Hikaru Nakamura Signs With WME
An exclusive by The Hollywood reporter reveals that GM and Professional streamer Hikaru Nakamura changed agency a week before the 2022 Candidates.
Chess superstar Hikaru Nakamura has been signed by WME for worldwide representation in all areas. The agency will expand Nakamura’s business across digital, literary, brand partnerships, non-scripted television, licensing, and more.
Nakamura was previously represented by UTA and his social impact is among the largest in chess with 1,4 million followers on Twitch, 1.3 million on Youtube, and over 1,800 videos published in two and a half years. Also, Naka is the number one Chess streamer on the Amazon-owned platform and hosted Twitch’s Chess.com Pogchamps tournament, which was a series of online tournaments for amateur players that garnered 30 million total views.
Notwithstanding the early disapproval of the chess fans, streaming seemed to have helped Nakamura perfect his skills in fast chess, as he consistently exhibited error-free play, and even qualified for the 2022 Candidates Tournament in Spain.
Let’s see what the future holds for Naka, while a major part of the chess community hopes for a Carlsen-Nakamura World Championship match!
It’s very rare when a chess player enjoys representation by a major agency. Magnus Carlsen was represented by CAA in 2016.
