Casey Wasserman
Casey Wasserman is an American entertainment executive and sports agent. He is the founder and CEO of Wasserman, a sports marketing and talent agency. He is chairman of the 2028 LA Olympics organizing committee.
Early life and education
Wasserman is the son of the Los Angeles socialite and philanthropist Lynne Wasserman and Jack Myers, and the grandson of Lew Wasserman. He has used the surname Wasserman since he was 18.He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000 with a BA in political science.
Career
Arena Football
In 1998, Wasserman purchased the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League. 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.Wasserman (Agency)
The same year that he purchased the football team, Casey Wasserman started Wasserman, 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 entertainment film studio. The business was designed to provide financing, obtain sponsorships and arrange distribution in support of original productions. 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.
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. Until he retired in June, 2015, Tellem was a principal at the company and ran one of its management groups.
In November 2006, the company acquired soccer agency, SFX, in the UK. Through that acquisition, WMG came to represent such players as 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 and media and property capabilities by purchasing Raleigh, North Carolina–based OnSport.
In early 2011, WMG bought London-based media rights manager and advisory firm Reel Enterprises.
That year WMG expanded its golf talent roster by acquiring SFX Golf in April 2011.
In 2016, Wasserman Media Group rebranded as Wasserman and is frequently referred to as "Team Wass". In 2021, he acquired Paradigm Agency's music business. In 2023, Wasserman bought the management production company, Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
LA 2028 Olympic Organizing Committee
In 2015, the USOC selected Los Angeles as the American applicant for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Wasserman successfully led Los Angeles' 2017 bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics. He heads the city's Olympic organizing committee.Anti-racism and the International Olympic Committee
On June 19, 2020, Wasserman reportedly wrote the International Olympic Committee 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." 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."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."
Political activities
Wasserman has historically donated to Democratic political, but had by 2025 increasingly sought to ingratiate himself with the conservative right in the United States. Wasserman donated to some Republican candidates prior to the 2026 elections and organized a fundraiser for Senator Susan Collins, a Republican. He co-chaired a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on August 22, 2016.Controversy
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. The legal action stemmed from a May 2018 conference call organized by Laundry Service for media training with Schnatter, which the agency recorded. Following the publication of the call's contents by Forbes, Schnatter resigned as chairman of the company.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. 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. The suit accuses Wasserman's companies of breach of contract and tortious interference with Schnatter's business relationships. In September 2022, a federal district court denied a motion to dismiss from Wasserman Media, which allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
Personal life
Wasserman refers to his grandfather as his teacher. The two would have breakfast together every Saturday and Sunday from the time he was a child until his grandfather's death in 2002. 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."He is divorced from music supervisor Laura Ziffren Wasserman, whose grandfather Paul Ziffren was a Democratic Party leader and chair of the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee. They have two children.
In September 2025, Wasserman joined a search committee led by UCLA Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond to assist with identifying their next head football coach.