Peter Johnson (sports executive)

Last updated
Peter Johnson
Born
Peter Clark Johnson

(1950-01-04) January 4, 1950 (age 74)
NationalityAmerican
Education University of Delaware, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
OccupationSports executive
Spouse Stephanie Tolleson

Peter Clark Johnson (born January 4, 1950) is an American sports executive.

Contents

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He went to high school at Penn Charter in Philadelphia and attended the University of Delaware, where he was a member of the 1971 National Champion Division I-AA Football team. [1] After graduating, he played in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. Johnson received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

In 1976, Johnson started his career at IMG, the world's largest sports, entertainment and media company, where he worked for thirty years. [2] He was the COO, and then the CEO - Sports and Entertainment. [3] At the time, IMG had 3,000 employees in 70 offices in 35 countries.

In 2004, Sports Business Journal named Johnson the Most Influential Agent in Sports. [4] Advertising Age named him the "Top Marketer". [5] In 2005, Sports Business Journal named him the #25 Most Powerful Person in Sports. [6]

Clients

Over the course of his career, Johnson has represented three NFL MVPs, the #1 ranked players in both men's and women's tennis, the #1 ranked women's golfer as well as the World Heavyweight Boxing champion. [7]

In the early part of his IMG career, he was a player agent and his personal clients included the following:

Johnson hired and trained dozens of top executives including Tom Condon and Pat Brisson of CAA Sports as well as Casey Close, Jeff Schwartz and Alan Zucker of Excel Sports Management.

Personal life

Johnson lives in Cleveland, Ohio and is married to former IMG executive Stephanie Tolleson.

Related Research Articles

Michael Steven Ovitz is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as president of The Walt Disney Company for only 16 months, from October 1995 to January 1997.

A sports agent is a legal representative for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and endorsement contracts for the athlete or coach whom they represent. In addition to contract negotiations, sports agents may also help their clients with financial planning, legal issues, and marketing. They may work closely with financial advisors, lawyers, and marketing professionals on behalf of their clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Garber</span> Major League Soccer commissioner

Donald P. Garber is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation board of directors.

Jeremy Maurice Jacobs Sr. is an American billionaire businessman, the owner of the Boston Bruins and chairman of Delaware North. Forbes magazine ranks him as 481st richest person in the world.

Arn Herschel Tellem is an American sports executive who is the vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). From 1981 to 2015, he was a sports agent best known for his representation of basketball and baseball players. Tellem was vice chairman of the Wasserman Media Group, a global sport and entertainment marketing agency headed by Casey Wasserman. From 2009 to 2010, he wrote a semi-weekly sports column for The Huffington Post. He has also written for Sports Illustrated, the op-ed page of The New York Times, Grantland, Detroit Free Press, The Hollywood Reporter, The Japan Times and The Detroit News.

Bob Kain is an American sports business executive. He joined sports and lifestyle management and marketing firm IMG in 1976, and was named director of IMG Tennis in 1983, CEO of IMG Americas in 2001, and co-CEO of the company in 2003.

Ben Dogra was an American sports agent who, until July 2006, headed the Football Division of SFX Football, with associate Mark Heligman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Barnett (ice hockey)</span> Canadian ice hockey executive

Michael G. Barnett is a Canadian ice hockey executive currently serving as Senior Advisor to the President-General Manager of the New York Rangers. He is best known in the world of hockey as a former agent representing sports icon Wayne Gretzky for two decades. He was listed among the "100 Most Powerful People In Sports" by The Sporting News on six occasions from 1994 to 2000. During his 12 years as President of International Management Group's hockey division, Barnett represented a who's who of the National Hockey League. Barnett negotiated the playing and marketing contracts for Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Jaromír Jágr, Sergei Fedorov, Paul Coffey, Joe Thornton, Mats Sundin, Lanny McDonald, Grant Fuhr, Marty McSorley, Alexander Mogilny, Owen Nolan, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin and numerous others. His ingenuity in finding language that challenged the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, in finding products and companies for his clients that were groundbreaking in their launches, and his perpetual attention to the public relations of his clients, were all hallmarks of his career in athlete representation. Following his two-decades as one of the most highly regarded agents in all of sports, Barnett went on to become the General Manager of the Phoenix Coyotes from 2001 to 2007.

