Say what you like about Jay-Z, but never accuse him of lacking ambition.
Music? Completed it, mate. Entertainment? Been there, done it. Fashion? He wears the T-shirt. In fact, he probably designed it.
Now, the rap legend is looking to make his presence felt in the world of sport. And he’s already made a pretty good start.
“We’re not trying to be the biggest agency in the world,” says Michael Yormark, fixing a stare. “We just want to be the best.”
Yormark is the president of Roc Nation Sports International and is speaking to Goal from the company’s newly-opened office in the heart of London, a short walk from Great Portland Street tube station.
“It’s been a big year,” he reflects. “A busy period, for sure, but an exciting one.”
Yormark, American born and educated at Ohio University, heads up a team of 25 full-time employees – that number will expand significantly, he says, in the coming months – whose aim is simple; to make Roc Nation Sports the No.1 place for athlete representation across the world.
The company, an offshoot of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation empire, may only have founded in 2013 but its growth, unsurprisingly, has been rapid. In America they look after the interests of stars such as NFL stars Dez Bryant and Todd Gurley, as well as NBA ace Kyrie Irving. Boxer Maurice Hooker is also on board, part of a 90-strong stable of elite athletes.
That stable has been added to in recent years as Yormark and his team have sought to penetrate the world of football, representing players both on and off the pitch. Jerome Boateng, the Bayern Munich and Germany defender, became their first ‘soccer’ client in 2015, and he has been joined since by the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel, Samuel Chukwueze and Eric Bailly.
GOAL
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