The NIL agent behind college football's richest QB deals goes solo

Noah Reisenfeld isn't a household name unless you follow the NIL circuit closely, but the deals he's cut over the last year have reshaped how college football gets paid. He's the agent who helped engineer Darian Mensah's stunning run through the transfer portal — first an $8 million deal at Duke, then a reported $10 million payday to flip to Miami months later, a series of numbers that made Mensah the unofficial highest-paid player in college sports. Now Reisenfeld is stepping out on his own.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

NIL agent Noah Reisenfeld has started his own venture, 21 Sports & Entertainment, he tells ESPN. The new venture will represent college athletes as well as professional football and basketball players, and he’s expected to add several known industry figures in near future.

Per Pete Thamel of ESPN, Reisenfeld has launched 21 Sports & Entertainment, a new venture that will represent college athletes across football and basketball as well as professional players in the NFL and NBA. Thamel reports Reisenfeld is expected to bring on several established industry names in the near future — a signal this isn't a one-man shop but the start of something bigger.

Pete Nakos of On3 confirmed the same launch and laid out the resume that got Reisenfeld here: he negotiated Mensah's deals at both Duke and Miami, and also worked out Anthony Colandrea's NIL package at Nebraska. That's a real portfolio in a space that's still figuring out what "agent" even means when the athletes are technically amateurs cashing seven-figure checks.

Pete Nakos

@PeteNakos

Noah Reisenfeld has started his own agency, 21 Sports & Entertainment, he tells @On3. The agency will represent players across the NFL, NBA & NIL. Negotiated Darian Mensah's deals at Duke and Miami, and Anthony Colandrea's deal at Nebraska. Expected to add several industry leaders in the weeks ahead.

The backstory here matters. Reisenfeld built his reputation while at Young Money APAA Sports, the agency co-founded by Lil Wayne that also reps Travis Hunter. That relationship has since gone sideways — he's now in a legal fight with Young Money APAA over a $2.5 million buyout tied to his exit, with the agency countering that he breached his contract first. Launching 21 Sports & Entertainment while that lawsuit is still pending in Florida is a bold move, but it also tracks: if you're the guy who landed the richest QB deal in college football history, you don't need to wait around for litigation to clear before betting on yourself.

The NIL agent business is still the Wild West, and Reisenfeld has been one of its more polarizing figures — he's previously drawn criticism for defending agencies that charge college athletes 20% commissions. Whatever you think of the fee structure, the track record speaks for itself: Mensah is projected to earn $6.5 million in 2026 alone, the top NIL valuation in the sport. If Reisenfeld can bring in the industry names he's promising and keep landing quarterbacks that kind of money, 21 Sports & Entertainment won't stay a startup for long.