Always Alpha Acquires Tennis Firm, Signs Sloane Stephens in Major Play

LOS ANGELES, CA – April 08, 2026 – In a move signaling a significant shift in the landscape of athlete representation, Always Alpha, the sports talent agency built exclusively for women, has announced its first acquisition. The firm has brought Courtside Talent, a tennis-focused management and advisory firm, into its fold, marking a strategic entry into one of women's sports' most commercially powerful ecosystems. The deal also brings Grand Slam champion and entrepreneur Sloane Stephens onto Always Alpha's burgeoning roster.

The acquisition is a bold declaration of intent from an agency co-founded by CEO Cosette Chaput, Olympic icon Allyson Felix, and her business partner Wes Felix. Launched with the explicit mission to overhaul an outdated system, Always Alpha is positioning itself not merely as a representative, but as a builder of empires for female athletes.

A New Playbook for Women's Sports

From its inception, Always Alpha has aimed to dismantle the traditional, often transactional, talent management model - one its founders argue was never built to serve the multi-faceted careers of modern female athletes. "From day one, Always Alpha was built to challenge a system that was never designed for women - and to replace it with something better," said Cosette Chaput, Co-Founder and CEO of Always Alpha, in a statement.

This mission is deeply rooted in the personal and professional experiences of its leadership. Co-founder Allyson Felix, the most decorated American track & field athlete in history, has been a vocal advocate for change. Her public split with Nike over maternity protections and subsequent launch of her own footwear and lifestyle brand, Saysh, in 2019, served as a powerful case study in the necessity for female athletes to build their own platforms. Always Alpha is, in many ways, the institutionalization of the lessons Felix learned, designed to empower the next generation of athletes to pursue ownership, equity, and long-term financial independence from the outset.

The agency's approach moves beyond securing endorsements, focusing instead on building enduring, multi-dimensional careers that recognize athletes as investors, entrepreneurs, mothers, and advocates. As a privately held and independent company, Always Alpha provides its clients with dedicated resources to build brands across media, entertainment, and venture capital.

The Strategic Serve into Tennis

The choice of tennis for its first major expansion is a calculated one. As a sport with a long history of global reach, high-profile female stars, and significant commercial success, tennis provides a fertile ground for Always Alpha's ambitious model. "Tennis has always been a blueprint for what's possible when women's sports are valued at a global, cultural, and commercial level," Chaput noted.

By acquiring Courtside Talent, Always Alpha gains immediate, specialized expertise. Courtside was founded by Casey Reede, a former Division I tennis player at USC, on a philosophy that mirrors Always Alpha's own. "Courtside was built on the belief that women's sports don't need fixing - the ecosystem around them does," stated Reede. Her firm had already cultivated a roster of WTA players, including Sabrina Santamaria and Desirae Krawczyk, by focusing on strategic brand partnerships and content strategies.

Reede will now join Always Alpha as its Head of Strategy & Growth, tasked with leading revenue generation and spearheading the continued expansion of the firm's tennis division. The integration of Courtside’s specialized knowledge with Always Alpha’s disruptive mission creates a formidable new player in the competitive world of tennis representation, challenging established giants like IMG and Wasserman.

The Athlete as CEO: The Sloane Stephens Factor

The immediate headliner of this acquisition is the addition of Sloane Stephens to the Always Alpha roster. Stephens is the quintessential modern athlete-entrepreneur, making her a perfect flagship client for the agency's new tennis division. Her career and business interests extend far beyond the baseline, embodying the multi-dimensional success Always Alpha seeks to foster.

Stephens' business portfolio is a testament to her strategic vision. In 2013, she founded the Sloane Stephens Foundation, which has impacted over 50,000 children in underserved communities through tennis and education. More recently, she launched Doc & Glo, a clean body care brand inspired by her late grandparents, which is rapidly expanding into retail and hospitality. As an active investor and advisor in the wellness and tech sectors, Stephens has a history of structuring her endorsement deals with brands like FP Movement and Cornerstone OnDemand to include equity and long-term investment, demonstrating a focus on partnership over simple sponsorship.

Her move to Always Alpha is a powerful alignment of philosophies. It provides her with a management team that inherently understands and is built to support her identity as a CEO and cultural force, not just a tennis player. For the agency, signing an athlete of Stephens' caliber and business acumen provides immediate proof of concept. "Bringing Courtside into Always Alpha, alongside a generational talent like Sloane, allows us to accelerate that vision," Chaput explained.

Riding a Wave of Unprecedented Growth

This strategic maneuver is not occurring in a vacuum. It comes at a time of explosive, record-breaking growth across women's sports. Global revenues for women's elite sports are projected to surpass $3 billion in 2026, a staggering 340% increase from 2022, according to a recent Deloitte report. This boom is fueled by skyrocketing viewership and expanding brand investment.

In 2025 alone, American audiences consumed a record 46 billion minutes of women's sports content. The WNBA and NWSL saw record-breaking viewership, with one NWSL match surpassing one million viewers on a national broadcast for the first time. Tennis has been a major part of this surge, with the 2025 US Open Women's Final viewership increasing 50% year-over-year. This surge in engagement is attracting a new wave of commercial interest, with brands recognizing the immense and influential purchasing power of female fans.

By entering the high-value tennis market now, with a disruptive model and a star athlete-entrepreneur, Always Alpha is not just participating in this growth; it is positioning itself to lead it. The acquisition is a clear signal that the future of sports representation for women will be defined by those who champion not just careers, but lasting influence and legacy.