Travis Kelce and Publicis Launch Tekta, an Agency Connecting Brands to 45,000 College Athletes
Travis Kelce is teaming up with advertising giant Publicis Groupe to launch Tekta, a new agency that helps brands strike endorsement deals with college athletes and measure whether those deals actually work.
The joint venture, announced on 18 August 2026 according to Variety, brings together three parties: Publicis Groupe, the global advertising holding company; 3 Arts Sports, part of Lionsgate's 3 Arts Entertainment; and Kelce himself, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end whose profile has surged well beyond the football field.
Tekta's job is to connect advertisers with college athletes under NIL rules — the name, image and likeness framework that, since 2021, has allowed US university students to earn money from endorsements for the first time. The agency will lean on advertiser relationships curated by Publicis Sports, Publicis Groupe's sports-media investment arm, led by CEO Suzy Deering. Kelce brings his own expertise and profile to the offering. 3 Arts Sports, which works with athletes and colleges directly, rounds out the network.
The scale of that network is striking. A select group of Publicis Sports clients will get access to an NIL pool covering 45,000 Division 1 student-athletes across 68 universities, Variety reported. That is a large slice of the top tier of US college sport, where football and basketball players command the most attention but athletes across dozens of sports are now eligible to sign sponsorship deals.
The money involved is substantial. The NIL market is estimated at $4.5 billion, according to Opendorse, a platform that connects student-athletes with marketers (Variety). Tekta is positioned to take a cut of that by acting as the middleman between brands and athletes — handling the matchmaking and then measuring the effectiveness of each agreement, which has been a persistent gap in the still-young NIL industry.
The partnership builds on an existing relationship. In June 2025, 3 Arts Entertainment acquired A&A Management Group, a boutique sports management firm whose roster included Kelce, bringing the player into the Lionsgate-owned company as it pushed into sports representation (Variety). Tekta extends that foothold from representing athletes to brokering the deals that pay them.
For brands, the pitch is access to a pre-built network of athletes and universities, plus the ability to track return on investment. For student-athletes, it means another route to sponsorship dollars in a market that has grown quickly but remains fragmented, with deals ranging from a few hundred dollars to seven-figure agreements for the biggest names in college football and basketball.
What makes Tekta stand out is the combination behind it. Publicis brings the advertiser relationships and media-buying infrastructure. 3 Arts brings the talent roster and university ties. Kelce brings the name recognition that opens doors on both sides. Whether that combination captures a meaningful share of a $4.5 billion market will depend on how many brands decide college athletes are worth the spend — and whether Tekta can prove the deals deliver.
