Key Takeaways
- Travis Kelce and Publicis Sports announced TEKTA, a new NIL consulting and activation venture, in a joint statement Tuesday, August 18, 2026.
- Publicis Sports says the venture gives brands access to a network spanning 45,000 Division I student-athletes and 68 Power Four universities.
- Kelce’s agency, 3 Arts Sports, will operate as TEKTA’s strategic partner while Kelce serves in an advisory role.
What TEKTA Offers Brands
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Publicis Sports this week launched TEKTA, a new NIL consulting venture designed to help brands identify, activate and measure partnerships with college athletes and universities, according to a press release. The offering combines Publicis Sports’ advertiser relationships, fan intelligence and measurement tools with Kelce’s own experience in the space.
Publicis Sports says clients will be able to activate NIL talent from the national level down to the local level, tailored to a brand’s objectives, audience and target market. The company frames the effort as a way to move faster while staying compliant with national and institutional NIL rules, which vary by school and conference.
According to the release, a limited number of Publicis Sports clients will initially have access to TEKTA as the venture gets underway.
Kelce’s Role and 3 Arts Sports’ Involvement
Kelce will serve as an advisor to TEKTA, while his agency, 3 Arts Sports, takes on the role of strategic operating partner, drawing on its existing relationships with schools. Publicis Sports is also contributing its own school connections to the venture.
Beyond brand activation, the release states that schools and athletes participating through TEKTA can access training and education programs, along with guidance on branding and partnerships. 3 Arts Sports will additionally provide athletes with financial literacy training, national brand opportunities and long-term career and brand development support.
“The fluid NIL and college sports landscape has everyone scrambling to keep up,” Kelce said in a statement. “I am excited to leverage my lived experience and professional perspective to help close the gap for brands and athletes alike.”
Part of a Broader Publicis Sports Push
The TEKTA launch follows Publicis’ recent rollout of Influential Sports, a separate offering that connects brands with fans at scale through creator-led marketing, also built on Publicis Sports’ fan intelligence and measurement capabilities.
Publicis Sports CEO Suzy Deering said the venture addresses a persistent gap for advertisers trying to combine local relevance with national scale. “This has been challenging, if not impossible, to do from a brand standpoint, given all the pain points,” Deering said. “Through the unique combination of Publicis Sports, Travis and 3 Arts Sports, we’re able to bring our strengths together to do this seamlessly for our clients.”
A Limited Client Rollout to Start
TEKTA enters a college NIL market that both partners describe as fragmented, with rules that shift by school and conference and a talent pool that spans thousands of athletes across hundreds of programs. For now, Publicis Sports says access will be limited to a select group of existing clients as the venture builds out its operations, with Kelce, 3 Arts Sports and Publicis Sports each contributing a different layer of the network needed to run it at scale.
Source: Athletic Business, Andy Berg, August 19, 2026, https://www.athleticbusiness.com/operations/marketing/article/15832818/chiefs-star-travis-kelce-teams-with-publicis-on-nil-venture
Source: Yahoo Sports/On3, Nick Schultz, August 18, 2026, https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/travis-kelce-partners-with-publicis-sports-to-launch-nil-activation-201616638.html
Image: Tisch Official
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How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
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Hosted by Cameron Korab, founder of Youth Sports Business Report, Jr. Sports Marketing features candid 1-on-1 conversations with the brands, athletes, leagues, and innovators building the future of youth sports. Each episode breaks down how the smartest brands are activating, building equity, and winning with youth sports families. If you’re an operator, founder, investor, or marketer trying to understand where this space is headed, this is your show.
Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
