01 — The shift
Sports Endorsements · by Talent Mates

The next generation of athletes isn't choosing brands.
Their advisors are.

A new layer of trust now sits between every athlete, artist, and creator and the brands they wear. This is how a category partnership begins.

02 — The inversion
The race engineer principle

In Formula 1, brands don't sponsor the driver.
They sponsor the team.

Talent Mates applies that principle across football, music, founders, and creators. The agent is the team.

03 — The agent
One team. One roster.

MATE.

Athletes and the people brands want to reach. One AI agent, already inside the daily decisions.

04 — The offer
Three tiers · one agent

Title. Category. Launch.

Title Partner — one brand alongside MATE. Category Partner — three non-competing brands. Launch Partner — a single decisive moment.

05 — The invitation
By invitation · London

Inaugural partnerships open for 2026.

A small group of category-leading brands will define the first season of this model. Conversations are open for the remainder of this window.

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The principle

Talent Mates doesn't sell AI.
Talent Mates sells the edge.

Internal manifesto · used here on the record
The roster

One agent.
The category position.

A brand partnership is an agreement with the agent — not with its users. The agent does not retire, transfer, or change kit.

01 Football intelligence

MATE.

The race engineer for coaches, scouts, agents, and academy directors. Used inside the daily decisions that shape players and squads — every day, at every level of the game.

Brand fit Performance · Kit · Equipment · Mobility
The offer

Three tiers.
One partnership shape.

MATE accepts one Title Partner, up to three Category Partners, and a small number of Launch Partners per season. Category exclusivity protected by contract.

01
Title Partner
One brand alongside MATE. Named in product identity, founder communications, and every market-facing moment. Multi-year. Category exclusive.
  • Permanent presence inside MATE's identity
  • Co-named at every launch, founder series, and flagship report
  • First refusal on every category opportunity
  • Three-year minimum term
02
Category Partner
Up to three brands, in non-competing categories. Presence at the moments where the category is relevant — kit, equipment, mobility, nutrition.
  • Category exclusivity within MATE's audience
  • Co-presence at category-relevant MATE moments
  • Brand integrated into editorial and partnership content
  • Annual licence
03
Launch Partner
A single decisive moment. Wrap a feature launch, a seasonal campaign, a founder series, or a flagship report. The on-ramp to deeper partnership.
  • One activation, fully wrapped
  • Editorial and content built around the moment
  • Right of first conversation on category renewal
  • Activation-based commitment
Why this model

Three reasons a brand chooses the agent over the ambassador.

01
The agent doesn't get injured, transferred, or cancelled.
Ambassador deals carry single-person risk. An agent compounds in authority every quarter — closer to a media property than a personality contract.
02
A decision-maker audience, not a reach audience.
MATE reaches the people who decide what players wear, use, ride, and endorse — coaches, scouts, agents, academy directors. Not impressions. Adjacency to the daily call.
03
A category position no ambassador can hold.
A player signs contracts and moves on. MATE is the infrastructure the football industry is quietly building around. Partnering with the agent is partnering with the category — for the decade ahead.
Begin the conversation

If your brand belongs at the next inflection — tell us where.

Send a short note about the agent, category, and tier that fits. We reply from London within two working days. All enquiries are read by the founder.

By submitting, you agree to be contacted by Talent Mates Limited regarding this enquiry. We do not share enquiries with third parties.

Received in London

Your enquiry is in. The founder will reply.

Expect a personal note from Vitalii Lomov within two working days. In the meantime, your message is being read in London — not by an inbox filter.