Casey Wasserman Entertainment Executive and Sports Agent Executive Date of Birth: . Country: USA

1. Family Background and Education
2. Arena Football
3. Wasserman (Agency)
4. Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Bid Committee
5. Anti-Racism and the International Olympic Committee
6. Political Activities

Family Background and Education

Casey Wasserman is the son of Los Angeles socialite and philanthropist Lynn Wasserman and Jack Meyers (formerly Meyerovitz). His parents divorced, and he adopted his mother's maiden name, which is also the surname of his famous grandfather, MCA studio executive Lew Wasserman. He has a sister, comedian Carol Ann Leifer.

Wasserman received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). "My son's changing his name to Wasserman," Jack Meyers told Dennis McDougal, author of a Lew Wasserman biography titled "The Last Mogul." "I said, Casey, if you do that, the first thing everyone's going to think is you're a schmuck. It's dumb."

Arena Football

In 1998, Wasserman purchased the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL). He paid an estimated $5 million for the franchise rights. Despite his young age, he was elected chairman of the league. In 2002, he brokered a groundbreaking national television partnership between the league and NBC television, as well as a collective bargaining agreement with its players.

On Saturday, April 18, 2009, Wasserman sent an email to the de facto AFL commissioner, informing him of his decision to terminate the Los Angeles Avengers' membership in the Arena Football League.

Wasserman (Agency)

The same year he purchased the football team, Casey Wasserman founded Wasserman (then called Wasserman Media Group), a sports marketing and talent management company of which he remains CEO.

In 2002, WMG acquired sports marketing and naming-rights firm Envision and Carlsbad, California-based sports event marketing and representation firm The Familie. In 2004, WMG purchased 411 Productions and relaunched it as Studio 411 a few months later, a sports entertainment film studio. The business aimed to secure funding, create sponsorship, and arrange distribution to support original productions. The company also made an unsuccessful attempt to sign enough athletes in BMX, skateboarding, and freestyle motocross to form sanctioning bodies similar to the PGA in those sports.

In January 2006, WMG acquired the NBA and MLB sports agent business of Arn Tellem, a prominent sports agent who also joined WMG. Tellem's acquisition also brought several of his fellow sports agents to the company. Tellem was a principal with the company and led one of its management groups until his retirement in June 2015.

In November 2006, the company acquired U.K. soccer agency SFX. Through this acquisition, WMG came to represent players including Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen, Tim Cahill, Jonathan Woodgate, Wes Brown, Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere, Park Ji-Sung, Shay Given, Tim Howard, and Emile Heskey.

In June 2007, WMG expanded its consulting, media, and property capabilities by acquiring OnSport in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In early 2011, WMG purchased London-based media rights management and advisory firm Reel Enterprises.

That same year, WMG expanded its golf talent roster with the acquisition of SFX Golf in April 2011.

In 2016, Wasserman Media Group was rebranded as Wasserman and has been frequently referred to as "Team Wass."

Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Bid Committee

Casey Wasserman successfully led Los Angeles' bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics and will head the city's Olympic organizing committee.

In 2015, the United States Olympic Committee chose Los Angeles as the American bidder for the 2024 Summer Olympics following the withdrawal of Boston's bid. Wasserman commented, "We live in a democracy. The city, the council, and the community have to participate and be supportive, or else we can't get this done." In 2017, the IOC made the decision to award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympic Games hosting rights. At the 131st IOC Session, Paris was selected to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, and Los Angeles was selected to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. The IOC praised Los Angeles' bid for its record use of existing and temporary venues and for relying entirely on corporate sponsorship.

Anti-Racism and the International Olympic Committee

Wasserman reportedly wrote to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on June 19, 2020, urging changes 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." In his letter, Wasserman argued that "anti-racism is not political."

President Bach rebuffed the proposal in an article for The Guardian titled "The Olympics are about diversity and unity, not politics and profit. Boycotts don't work – and athletes must be politically neutral."

Political Activities

Wasserman co-chaired a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on August 22, 2016.