Excel Sports Management, the prominent sports agency that covers a wide range of areas, has announced the rebrand of its Nolan Partners executive search business.
Now known as Excel Search and Advisory, the move further consolidates the Excel brand under one name.
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Nolan Partners was acquired by Excel Sports Management in February 2022 and its founder, Paul Nolan, will remain as the business segment’s executive chair.
Meanwhile Chad Biagini, a 10-year veteran at Nolan Partners who led its US business, now becomes the president of Excel Search and Advisory, while Stewart King, another long-time Nolan employee, will lead the business’ UK element as the managing director for international.
Biagini said: “By further integrating Nolan’s deep expertise and expanding Excel’s global reach, we’re delivering unrivaled global executive search and leadership advisory services, driving immediate and long-term value to our clients.
"Our goal remains to help organizations win on the biggest stages in the world.”
Nolan added: “We have experienced extraordinary growth over the past three years with Excel and this next step ensures our legacy continues, while also unlocking new global opportunities for our clients.”
Recent successful executive searches conducted by Excel include president of the American football's Houston Texans NFL franchise Mike Tomon, Chelsea soccer club chief revenue officer Casper Stylsvig, and Alexis Lee as president of basketball's Portland Thorns NWSL team.
The NWSL is in a boom period and has added several new franchises to expand the league as of late, including one in Boston, for which Excel Sports Management has been appointed as the partnerships agency of record.
The tie-up will see Excel manage the franchise’s commercial strategy, including the securing of partnerships, with the front-of-shirt, sleeve patch, and training center sponsorship inventory categories identified as of particular note.
The Boston NWSL team will enter the league in 2026, and Excel will work ahead of the launch to develop the team’s partnership portfolio, which it hopes will enable it to compete immediately.
Boston is a prominent sports market in the US, and already has a host of professional franchises in the US major leagues, namely the Boston Celtics (basketball), Boston Red Sox (baseball), Boston Bruins (men’s ice hockey), Boston Fleet (women’s ice hockey), New England Patriots (American football), and the New England Revolution (men’s soccer).
As such, local area sports teams garner strong interest both locally and nationwide, especially considering teams from the area have won 42 national championships.
When announcing the agency's new Boston NWSL partnership, Excel Sports Management's head of properties Jason Miller, said: “Opportunities for brands to align with a new club in a top [designated market area] within a rapidly growing league are scarce, and my group at Excel is eager to officially bring these highly coveted assets to the market.”
