Publicis Sports, the sports and culture marketing arm of Publicis Groupe, and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce announced the launch of TEKTA, a name, image and likeness consulting and activation offering designed to help brands identify, activate and measure partnerships with collegiate athletes and universities. 3 Arts Sports, the sports division of Lionsgate-owned 3 Arts Entertainment, will serve as the venture’s strategic operating partner.

TEKTA combines Publicis Sports’ advertiser relationships and measurement capabilities with Kelce’s expertise across his commercial portfolio and 3 Arts Sports’ relationships with universities, conferences and collegiate athletic departments. A select group of Publicis Sports clients will get initial access to a network spanning 45,000 Division I student-athletes and 68 Power Four universities, with the ability to activate talent from national to local levels. The partners say the offering can deliver 50% to 70% faster speed to market and a single measurement framework across campaigns, with all activations coordinated with institutional compliance and applicable conference and state requirements.

Athletes working with TEKTA will get training and education opportunities, access to vetted national brand opportunities, transparent deal terms, financial literacy training and career development support through 3 Arts Sports.

The venture arrives as brands face a fragmented NIL market that Opendorse estimates at $4.5 billion, according to the announcement. Opendorse also reports that student-athletes average a 5.7% engagement rate, compared with 1.9% for traditional influencers.

“Many of our clients are looking for ways to connect with customers at a local level, while also delivering scale and laddering up to a regional or national program. This has been challenging, if not impossible, to do from a brand standpoint, given all the pain points,” said Suzy Deering, CEO of Publicis Sports. “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.”

“The sports industry doesn’t need more competition, it needs more connection,” said Aaron and Andre Eanes, 3 Arts Entertainment partners and co-heads of 3 Arts Sports. “Publicis Sports follows the data, Travis has one of the highest value portfolios in all of sports, and our team has spent years building the athlete and university relationships that make these deals actually work.”

“The fluid NIL and college sports landscape has everyone scrambling to keep up,” Kelce said. “I am excited to leverage my lived experience and professional perspective to help close the gap for brands and athletes alike.”

TEKTA follows Publicis Groupe’s earlier launch of Influential Sports, an offering that connects brands with fans at scale through creator-led marketing using Publicis Sports’ fan intelligence and measurement tools. TEKTA extends that strategy to collegiate athletics, folding sports and Influencer Marketing into a single planning process.

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