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- Tom Negri appointed head of Octagon Rugby
- Italian national team flanker Sebastian Negri among more than 20 players that will now be represented by Octagon
- Agency also looking at “developing side of the sport”, including women’s rugby and emerging nations
The Octagon agency has bolstered its fledgling rugby union business with the acquisition of Prosport International’s rugby division and is now looking to add more “top end” players to its roster, SportsPro can reveal.
Italian national team flanker Sebastian Negri and prop Simone Ferrari are among more than 20 Prosport clients who will now be represented by Octagon, which has also brought over Tom Negri, the brother of Sebastian, to lead its rugby division.
Octagon, which already represents male and female athletes across North America’s major leagues, as well as in soccer, golf, tennis, and Olympic sports, started building its rugby business in 2019. Despite signing England internationals and twin brothers Tom and Ben Curry in May 2021, the growth of that division has been held up by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking exclusively to SportsPro, Franco Barocas, managing director of Octagon Rugby and Cricket, said the agency now wants to expand its rugby business by signing more “top end players” and focusing on the “developing side of the sport”, including women’s rugby and emerging nations with aspirations of being more competitive on the global stage.
“Octagon Rugby’s focus is global,” said Barocas, who will lead the worldwide integration of Octagon’s expanded presence in rugby alongside Clifford Bloxham, senior vice president and head of Octagon UK talent and properties. “We’re a global company, and it would be a waste not to utilise our global network for the benefit of rugby players everywhere in the world.
“We will however focus on southern Africa, Europe, Japan, and the USA initially, and probably in that chronological order.”
Octagon initially set out to secure the services of a rugby agent that could work on its behalf in South Africa and major European markets before the possibility emerged of absorbing the rugby division at Prosport, which it previously held discussions about acquiring in its entirety back in 2003.
Once the option materialised to acquire Prosport, whose client roster also includes several United Rugby Championship (URC) players, Barocas said the deal represented an opportunity for the agency to “take five steps forward” in a sport it wants to be present in globally.
Octagon’s decision to grow its rugby business comes in a Rugby World Cup year and at a time when the sport is in a state of flux. A handful of clubs in England’s Premiership Rugby have fallen into administration over the past 12 months, while some of the major national boards in the southern hemisphere have either held talks or done deals with private equity companies to secure much-needed investment.
However, Barocas said the position the sport finds itself “reinforced” Octagon’s decision to get into rugby rather than make it hesitant.
“We have no doubt that rugby is one of the major team sports in the world, and while it is a top three sport only in a handful of countries, it is a top ten sport in many, many more,” Barocas continued. “And it’s in the developing countries where the opportunity lies.
“In South Africa, we have the dual benefit of being one of the handful of countries where rugby is a major sport, but simultaneously we also have the understanding of how developing countries work both in sport in general and in rugby in particular, and we believe there are several very interesting opportunities becoming available in rugby.”
A handful of US-headquartered agencies have expanded their efforts in rugby union in recent years, emboldened by the belief that the sport has significant unrealised commercial potential.
At the same time, while being household names within the game, few rugby union players have been able to transcend the sport to become truly recognised global stars. Barocas believes Octagon has the capabilities and relationships to grow the profile of the individuals it represents, whether by negotiating “the best contracts” for them or securing “the best possible commercial deals”.
That expertise is something that appealed to Sebastian Negri.
“I am extremely excited to be joining Octagon,” he said. “They are a world-renowned sports agency with a global reach. I have already been impressed by their commercial ideas and the connections they have in the industry, which I believe can only my benefit my brand and career development, even after the end of my playing career. I look forward to an exciting journey ahead with the team.”
Moving forward, Barocas said the growth of Octagon’s rugby business will follow a “well-defined” strategy and is likely to be “more organic”, rather than through further acquisitions.
“We believe we will be beneficially differentiated from many agencies by proving that we add value, that we maximise revenue from playing contracts, that we can build brands around the top players and commercialise those brands in a way few others can,” he added. “And that we can help players transition from being players on the field, to players off the field.”
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