The rights layer for athlete AI
Anyone can generate an athlete. Now you can license one.
Valaritas licenses an athlete's name, face and voice for AI-made campaigns. The athlete approves every use. We produce the assets, label them as AI and pay out through one ledger. No shoot. No travel.
The limit on an athlete's endorsements was never demand. It was the calendar.
wants you in three 15-second spots for its summer launch. Spanish, Portuguese and English. Mexico, Brazil and the United States. 60 days.
Example athlete and brand. Illustrative numbers.
The gap
Every model can make an athlete. None of them can say yes for the athlete, set the price or pay them. That is the layer we built.
deepfake scam ads impersonated footballers in the twelve months to July 2026. That is demand with no license to buy.1
pieces of World Cup content ran on one licensed AI twin this summer, with every script approved by the talent's camp.2
major U.S. players' unions licensed AI versions of their members in the first quarter of 2026.3
How it works
One session to register. One yes per deal.
Everything after the yes is ours: the clearing, the production, the labeling and the payout. The athlete's part takes minutes.
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01
Register
One session captures face, voice and movement. The athlete sets the rules the engine reads before every deal: blocked categories, territories, languages, price floors and current sponsors.
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02
Approve
Each request arrives as one sentence and one number: who, what, where, how long and the athlete's share. The athlete or their rep approves in writing. Silence is never a yes.
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03
Produce
We make the finished assets on licensed models, in up to 75 languages. Every one is labeled as AI and traced to its license. No shoot, no crew, no flights.
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04
Get paid
The brand pays Valaritas. The athlete's share lands within 30 days. Production, compute and provenance come out of our fee, so the athlete pays nothing.
The rights engine
Anyone can rent a model. Nobody can rent the consent.
Every request passes the same gates before an athlete ever sees it. Build one for Kai Marlowe, an example athlete, and watch it clear or stop.
Build a request
Try a sports drink, betting, the Middle East or $3,000.
- Always blockedNot gambling, alcohol, tobacco, adult or politics.
- Kai's own blocksNot on his list.
- Sponsors on fileNo category conflict.
- TerritoryEurope is allowed.
- Price floorAbove his $5,000 floor.
- Buyer screeningKYC, AML and sanctions passed.
Models change every quarter. The record of who agreed to what does not: which athlete, which brand, which category, which territory, at what floor, against which sponsor, until when. Every license adds to that graph, and the graph is the company.
It sits above the models. One consent, one price and one territory ruleset, enforced whichever model makes the asset, so a license means the same thing everywhere.
Control
The likeness stays theirs. So does the veto.
Every license carries the same protections. They are written into the paper, and the engine enforces them before a request ever reaches the athlete.
Written approval
Every deal needs a yes in writing from the athlete or their rep. Email counts. Silence doesn't.
Blocked categories
Gambling, alcohol, tobacco, adult content and politics are excluded from every license.
Sponsors protected
Category exclusivities are logged at registration and checked before any brand is pitched.
No training by others
Brand licenses bar training on the assets or the likeness. The athlete's twin is under a joint lock: neither side uses it without the other.
Labeled as AI
Every asset carries AI disclosure wherever law or platform rules require it, from EU Article 50 to New York.
48-hour takedown
Anything that breaches an approval or our use policy comes down within 48 hours of notice.
Verified buyers
Every brand passes KYC, AML and sanctions screening before it can sign.
Scarcity by design
Caps on categories, languages and volume keep a likeness from getting cheap.
The product
Two seats. One ledger.
The athlete sees one sentence and one number. The agency sees the roster, every conflict and every payout. Both are live demos. Press the buttons.
The Console
Requests, rules, protection and money, on the athlete's phone.
Open the Console → Agency, union and league viewThe Rights Desk
The whole roster: rules, group requests, conflict checks and payouts by athlete.
Open the Rights Desk →Demo environments. Example athletes, illustrative numbers.
One session, every market
One session. Every market the license names.
Kai registered once. Each request below runs only where its license allows, in the local language, with no shoot and no flight. The engine holds the borders.
Up to 75 languages from one approval
The athlete approves once. The spot runs in every language the license names, in their own voice.
The model is proven
Detection finds the fake. Licensing makes it pay.
Music and video already work this way. On YouTube, rightsholders monetize most claimed uploads instead of taking them down. Athlete likeness in AI has nothing like it. That is the gap we fill.
Content ID claims processed on YouTube in 2025.14
of those claims monetized by the rightsholder instead of taken down.14
paid to rightsholders through Content ID by December 2024.15
The shift
The endorsement, rebuilt.
A shoot day, a crew, flights and weeks of edits.
No shoot. Finished spots from one approval.
One or two languages, recorded in person.
Up to 75 languages, in the athlete's own voice.
Weeks of back and forth between agent, brand and lawyers.
One sentence, one number, one written yes.
Caught late, sometimes by a lawyer.
Blocked before a brand ever sees the name.
A takedown that costs money.
A takedown, or a license that pays.
Capped by the athlete's calendar.
Capped by demand and the athlete's own rules.
Invoiced, then chased.
Within 30 days of the brand paying.
Uses
A license for every place an athlete can appear.
Localized campaigns
Video and voice ads cut for each market and language.
Q4 2026 pilotsSocial and creator posts
Short-form content in the athlete's voice, approved one by one.
Q4 2026 pilotsAudio spots
Radio, podcast and in-app reads in any licensed language.
Q4 2026 pilotsLive and physical AI
Holograms and interactive figures for venues, museums and events.
In developmentGames and sims
Season licenses for face and movement that expire on their own.
In developmentFan AI
Characters fans can talk to, inside rules the athlete sets.
