Roger Federer has teamed up with longtime agent Tony Godsick and two additional American investors to form their own management firm, called Team8. Federer and Godsick, who left IMG in the spring of 2012, will run the company out of Cleveland, Ohio.
Team8 has not wasted any time adding clients to its name. Not only will it represent Federer, of course, but fellow tennis stars Juan Martin Del Potro and Grigor Dimitrov are also on board. Del Potro has already signed with the agency, while Dimitrov confirmed that he would officially join effective January 1 of 2014.
Godsick expressed an interest in eventually creating events and adding athletes outside of tennis to his clientele, but the plan is to represent big names and big names only.
“We’re trying to be a boutique agency that will manage just a small stable of iconic athletes,” he explained. “We’re really going to try to be selective here. Some of the other groups, they look to sign as many players as they can and hope a few of them stick and make it, and they really go after the juniors. We’re not going to.”
For now, Federer will be more of a client than a partner.
“I can sell Roger Federer really well, but nobody sells Roger better than Roger,” Godsick said. “I always joke with him, ‘Look, you’ve been really successful on the tennis court, but I promise you, you’ll be more successful when you’re done playing tennis.'”
Ricky, any idea why it’s headquartered in Cleveland?
Godsick lives in the Cleveland suburbs
Well, can’t wait for Fed’s post match pressers when both Delpo and Baby Fed start giving him the once over……….