- Emma Hayes has signed with YMU for management, joining the agency's sports and broadcasting roster.
- The deal is led by YMU CEO Mary Bekhait.
- Hayes moves on from SMAC Entertainment, which signed her in December 2024.
- She remains with The Blair Partnership for literary representation.
Emma Hayes has signed with YMU for management; the agency confirmed this week. The U.S. Women’s National Team head coach and broadcaster joins a roster that spans sports, TV, and entertainment, with the deal led by YMU CEO Mary Bekhait.
Hayes brings serious credentials. She won an unprecedented run of trophies at Chelsea Women before taking the USWNT to Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games, and she’s since built a second career as a football analyst and broadcaster.
She previously signed with talent firm SMAC Entertainment in December 2024 to expand her media and brand presence; that partnership now shifts to YMU, while she continues to be represented by The Blair Partnership for literary work, including her 2023 book Kill The Unicorn.
The signing lands as YMU continues stacking commercially proven talent under Bekhait, who has been steering the entertainment division since Lucy Loveridge’s exit earlier this year, a move that also saw the agency promote five agents into expanded entertainment roles.
This follows a similar pattern to April’s signing of Irish broadcaster Vogue Williams, another multi-platform personality brought in to work across YMU’s entertainment and commercial divisions.
For YMU, Hayes is a statement addition. The agency already represents major broadcasting and entertainment names, and adding one of women’s football’s most recognizable figures fits its broader push into sports-adjacent media, speaking, and brand partnerships.
Takeaways
This isn’t just a coach picking new representation; it’s another sign that women’s football personalities are being treated like full-blown media brands.
Hayes has spent two years building out a broadcasting and public-speaking profile alongside her USWNT job, and YMU’s infrastructure is built for exactly that kind of multi-channel career.
Does YMU push Hayes further into UK broadcasting, given the agency’s TV relationships? Could this signal more women’s football figures moving toward major UK talent agencies? Does Hayes’s growing media footprint eventually create tension with her coaching commitments?
