Casey Wasserman (born Casey Myers; June 28, 1974) 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.[1]
Family background and education
Casey Wasserman is the son of the Los Angeles socialite and philanthropist Lynne Wasserman and Jack Myers (formerly Meyerowitz), who are both Jewish. Wasserman's sister is comedian Carol Ann Leif.[2]
His parents were divorced and he took his mother's maiden name, which is also the last name of his famous grandfather, MCA studio executive Lew Wasserman, whom he credits as his greatest teacher. The two would have breakfast together every Saturday and Sunday from the time when Casey was a child until the elder Wasserman's death in 2002.[3] The younger Wasserman said, "He was my most valuable resource in terms of information. In broad terms he knew what he wanted to do and I followed in his footsteps."[4]
He is separated from movie music supervisor Laura Ziffren Wasserman, whose grandfather Paul Ziffren was a Democratic Party leader and chaired the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee.[6][7][8][9] They have two children.[10]
Arena Football
In 1998, Wasserman purchased the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL). He paid about $5 million for the franchise rights. Despite his youth, he was elected chairman of the league. In 2002 he negotiated a groundbreaking national television partnership between the league and NBC television, as well as the collective bargaining agreement with its players. On Saturday, April 18, 2009, Wasserman sent an email to AFL's de facto commissioner informing him of his decision to terminate the L.A. Avengers' membership in the Arena Football League.[11]
Wasserman (Agency)
The same year that he purchased the football team, Casey Wasserman started Wasserman (then-called Wasserman Media Group), a sports marketing and talent management company, of which he remains CEO.
In 2002, WMG 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, WMG purchased 411 Productions and a few months later relaunched it as Studio 411, a sports entertainmentfilm studio. The business was designed to provide financing, obtain sponsorships and arrange distribution in support of original productions.[12] 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.[13]
In January 2006, WMG acquired the NBA and MLB sports agent business of Arn Tellem, a well-known sports agent who joined WMG as well. Several of Tellem's sports agent colleagues also joined the company as part of the deal.[14] Until he retired in June, 2015, Tellem was a principal at the company and ran one of its management groups.[15]
In June 2007, WMG expanded its consulting and media and property capabilities by purchasing Raleigh, North Carolina–based OnSport.[17]
In early 2011, WMG bought London-based media rights manager and advisory firm Reel Enterprises.[18]
That year WMG expanded its golf talent roster by acquiring SFX Golf in April 2011.[19]
In 2016, Wasserman Media Group rebranded as Wasserman and is frequently referred to as "Team Wass".[20] In 2021, he acquired Paradigm Agency's music business.[21] In 2023, Wasserman bought legendary management production company, Brillstein Entertainment Partners.[22]
In 2015, the USOC selected Los Angeles as the American applicant for the 2024 Summer Olympics after withdrawing Boston's bid. Wasserman commented: "We live in a democracy. The city and the council and the communities need to be engaged and supportive, otherwise we won't be successful regardless." In 2017, the IOC decided to award the hosts of both the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics. At the 131st IOC Session, Paris was selected to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, with Los Angeles being selected to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. The LA bid was praised by the IOC for using a record-breaking number of existing and temporary facilities and for relying entirely on corporate funding.[23][24]
Anti-racism and the International Olympic Committee
On June 19, 2020, Wasserman reportedly wrote the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to advocate for changes to be made to the controversial Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter which states: "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."[25] In the letter, Wasserman urged the IOC to amend the guidelines that support Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter to allow anti-racist advocacy on the Olympic stage and stated “Being anti-racist is not political.”[26][27]
President Bach refuted the suggestion in an op-ed for The Guardian titled "The Olympics are about diversity and unity, not politics and profit. Boycotts don't work, and athletes should be politically neutral."[28][29]
On March 1, 2003, Vanity Fair reported that Wasserman was among several other high profile attendees aboard Jeffrey Epstein's Boeing 727, since dubbed the "Lolita Express", on a "mission to explore the problems of AIDS and economic development in Africa". Epstein was later revealed to have committed sex trafficking.[31]
^ abStreet, Scott (April 27, 2006). "Back to his Roots". Dailt Bruin. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
