How Travis Kelce is already building a $90 million post-NFL empire before his likely final season ends

Travis Kelce has not officially retired yet, but the business decisions he is making right now look a lot like someone who already has one eye on life after football. Just weeks into what many expect to be his final NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end launched Tekta, a new NIL consulting agency built in partnership with French advertising giant Publicis Groupe. That announcement, dropped on August 18, was not a celebrity vanity project. It was the latest move in a financial portfolio that already sits between $90 million and $100 million.What is Tekta and why did Travis Kelce launch it now?Tekta is not just another celebrity endorsement deal. The agency is designed to connect brands with college athletes through NIL agreements, giving companies access to a network of 45,000 Division I student-athletes across 68 Power Four universities. Kelce serves as an adviser, while his talent firm, 3 Arts Sports, operates as the strategic partner on the ground.The timing matters. Kelce is 36 years old and playing through what many insiders believe is his last season in the league. Signing a three-year deal worth up to $57.7 million in March 2026 bought him one more year on the field, but the activity happening off it tells a sharper story. Tekta gives Kelce a real stake in the NIL economy, an industry that barely existed when he was in college at Cincinnati and is now generating billions annually.For brands, the pitch is specific. Publicis Sports brings advertiser relationships, fan intelligence, and measurement tools. Kelce brings credibility and a face that people outside the NFL still recognize. That combination is not easy to replicate, and Kelce clearly understands his own shelf life as an active athlete well enough to lock in partnerships before he stops playing.How much does Travis Kelce actually make off the field?His Chiefs contract pays him around $17 million a year. His podcast pays him more than that. In August 2024, Travis and Jason Kelce signed a three-year deal with Amazon's Wondery podcast platform reportedly valued at $100 million in total, with Travis's estimated share running to roughly $16 to $17 million annually -- which already matches or exceeds what the Chiefs wire to his account each season.Then layer on the endorsement side. Kelce earns an estimated $30 to $32 million per year from brand deals, a number that nearly doubled after his relationship with Taylor Swift became public in 2023. His investment portfolio includes Cholula hot sauce, Hydrow rowing machines, Indochino, RealTruck, and ThePlayersTV. He acquired Garage Beer in 2024, holds a stake in Six Flags, and has his own clothing line, Tru Kolors, and a nutrition brand called Hilo. Twelve known investments in total.When you add it all up, Kelce pulls in roughly $50 million a year across football, podcasting, and endorsements, with his overall net worth sitting at $90 million by most credible estimates. None of those numbers include what marriage into a $1.8 billion fortune might do for his brand reach going forward.What happens to Travis Kelce's business empire after he retires from the NFL?Most athletes spend their post-playing years figuring out what comes next. Kelce has spent his playing years making sure he never has to wonder. The New Heights podcast does not need him in a Chiefs uniform to hold its audience. The endorsement deals tied to his personality rather than his position will not evaporate the moment he retires. And Tekta, the newest piece of the puzzle, is built on a market that is only getting bigger.What makes the Kelce business model different from the average athlete-turned-entrepreneur is that he has not bet on one category. He has spread across media, consumer goods, performance products, entertainment, and now the college sports economy. Each piece feeds the others. The podcast keeps his name in people's ears. The endorsement deals keep his face in front of brands. Tekta puts him inside conversations that happen at the agency and boardroom level.At 36, with one foot already pointed toward the exit, Kelce is not scrambling to build something. He is managing what is already there. By the time the final whistle blows on his NFL career, the business side will not skip a beat.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.