Douglas Perlman is the founder and CEO of Sports Media Advisors, a leading boutique advisory firm. Since the firm's inception in 2009, Perlman has worked on all its client engagements including matters on behalf of NFL, MLB, NASCAR, USTA, UFC, Hockey Canada, Little League, EA, Twitter, NextVRArchived 2020-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, and several private equity firms. Among other things, Sports Media Advisors and Perlman help sports properties optimize multi-platform content distribution strategies, develop and execute growth strategies for sports-related businesses, and perform diligence and deal support for investors considering media, technology, and/or sports-related opportunities.

Joel Segal is an American sports agent and Managing Director Team Sports and Co-Head WME Football, and was formerly President Americas of SPORTFIVE. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from George Washington University, where he was inducted into the George Washington University Sports Executives Hall of Fame in 2011. Segal graduated from Hofstra Law School and is a member of the Hofstra Law School Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Trask</span> American lawyer

Amy Trask is an American sports executive, author, and lawyer from California. She is the former CEO of the Oakland Raiders. Trask has also been referred to as the "Princess of Darkness" by Raiders fans.

Randy Freer is an American television executive, and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Hulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casey Close</span> American baseball player and sports agent

Casey Richard Close is an American former baseball player and sports agent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brodie Van Wagenen</span> American sports agent and former executive

Brodie Van Wagenen is an American sports agent and former executive. He was formerly the general manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously worked at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and served as a co-head of the baseball division at CAA Sports. He is currently an executive for Roc Nation.

Jeff Schwartz is president and founder of Excel Sports Management, an industry-leading sports agency representing top-tier talent, blue-chip brands and marquee properties. Schwartz oversees business operations for the agency and leads strategy for Excel's basketball division. As the top-ranked NBA agent in the industry for nearly a decade, Schwartz's clients include Nikola Jokić, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Brandon Ingram, Tyler Herro and Cade Cunningham among others.

Neal Pilson is the founder and president of Pilson Communications, Inc., a consulting company specializing in sports television, media and marketing. Pilson was also the president of CBS Sports during the 1980s and early 1990s. He currently serves as a selectman on the town board of Richmond, Massachusetts, and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Shapiro (media executive)</span> American television and media executive

Mark Shapiro is an American television and media executive. In 2018, he was promoted to become the president of Endeavor, after working as the co-president of WME-IMG since 2016. He was executive vice president for programming and production at ESPN until 2005, before becoming CEO and president of Six Flags, Inc. Shapiro has also been the CEO and executive producer of Dick Clark Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Pyne (business executive)</span>

George Francis Pyne IV is an American business executive and founder of Bruin Capital, where he is CEO. Pyne is also Non-Executive Chairman of Courtside Ventures which specializes in early stage sports, media and technology investments. Previously, Pyne was the President of IMG Sports and Entertainment and a board member. Prior to IMG, he was Chief Operating Officer and on the Board of NASCAR.

Amy Howe is an American gambling executive. She is currently the CEO of FanDuel. She is a frequent evangelist of live entertainment.

Dario Brignole is a sports and broadcasting agent based in the United States of America who represents Hispanic and global talent, including Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos, ex players such as Gabriel Batistuta, Univision's Jorge Ramos, and others such as the influential Maria Elena Salinas from CBS Networks.

References

  1. "Peter Johnson, former football standout, now in key IMG position". University of Delaware Messenger. University of Delaware. Retrieved 1 March 2005.
  2. Mullen, Liz. "Peter Johnson Resigns As IMG Sports & Entertainment CEO". Sports Business Daily .
  3. Mullen, Liz. "Forstmann Turns Page at IMG". Sports Business Journal.
  4. "The Most Influential People". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 19 April 2004.
  5. Gallagher, Jack (7 July 2004). "World's top agent Johnson key to IMG's future". Japan Times.
  6. "The Most Powerful People in Sports". Sports Business Daily.
  7. "- SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal | SportsBusiness Daily Global". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2016-05-10.