Endeavor Eyes Sports Expansion

A bullrider during a Professional Bull Riders event. Endeavor now owns the Professional Bull Riders. Photo by AP.

Endeavor, the talent and sports agency formerly known as WME-IMG, wants to become the ESPN of niche sports.

The company, backed by Silver Lake Partners and SoftBank, already owns bullfighting and martial arts competitions, and runs streaming services for both. But now it is considering how to expand these efforts. Endeavor has held talks with the World Surf League about buying the rights to stream its competitions when they become available, said a person familiar with the company’s thinking. Endeavor also is interested in acquiring sports leagues, said another person familiar with the firm’s thinking.