User:JSFarman2/sandbox/Wasserman

Wasserman is a global marketing, management, representation and media company headquartered in Los Angeles. Centered on sports, music, entertainment and culture, Wasserman has 3000 employees in 23 countries on six continents. It is one of the largest sports, entertainment, and marketing agencies in the world.

Founded by Wasserman CEO and chairman Casey Wasserman in 2002, the company includes (Wasserman divisions, subsidiaries and services to be added following initial edits).

Wasserman was founded by Casey Wasserman as the Wasserman Media Group in 2002. Recognizing an "untapped niche" in action sports, ^[1] WMG's first acquisitions included The Familie, a representation agency for action sports athletes, and the Carlsbad-based naming rights agency, Envision. With the purchase of Envision, WMG launched its marketing and sponsorship practices. ^[2]

In 2005, WMG opened offices in New York. In 2006, following the purchase of the UK firms FX Football and SFX Sports, a management company for athletes, it established its international headquarters in London. In 2006, with the acquisition of OnSports, a sports, entertainment and media marketing agency based in Raleigh, North Carolina, WMG opened its fifth office, and launched a brand and properties division.^[3] The division's first major deals included selling the naming rights for Arsenal F.C's new stadium and the planned New York Giants and Jets stadium in New Jersey. ^[4]

Wasserman also acquired the baseball firm RKL and established a women's sports practice in the 2000s. In 2007, Business Week described WMG as a "mini-empire." ^[5]

In 2011, Wasserman acquired SFX Golf, a leading player representation agency, entering the business of player management. ^[6] The company opened a Toronto office the same year and in 2012 acquired the Canadian company Catalyst Sponsorship Consulting, Inc.^[7] In 2013 Wasserman acquired the London-based Ignite, an experiential marketing agency built around live events. ^[8] The representation business continued to grow; in 2013, the company represented the No. 1 overall draft pick in five professional sports: men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, soccer and football. ^[9]

Between 2014 through 2019, Wasserman Media Group furthered its European expansion with the acquisition of companies including the Dutch football agency Sport-Promotion ^[10]and Mondial, a soccer agency based in France. ^[11] It entered the hockey business through its purchase of Orr Hockey Group, LLP, and acquired Greg Norman's golf event management firm, the Greg Norman Production Co. Laundry Service, an American marketing agency, ^[12]and the Belgian experiential marketing firm, Boris, were acquired. ^[13]Cycle, a full-service creator marketing agency, was launched, and Athlete Exchange, a practice designed to elevate athletes as individual influencers, was introduced.^[14] In 2019, Wasserman launched The Collective. a division founded to connect female athletes with major companies, and raise their visibility with consumers and fans. ^[15]

Wasserman Media Group was rebranded as Wasserman in 2016.^[16] Over the course of the decade, the company established offices in the Netherlands, Canada, China, and Spain.

Wasserman experienced a period of significant global growth during the early 2020s, acquiring UK football agency Key Sports Management,^[17] and Spanish football agency To Value Players. ^[18] It expanded into Eastern Europe with the purchase of the global hockey firm ACME World Sports and the international basketball agencies Baltic and SEM. During the same time period, in addition to purchasing the high school and college-focused marketing company Riddle & Bloom -- rebranded as Wasserman Next Gen -- Wasserman acquired talent marketing company BSE Media Group, rugby agency Esportif, golf agency Mullhaupt Management, baseball agency Jet Sports Management, and football agency Caric Sports Management. Then ranked as the second-most valuable sports agency in the world, Forbes reported that Wasserman had approximately $5.7 billion in contracts under management in 2020. In 2021, Forbes estimated that the figure had grown to $7.68 billion. ^[19]

After negotiating for more than a year, Wasserman entered the music industry with the acquisition of Paradigm Talent Agency’s North American live music assets in March 2021. Wasserman Music was launched in April. ^[20] The company acquired Paradigm UK's music representation business a year later. In total, more than 200 Paradigm employees joined Wasserman staff. Its global reach broadened to 14 countries on three continents in 30 cities. ^[21]

In 2022, the broadcasting agency Montag was acquired. Approximately 200 broadcasters were added to Wasserman's representation roster. ^[22] Following the company's June 2023 acquisition of Belgium-based Squadra Sports Management, Wasserman Cycling was launched. ^[23]

The UK-headquartered CSM Sports & Entertainment was acquired in July 2023. With 1200 employees working in 20 locations worldwide, its geographic footprint expanded to include Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America. ^[24] The integration of CSM resulted in the creation of three new Wasserman service divisions: Wasserman Live, Wasserman Rights Sales, and Wasserman Hospitality Sales.^[25]

In September 2023 Wasserman acquired the talent management and content production company Brillstein Entertainment Partners. In addition to actors, digital creators, podcasters and professional video game players were added to Wasserman's roster. Casey Wasserman, who opted out of the traditional entertainment industry at the start of his career, stated that the changes in the media industry required the company to think differently about how sports and music talent were represented. In an interview with The New York Times, Wasserman said he intended to expand Brillstein’s television and film production business.

Brillstein was Wasserman's tenth acquisition in two years. In 2024, the company acquired (additional companies.) With the addition of CSM and Brillstein employees, and the integration of (2024 acquistions), Wasserman's staff expanded to more than 3000 people. ^[26]

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