In developmentLegends and estates
Consented likeness for the greats, cleared with every heir who holds the right.
In developmentTraining licenses
Athlete data for model training, priced and approved like any other deal.
LaterWho it's for
Three seats at one table.
Earn from campaigns you never shoot.
- A veto on every deal, in writing.
- No cost to you. Ever.
- Your current sponsors stay untouched.
- Paid within 30 days of the brand paying.
A new revenue line on rights you already manage.
- Start with a 90-day, non-exclusive pilot.
- Keep your normal commission.
- Deal status and payouts reported per athlete.
- Nothing extra charged to your clients.
Cleared talent. Finished assets.
- One license per campaign: assets, media, territories, languages, dates.
- AI labels and provenance built in.
- Conflicts checked before you see a name.
- One invoice, paid to one licensor of record.
Why now
Every right in sport looked worthless. Until someone pooled it.
In 1962 the NFL sold its first league-wide TV package for $4.65M a year.4 Its national media deals now bring in more than $10B a year.5 Merchandise, video games and college NIL each ran the same curve.
AI did not create the likeness right. It created a new buyer for it. The buyer is here. The consent, the price and the payment are what we build.
2,000×and counting
The rules arrived. The buyers were already here.
The license is becoming the only safe way to put an athlete in AI. The last two years, in order:
- 1 Jul 2024Tennessee's ELVIS Act takes effect, protecting voice as well as likeness from AI imitation.6
- 1 Jan 2025California voids vague digital-replica clauses in contracts and requires estate consent for replicas of the dead.7
- Jun 2025An AI-made ad airs during the NBA Finals. Two days of work, under $2,000 in AI costs.8
- Jul 202586% of video ad buyers say they use or plan to use generative AI to build creative.9
- Feb 2026Two U.S. players' unions license AI versions of their members for games and apps, a month apart.3
- 21 Apr 2026YouTube opens its likeness detection to talent agencies and their clients.10
- Jun 2026A global beverage brand runs 200+ World Cup pieces on a licensed AI twin, every script approved by the talent's camp.2
- 9 Jun 2026New York requires ads to disclose AI-generated synthetic performers.11
- 18 Jun 2026The NO FAKES Act clears the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. It would give every person "a licensable property right in their own voice and visual likeness."12
- Jul 202610,000+ deepfake scam ads impersonating footballers are counted across the previous twelve months.1
- 2 Aug 2026EU AI Act Article 50 applies. Deepfakes must be disclosed and AI-generated content marked.13
- NowValaritas pilots open for Q4 2026.
- 2 Dec 2026The EU grace period for machine-readable marking by existing AI systems ends.13
- NextThe NO FAKES Act goes to the full Senate.
The team
Every side of the table, in one founder.
Valaritas Sports is founder-led and based in London. Engineers build the rights engine and the production pipeline. Advisors come from football, sports business and technology.
Dave Cassidy
Founder and CEOHe was one.
An All-American in track, with a direct presidential appointment to West Point and service in the U.S. Army. At twenty-one he led a humanitarian mission to Haiti that made the front page of USA Today.
He has raised it.
Executive producer of Michael Mann's Ferrari, released by NEON. He has raised and delivered financing for studio films, including three syndicated with a sovereign-backed fund in Abu Dhabi.
He works in it.
An official advisor to a top five European football club since 2024. Mentored by the late Doug Houser, a Nike board member for 49 years. He built the first version of Valaritas himself.
Pilots
Start with 90 days.
Q4 2026 pilots are forming with athletes, agencies and brands in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. Seats are limited. Everyone signs the same simple terms.
Or write to dave@valaritasports.com
Pilot
90 days
Non-exclusive. Every deal approved in writing. No cost to athletes or agencies.
Extension
24 months
For athletes with two or more paid deals in the pilot. Exclusive for AI likeness in agreed categories and territories, on the pilot's economics.
Roster license
Unions and leagues
One agreement for a whole roster. Every athlete still keeps a veto on every deal.
FAQ
Straight answers.
Does the athlete give up their likeness?
No. The likeness stays theirs. We hold a limited license to create content for the deals they approve in writing, and they can require takedown of anything that breaches an approval.
Can a brand or an AI company train on the athlete?
Not through us. Our brand licenses prohibit training on the assets or the likeness. The athlete's digital twin, which we use to make approved content, can't be used by either side without the other. Training for anyone else would be its own license, priced and approved like any deal.
What about the athlete's current sponsors?
Untouched. We log category exclusivities at registration and check them before we pitch a brand. A conflicting request never reaches the athlete.
What does it cost?
Nothing for athletes or agencies. We take a platform fee from what the brand pays and cover production, compute and provenance from it. If nothing sells, we earn nothing.
How is AI content labeled?
Every asset is labeled as AI-generated wherever law or platform rules require it, including EU AI Act Article 50 and New York's synthetic performer law. Each one traces back to the license that allowed it.
Which AI models do you use?
The right one for each job. Consent, pricing and territory rules sit above the models, so a license means the same thing whichever model makes the asset.
What happens to fakes?
When we find an unlicensed use, we sort it. If a real business is behind it, we offer a license. If it is a scam, a blocked category or something the athlete refuses, we file for takedown.
What happens after the 90 days?
Approved campaigns run to the end of their licensed term. New deals need a renewal or a longer agreement, on terms set with the athlete and their agency.
Who is behind Valaritas?
Valaritas Sports, founder-led and based in London. Our founder, Dave Cassidy, is an executive producer of Michael Mann's Ferrari, an official advisor to a top five European football club since 2024 and a former All-American track athlete. Meet the team on the About page.
Get in the room
Your name is already in the models. Put it under license.
We reply personally. Your email is used only to reply to you.