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| Founded | 2002 [1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Casey Wasserman |
| Headquarters | , |
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.
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 later became 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 ‘Ideas and Access’ Gen Z geared Marketing Agency: Riddle & Bloom. Riddle & Bloom will be fully rebranded as Wasserman in Q3. [14]
Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients.
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.
Lewis Robert Wasserman was an American businessman and talent agent, described as "the last of the legendary movie moguls" and "arguably the most powerful and influential Hollywood titan in the four decades after World War II". His career spanned nearly eight decades from the 1920s to the 2000s; he started working as a cinema usher before dropping out of high school, rose to become the president of MCA Inc. and led its takeover of Universal Pictures, during which time Wasserman "brought about changes in virtually every aspect of show business". In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. Several years later, he spoke of his ongoing work at Universal to Variety, saying, "I am under contract here for the rest of my life, and I don't think they would throw me out of my office—my name is on the building."
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City. The company manages athletes and fashion celebrities; owns, operates and commercially represents live events; and is an independent producer and distributor of sports and entertainment media. It has been owned by Endeavor since 2013.
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group and Marketing Specialists, as well as several independent specialty agencies in the areas of public relations, sports marketing, talent representation and healthcare. It is one of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside WPP, Publicis, and Omnicom. Phillippe Krakowsky became the company's CEO on January 1, 2021.
Casey Wasserman is an entertainment executive and sports agent executive who owned the now defunct Arena Football League team the Los Angeles Avengers. He headed the successful Los Angeles bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics and became president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.
Jeffrey S. Moorad is an American businessman and investor. He began his career as a sports agent, before serving as General Partner and CEO of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, and Vice-Chairman and CEO of MLB's San Diego Padres.
United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. As of 2021, the company has more than 1,400 global employees. UTA has divisions focused on film, television, music, sports, digital, books, video games, branding and licensing, speaking, marketing, fine arts, news, and broadcasting, among others. The agency also operates the non-profit UTA Foundation.
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.
Professional Services Inc., (ProServ) was one of the first sports management firms. Initially focused on tennis, the company would grow to become among the world's largest sports marketing, athlete management, event production, and TV companies.
David B. Falk is an American sports agent who primarily works with basketball players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He began his career representing professional tennis players for Donald Dell's ProServ and is best known for representing sports icon Michael Jordan for the entirety of Jordan's career. Besides Jordan, Falk has represented more than 100 other NBA players, and is generally considered to be the most influential player agent the NBA has seen. During the peak years of Falk's career in the 1990s, he was often considered the second-most powerful person in the NBA behind Commissioner David Stern, and in 2000 he had at least one client on all but two NBA teams. He was listed among the "100 Most Powerful People in Sports" for 12 straight years from 1990 to 2001 by The Sporting News, and was also named one of the Top 50 Marketers in the United States by Advertising Age in 1995.
Nancy Tellem is the chief media officer and executive chairwoman of Eko, a start-up which has created an online platform. She is the onetime entertainment and digital media president of Microsoft Xbox Entertainment Studios, and a former president of CBS Network Television Entertainment Group, formerly CBS Entertainment Network and CBS Studios. She is co-founder and CEO of BasBlue, Inc, a nonprofit organization.
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in April 2009 after the merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor Talent Agency. Endeavor represents artists in film, television, music, theater, digital media, and publishing. It also represents the NFL and NHL. Endeavor owns Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and is majority owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) through TKO Group. In collegiate athletics Endeavor-Learfield IMG represents The American, A10, Big 12, Conference USA, Horizon League, MAC, MEAC, OVC, SEC and WCC.
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Robert Michael Myers is an American former basketball executive who was the general manager for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2012 to 2023. During his tenure, he was twice named NBA Executive of the Year while leading the Warriors to four NBA championships. Myers is currently an NBA analyst for ESPN.
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