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Wasserman (company)
American sports marketing and talent management company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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History
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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]
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Controversy
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John Schnatter Lawsuit
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.[15] The legal action stemmed from a May 2018 conference call organized by Laundry Service for media training with Schnatter, which the agency recorded.[16] Following the publication of the call's contents by Forbes, Schnatter resigned as chairman of the company.[16]
Schnatter's complaint alleges that Laundry Service intentionally leaked an out-of-context and damaging version of the recorded call to Forbes in an act of retaliation following a dispute over a $6 million payment.[15] The lawsuit further claims that Casey Wasserman personally told Papa John's then-CEO, Steve Ritchie, that he would "bury the founder" if the agency was not paid.[17] The suit accuses Wasserman's companies of breach of contract and tortious interference with Schnatter's business relationships.[18] In September 2022, a federal district court denied a motion to dismiss from Wasserman Media, which allowed the lawsuit to proceed.[19]
Francisco Rodriguez Lawsuit (2011–2012)
In 2011, Major League Baseball relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez 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.[20] 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. Rodriguez asserted he was under the impression that the Brewers were on that list and would not have approved the trade.[21] The complaint further alleged that WMG agents had repeatedly and falsely assured Rodriguez that the list had been filed with the team.[20]
The lawsuit was settled out of court in November 2012. While the terms were not officially disclosed, sources reported that Rodriguez received a settlement payment of over $2 million from Wasserman.[22][23] The dispute had previously led to the firing of agent Paul Kinzer, who publicly stated that WMG was attempting to use him as a "scapegoat" for the firm's actions.[22]
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References
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