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| Founded | 2002 [1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Casey Wasserman |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Casey Wasserman (CEO) Shelley Pisarra (EVP, Global Insights) Tom Windish (EVP, Business Development) |
| Divisions |
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| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | www |
Wasserman Group [2] is a sports marketing and talent management company based in Los Angeles. Casey Wasserman, grandson of media mogul Lew Wasserman, founded the company in 1998 and acts as its chief executive.
Wasserman was founded in 1998.
In 2002, Wasserman acquired the sports marketing and naming-rights company Envision and the action sports marketing and representation firm The Familie, based in Carlsbad, California.
In 2004, Wasserman purchased 411 Productions and a few months later relaunched it as Studio 411, a sports entertainment film studio. The business was designed to provide financing, obtain sponsorships and arrange distribution in support of original productions. [3] The company also made an unsuccessful bid to sign up enough athletes in BMX, skateboarding and freestyle motocross to form PGA-like sanctioning bodies in those sports. [4]
In January 2006 Wasserman acquired the NBA and MLB sports agent business of Arn Tellem, a well-known sports agent who joined Wasserman as well. Several of Tellem's sports agent colleagues also joined the company as part of the deal. [5] Until he retired in June 2015, Tellem was a principal at the company and ran one of its management groups. [6]
In November 2006, the company acquired soccer agency SFX in the UK. [7] Through that acquisition, Wasserman came to represent players including Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen, Tim Cahill, Jonathan Woodgate, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Heather O'Reilly, Wes Brown, Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere, Park Ji-Sung, Shay Given, Tim Howard and Emile Heskey.
In June 2007, Wasserman expanded its consulting and media and property capabilities by purchasing Raleigh, North Carolina–based OnSport. [8]
From 2007-11, Sarah Hirshland, who would later become CEO of the United States Olympic Committee, was a senior vice president for strategic business development, was the company's lead on its account for the insurance firm Nationwide, and negotiated deals with NASCAR, the USTA, and the PGA Tour.
In early 2011, Wasserman bought London-based media rights manager and advisory firm Reel Enterprises. [9] That year, Wasserman expanded its golf talent roster by acquiring SFX Golf in April 2011. [10]
In 2015, Wasserman acquired Laundry Service, which included Cycle, a network of social media influencers. The advertising agency was named one of the Ad Age agencies to watch in January 2015. [11]
In March 2021, Wasserman acquired German based boxing promotional company Team Sauerland. With the announcement, they revealed the company would be relocating to the United Kingdom and subsequently renamed to "Wasserman Boxing". [12] Wasserman also acquired the North American Music division of the Los Angeles–based Paradigm Talent Agency. [13]
In April 2021, Wasserman acquired the Boston-based marketing agency Riddle & Bloom.
In December 2019, Papa John's founder John Schnatter filed a lawsuit against Wasserman's advertising agency, Laundry Service, and its parent company, Wasserman Media Group. [14] The legal action stemmed from a May 2018 recorded conference call organized by Laundry Service for media training during which Schnatter used a racial slur against Black people. [15] Following the publication of the call's contents by Forbes, Schnatter resigned as chairman of the company. [16] Schnatter subsequently sued Laundry Service and Wasserman, alleging that the call was intentionally leaked following a dispute over a $6 million payment. [17]
In 2011, Major League Baseball relief pitcher Francisco Rodríguez filed a lawsuit against Wasserman Media Group (WMG) and two of its prominent baseball agents, Arn Tellem and Paul Kinzer, alleging agent malpractice and fraud. The lawsuit claimed that his agents failed to submit his contractually-stipulated no-trade list to the New York Mets prior to his July 2011 trade to the Milwaukee Brewers and that WMG agents had repeatedly and falsely assured Rodriguez that the list had been filed with the team. [18] The lawsuit was settled out of court in November 2012. [19] [20]
Following the release of Epstein files in January 2026 which revealed that Casey Wasserman had exchanged emails with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, several artists represented by Wasserman denounced Casey Wasserman and called for his resignation. [21] [22] Artists including Bbno$, Bully, Chappell Roan, Chelsea Cutler, Dropkick Murphys, Gigi Perez, Hippo Campus, Lane 8, Local Natives, Orville Peck, Sylvan Esso, Water from Your Eyes, Wednesday, and Weyes Blood severed ties with the company. [23] [24] [25]
In February 2026, Casey Wasserman announced that he was selling the company. [26]