Starting Eleven

What Starting Eleven does

Starting Eleven is a U.S.-based creative and production agency that specializes exclusively in soccer content, delivering long-form features, commercial videos, and global productions from conception through post-production. The company serves four primary client segments: individual athletes, soccer clubs, leagues (including MLS), and consumer brands (including Adidas, Modelo, Kia, and E.l.f. Cosmetics). Its portfolio spans marquee assignments such as World Cup coverage, the EAFC (formerly FIFA) cover, and every significant soccer game played in the United States. The agency positions itself on domain specialization, bilingual and multicultural team capabilities, and an "artist to artist" creative model.

The company's core technology is its creative production capability rather than a proprietary software platform; no APIs, SDKs, integrations, or proprietary technology assets are disclosed. Supporting the agency services is the LA Studio, a Venice Beach production facility featuring a cyc-wall, skylight loft, recording booth, and green room, which is monetized through the Peerspace marketplace for outside bookings including photoshoots, video shoots, podcasts, and castings. The company operates from a Kansas City, MO headquarters and the Venice, CA studio.

Starting Eleven operates a professional services, project-based revenue model with negotiated quotes per engagement and no publicly disclosed pricing. Customer acquisition is driven by direct B2B relationships with enterprise clients, studios, and brands. In July 2026, Footballco, a global soccer media company operating brands such as Goal, Koora, and Mundial, acquired a controlling stake in Starting Eleven, marking Footballco's first investment in production services and integrating the agency into its broader U.S. market push. Starting Eleven continues to operate as a distinct entity within the Footballco ecosystem.

Name

Starting Eleven

Legal name

Starting Eleven

Website

https://startingeleven.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Starting Eleven is a Kansas City-based creative production agency specializing exclusively in soccer content, delivering long-form features, commercial videos, and global productions for athletes, clubs, leagues, and brands. It operates a Venice Beach studio and is controlled by Footballco.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Video Production Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (51211), Motion Picture and Video Production (512110)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

Keywords

• Sports video production
• Soccer content creation
• Commercial video production
• Production studio rental
• Creative production agency

Headquarters

HQ city

North Kansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Production Services: Project-based production agency services including long-form features, commercial videos, and global productions for athletes, clubs, leagues, and brands.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Core offering

Starting Eleven is a U.S.-based soccer-specific production agency delivering long-form features, commercial videos, and global productions from conception through post-production for athletes, clubs, leagues, and consumer brands. The agency also operates LA Studio, a Venice Beach production facility bookable via Peerspace for photoshoots, video shoots, podcasts, and other content production needs.

Product overview

Starting Eleven is a single unified production agency offering soccer-specific creative and production services. The core offering is Starting Eleven Production Services, which delivers long-form features, commercial videos, and global productions from conception to post-production for athletes, clubs, leagues, and brands. Supporting the production services is LA Studio, a Venice Beach-based rental facility with a cyc-wall, skylight loft, recording booth, and green room that can be booked for various content creation needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Starting Eleven Production Services Soccer-specific production agency services delivering long-form features, commercial videos, and global productions from conception to post-production. Work includes World Cup coverage, EAFC (previously FIFA) cover production, and coverage of every significant soccer game played in the United States for athletes, clubs, leagues, and consumer brands.
• LA Studio Venice Beach production studio featuring a cyc-wall, skylight loft, soundproof recording booth, green room, lighting equipment, video equipment, wardrobe rack, dressing room, and street-level loading. Bookable via Peerspace for photoshoots, video shoots, podcasts, documentary interviews, wardrobe stylings, e-commerce, fitness, and modeling castings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Covered the World Cup and the cover of EAFC (previously FIFA)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wasserman: Sports marketing, talent representation, and content agency working with athletes, leagues, brands, and broadcasters across global sports. Comparable to Starting Eleven in serving sports brands and rights holders with creative content and storytelling, but operating at significantly broader scale and across multiple sports.
• 160over90: Endeavor-owned creative agency producing sports, entertainment, and lifestyle content and campaigns for major brands and rights holders. Comparable to Starting Eleven in delivering sports-focused brand storytelling, though serving a broader set of sports and entertainment verticals.
• IMG (Endeavor): Global sports and entertainment company producing content, managing events, and representing rights across major sports. Comparable to Starting Eleven as both produce sports content for leagues, federations, and brands, though IMG operates at much larger scale with established league partnerships globally.
• Octagon: Global sports marketing agency owned by IPG that produces content, manages sponsorships, and runs experiential campaigns for sports leagues, brands, and athletes. Comparable to Starting Eleven as both deliver sports-focused creative and production services to brands and rights holders, though Octagon operates at much larger scale across all major sports.

Direct peers

• Copa90: Global soccer media and content brand producing films, documentaries, and short-form content targeting football fans. Comparable to Starting Eleven as both are soccer-specialized content producers with similar audience focus, though Copa90 is primarily a media brand rather than a B2B production agency.
• Tifo Football: Soccer-focused video content brand producing tactical analysis, documentaries, and storytelling content for football fans globally. Comparable to Starting Eleven in soccer storytelling craft, though Tifo primarily operates as a direct-to-consumer media brand rather than a B2B production agency.
• Tool of North America: Boutique creative production company producing commercials, branded content, and music videos for major brands and agencies. Comparable to Starting Eleven in delivering high-end commercial production services with a creator-led model, though with broader category focus beyond sports.
• Radical Media: Independent creative production company producing commercials, branded content, and long-form storytelling for global brands. Comparable to Starting Eleven as both are production agencies delivering end-to-end creative services from concept through post-production, though Radical Media operates across broader categories.

Emerging players

• Whistle Sports: Sports-focused digital media and content company producing short-form video, branded content, and social programming for sports audiences and brand partners. Comparable to Starting Eleven in producing sports content for brands and rights holders, though with broader sport coverage and a digital-first distribution approach.

Others

• Goal (Footballco): Global soccer media brand under Footballco covering news, video, and editorial across football worldwide. Comparable to Starting Eleven as a sibling Footballco property with overlapping soccer content focus, though it operates as a media publisher rather than a production services agency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/startingeleven.us
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/startingeleven-us

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Starting Eleven