1) What next for Wasserman?
Casey Wasserman says he has begun the process of divesting his 40% interest in his eponymous agency, following the release of email conversations between him and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislane Maxwell, dating back to 2003. Following the departures over the past two weeks of high-profile talent like Chappell Roan and Abby Wambach from the agency he founded, Wasserman sent a memo to its 4,000 staff apologising and announcing he believes he has ‘become a distraction’. ‘I'm deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort’, he wrote. Agency COO Mike Watts has taken over day-to-day control as the sales process gets underway. Providence Capital, which has owned a majority 60% stake since 2022, issued a brief statement confirming it is ‘fully committed’ to the agency, amid suggestions it may buy Wasserman out, rebrand the agency and then try and sell it on. In that scenario, a couple of ways to sell what has become a goliath of sports/entertainment/talent are in play: it could potentially be swallowed whole by, for example, another agency giant, but another option may be to start to offload on a more piecemeal basis, a division here, a business arm there – effectively dismantling it in a way that mirrors how it was built, mainly through acquisition, over the past decade plus. In that case, the pool of potential buyers for its thriving sports arm, where for now it remains firmly business as usual, would likely be sizeable. Casey Wasserman, meanwhile, has received backing – for now – from the board of LA28 Olympics and remains as Chairman, with his intention now to spend his time solely focusing on delivering the Games.
2) Do I want to attend a private gathering of 350 leaders from sport and beyond to get clarity on what the future looks like and access to a bunch of valuable transferable lessons from experts outside the industry?
If your answer to that is ‘maybe, but I’d like to know more so I can make a fully informed decision’, then you’re displaying precisely the kind of leadership attribute that will probably make you eligible to attend Leaders Meet: Innovation next month in London. We’ve assembled a gaggle of experts from beyond the world of sport – Virgin Active’s Chief AI Officer, the Chief Data Officers at Transport for London and the Met Police, Ofcom’s CEO and the Chief Planning Officer at Gatwick Airport among them – to share how they do what they do, and provide the stimulus for what we expect to be some punchy and honest discussion. It’s going to be off the record, but on the money. Drop us a line if you’d like to know more.
3) Should sports leagues be creating more sports leagues?
With the news that the NFL has hired TMRW Sports, co-founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Mike McCarley and the company behind IRL/virtual hybrid TGL, to operate its planned new professional flag football league, it strikes me that all four major leagues are now actively engaged in planning or executing new leagues or events that sit outside their core offering. The NBA has its Europe project, MLB is preparing for the latest edition of its World Baseball Classic in March, and the NHL is busy planning the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, the return of which was smoothed by a hugely successful 4 Nations Face-Off last year. All-new IP requires sizeable investment, but open up new commercial inventory, media rights conversations (see Netflix taking the World Baseball Classic in Japan), geographical spread and player development opportunities, as well as ensuring that these leagues ‘own’ more of the space within their sport – and so it begs another question: should the big European football leagues and organisations like Uefa, for example, be thinking more about creating and owning something entirely new?
4) Should sports leagues make games on Roblox or just buy them?
To heavily paraphrase Jo Redfern, widely regarded as the expert on these things, creating a Roblox experience that users actually want to engage with - not to mention iterate, mess around with, talk about and adapt at pace - in an organic way is really, really hard. As far as sports organisations go, NASCAR and the NBA have perhaps made the best fist of it thus far. The Premier League is the latest to try. But if you were a governing body or a rights holder, would you not be closely examining the economics and revenue potential of games like Untitled Boxing Game, Track & Field Infinite, Super Golf! or Basketball Zero, in the wake of news that Volleyball Legends, currently one of the most popular (read: addictive) games on the platform, has just been sold for a reported $30 million?
5) What are two emerging sports industry battlegrounds to have an eye on?
a. Inflight rights: Iris Sport Media Agency, run by former IMG executive Ioris Francini, has just scooped a multi-Games deal with the International Olympic Committee for inflight and on-ship media rights, enlivening a category that since 2012 has been dominated by IMG-owned Sport 24. Iris’ deal runs until Brisbane 2032.
b. Leagues v VPNs: LaLiga has obtained a court order in Spain ordering NordVPN - a prominent sponsor and advertiser across football clubs and content platforms - and ProtonVPN to block IP addresses in Spain from being able to access live games, part of its ongoing battle against piracy.
6) What’s on the table in your office reception?
We used to call them magazines, now it seems they’re ‘corporate publications’ – but if they can help generate cultural cachet and with community-building, they’re worth a look.
7) What’s the next reasonably priced investment opportunity in sport?
Would-be investors could do worse than look at MotoGP, where Liberty Media, now firmly ensconced as owners, are starting to make a mark and building confidence and value in the market – deploying some of its ‘F1 growth playbook’ to do so. David Blitzer getting involved as part of a consortium that has acquired the Tech3 team is a healthy sign, a move spurred by 2027 regulation changes that should make it easier for smaller, satellite teams to compete with major manufacturers; another is the impressive-looking season launch event last week in Kuala Lumpur, bringing together all teams and riders. Behind the scenes, there’s an Americanisation underway, a significant cultural change for an organisation and sport that for decades has had its roots in Spain: perhaps no surprise, then, that parent company Dorna Sports has this week been formally rebranded to MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group.
