Steven Victor on Changing ‘How the Modern Athlete Looks Tomorrow’ With His Expansion Into Sports Management

Imagine for a moment that you parlayed an entry-level label communications role into starting one of the coolest brands in music and fashion. Steven Victor did all that and more. He has built an attractive, aspirational world around his Victor Victor imprint, a veritable if-you-know-you-know, members-only club whose roster includes Pharrell Williams, Nigo and Pusha T.

And now, Victor wants to expand into the world of sports. To start, he signed the current WBA lightweight champion, Gervonta “Tank” Davis, and skateboarding phenom Tyshawn Jones, who went viral last year for doing an ollie over Victor’s $5 million Ferrari Monza, to management deals. But can Victor handle the cutthroat world of professional sports? He says yes. And according to him, it won’t even be that hard. Imagine that.

You’ve made your career in music, and now you’re branching out into sports. Why?

My goal has always been to try to help creatives get their vision across. I don’t think it’s [any] different. That’s the why of it.

You clearly see a great opportunity in this market, but sports management is such a closed world. How do you plan on navigating it and reaching your goals?

I’m not trying to be negative, but I feel like everybody’s just doing the same things. Even if you look at a lot of the NBA players, everybody looks the same. It’s like mannequins — it’s one size fits all in terms of the deals that athletes are doing. It’s just like a conveyor belt.

We got to do things that make us stand out from one another. I don’t think it’s any different in sports management. Everything can’t be the same, and I think that’s how it looks now. I want to change that completely and show how the modern athlete looks tomorrow. And that’s as a businessperson, that’s as a creative.

People often say that you can’t put a price on cool.

You can’t.

But it seems like you’ve been able to manipulate cool in a way and lend it to brands through your artists. Do you think it will be as easy to do with athletes, who are traditionally not seen as cool as rappers?

Yeah, because what I think is, “I’m only going to work with people that have that in them.” I think you got to have it in you for somebody to be able to pull it out of you. I do think that cool is a currency nowadays. You either have it or you don’t. Obviously, your environment can dictate it. If you’re in the right environment — if you’re in my environment — it’s going to inspire you and bring it out more.

We’ve seen boxer Gervonta “Tank” Davis popping up in Victor Victor-branded clothing. What made you want to work with him?

I’m a huge boxing fan. I think I met him at Floyd [Mayweather’s] gym when I went to go see Floyd spar with Pusha years ago. He quickly became one of my favorite fighters. I always thought he was No. 1, the coolest boxer. Not only that, but I think he’s the best boxer right now. I don’t think there’s anybody in boxing right now as exciting as him.

In individual sports, there always seems to be one person who’s able to connect the sport to the larger pop culture universe, like Tank does for boxing. But skateboarding doesn’t need that connector. It’s probably the coolest sport. So what made you home in on Tyshawn Jones?

I knew who he was, and I always thought he was fly. To take a step back, I do think that you’re right. [For] a lot of people — especially [with] fashion, streetwear and just cool — there’s a bunch of derivatives that come from skateboarding. Whether they skate or don’t skate, I feel like skateboarding definitely influences a lot of subcultures.

If you look at Pharrell Williams, a lot of his influence came from skateboarding. Tyshawn is interesting because he seems to have the talent, the pop culture currency and the cool appeal.

I feel like [Tank and Tyshawn] would be the same whether they were rapping, whether they were a doctor, politician, whatever it might be. That’s just who they are, and I feel like we all represent the same ethos. But yeah, Tyshawn is the same thing. I was a fan of his. Then one day, a mutual friend hit me up and was like, “Yo, my man wants to jump over one of your cars.” I was like, “Let’s talk.”

How long after that did you sign him?

That same night we went out to eat, and then we just started speaking every day after that. We just became quick friends. He’s into what I’m into and vice versa. I was just like, “Hmmm. I think the combination of us working together, we can go a lot further together than apart.”

Did Tank or Tyshawn have any reservations signing with you since this was your first time managing athletes?

Oh, nah. I mean, listen, I wouldn’t have no reservations either. I’m not trying to toot my own horn or nothing like that, but I’ve been known to do a couple things here and there. (Laughs.)

How do you handle the new clientele?

People try to make things seem like it’s the f–king Matrix, and it’s a Rubik’s Cube. Everything is the same shit. If you look at anyone across all areas of business and life, they all are the same person. Obviously, everybody’s an individual, but you can transfer all the skills of skillful people to different areas. So I don’t think it’s as difficult as people try to make it seem. Otherwise, it would be insane to see someone like Jay-Z go from being a rapper to being the type of businessperson he is.

This story will appear in the Feb. 10, 2024, issue of Billboard.