one year and make $1 million; instead of attending college, risking injury before the NBA draft, and make nothing in the process. It was a historic move that sent shockwaves through the college and professional world of sports. In the end, Bazley was selected in the first round of the NBA draft, made $1 million before dribbling one ball, and gained a sponsorship from New Balance — who is also making noise in the world of basketball sneakers.
Klutch Sports Group is currently responsible for $814 million in basketball contracts and 23 clients. They recently acquired Tidal Sports Group, an agency that handles the contracts of some of the top baseball players in the world. Now expanding their reach to baseball, Klutch is entering otherworldly territory in sports management.
