Published on 26, Oct 2022

Simkins Leads Agency Ripe With Big-Time Potential

One sports agency has a young, hungry, and aggressive CEO leading it to be one of the hottest and fastest growing companies in sports business. He is well-educated, deeply experienced, and hyper focused.  Meet Tanner Simkins of Complete SET Agency. 

Tanner Simkins, founder and CEO of Complete SET Agency, is filling a gap that has gone unattended for some time “No one is doing what we’re doing,” he says. “The agency industry hasn’t changed much in 30 years. Complete SET is ready to change the game.”

Simkins has been involved with athletics his whole life, so he understands the specific needs of both professional and student athletes. “We just opened up to representing student athletes,” he reveals. Since 2021, students can now profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL) due to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court. “Now the NCAA can’t prevent these up and coming young athletes from making money off their talent,” says Simkins. “NIL gives me another avenue to deliver in. I have done deals with traditional sports consumer brands like clothing companies or beverage companies; but I prefer to architect more innovative deals, like with music labels and tech companies, for example. These deals generate buzz for my student athlete clients and a boost to their personal brands. So whether it's in new frontiers like cash compensation or a more straightforward product for promo swap, our primary goal is helping the student athlete.”

Simkin’s youthful mindset is open to innovation and he is prepared to shake things up in the sports industry. “Most of the NIL representation demand is in football and basketball,” he says. “But Complete SET is certified in all sports leagues and we offer a broad range of services, covering everything from deal-making to digital marketing.” His agency is fully licensed, certified, bonded, and insured, and Simkins has diligently trained his team to infuse them with his energy and education.

“We’re also on retainer with some major brands,” he says. “We specialize in the sports entertainment media space and we offer digital strategy, consulting, communications, reputation management, and more. Our clients range from athletes to team owners, league officials, serial entrepreneurs - we actually have a record 6 billionaires on our books,” he adds proudly.

Simkins is multi-talented himself. He’s an executive music producer and songwriter with a platinum level hit, and he’s a published author with several books he’s written and co-written. Few have accomplished in a lifetime what he’s achieved by his thirties as he makes a dent in business leadership.

“What makes SET different is that we’re a smaller agency,” he says. “We have a stellar reputation so we’re carving out a space for ourselves. We compete with big agencies because our clients are ‘big fish’ in a smaller pond. We offer one on one services. They’re part of our family and we’re very hands-on. Our clients receive personalized attention that bigger agencies lack.”

Complete SET Agency is a full-service sports entertainment firm. The team works with multinational brands, professional athletes, entertainers, sports executives, and teams across various athletic industries. The hybrid business agency offers multi-disciplinary services to offer flexibility as clients’ needs change. Complete SET provides digital services such as consulting and marketing. The agency renders business solutions and strategic innovation for companies as well.

For over a decade, the firm has provided strategic options for its professional clients, which has resulted in $50 million+ in dealmaking - this covers a broad variety of categories including deals brokered by the agency for its clients. The success of the business, Simkins shares, is a combination of sweat equity, expertise, and proximity. “Never say can’t,” he says. “Believe in bold ideas, be innovative and different.”

His ideas are bold, indeed - and he has the education and experience to back them up. Simkins achieved a Masters in Sports Business from Columbia University, where he was recognized as a Fellow for both the Ivy Sports and Global Sports Symposiums. He also holds a B.S.e.d. in Finance, and a B.B.A., in Sports Management, from the University of Miami prestigious dual bachelor degree program, where he graduated with honors. 

His written work has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Reuters, NBC Sports, Yahoo Finance, Motley Fool, and other notable platforms. Simkins’ published works include Nico the Basketball Player (2019), Nora Always Stays Busy (2021), and he co-authored The Sport Business Handbook: Insights From 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry (2019). 

Simkins describes Complete SET as an agency with many options for clients. “We offer complete full service solutions in the verticals of sports entertainment and talent,” he shares. “S.E.T is an acronym (sports, entertainment, talent) and a trademark that we own, so the agency name, Complete SET, really has a lot of brand equity tied up in it.”

His firm has grown every year it’s been in business, adding more clients yearly, and seeing more athletes achieving their dream jobs. “We help them set a career path,” says Simkins. “For all our clients, we’re seeing them reach rewarding goals and building a future.”