Casey Wasserman
American businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Casey Wasserman (né Myers; June 28, 1974[1]) is an American entertainment executive and sports agent. He is the founder of Wasserman, a sports marketing and talent agency. He is chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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Casey Wasserman | |
|---|---|
Wasserman in 2025 | |
| President of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games | |
| Assumed office August 11, 2024 | |
| Leader | Thomas Bach Kirsty Coventry |
| Preceded by | Tony Estanguet (Paris 2024) |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Liveris (Brisbane 2032) |
| Chair of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games | |
| Assumed office July 31, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Casey Myers June 28, 1974 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Laura Ziffren (divorced) |
| Relatives | Lew Wasserman (maternal grandfather) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Businessman, philanthropist |
Early life and education
Wasserman is the son of the Los Angeles socialite and philanthropist Lynne Wasserman and Jack Myers (formerly Meyerowitz), and the grandson of Lew Wasserman.[2] His family is of Ukrainian Jewish descent.[3] He has used the surname Wasserman since he was 18.[4] After attending Brentwood School, he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1996 with a BA in political science.[5][6][1]
Career
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 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.[7]
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.[4] In 2002, WMG acquired the sports marketing and naming-rights company Envision [8] and the action sports marketing and representation firm The Familie, based in Carlsbad, California. [9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12] Until he retired in June, 2015, Tellem was a principal at the company and ran one of its management groups.[13] In November 2006, the company acquired soccer agency, SFX, in the UK.[14] In June 2007, WMG expanded its consulting and media and property capabilities by purchasing Raleigh, North Carolina–based OnSport.[15] In early 2011, WMG bought London-based media rights manager and advisory firm Reel Enterprises.[16] That year WMG expanded its golf talent roster by acquiring SFX Golf in April 2011.[17]
In 2016, Wasserman Media Group rebranded as Wasserman and is frequently referred to as "Team Wass".[18] In 2021, he acquired Paradigm Agency's music business.[19] In 2023, Wasserman bought the management production company, Brillstein Entertainment Partners.[20]
Epstein fallout
In February 2026, Wasserman received criticism after files released from the Epstein Files Transparency Act revealed that he had exchanged intimate emails in 2003 with the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, several years before Epstein was investigated.[21] Wasserman said he said he "deeply regrets" the communication.[22][23] In response, several artists, including Chappell Roan,[24] Dropkick Murphys, bbno$, Bully, Sylvan Esso, Gigi Perez, Chelsea Cutler, Orville Peck, Weyes Blood,[25] Subtronics, and Local Natives[26] publicly disclosed their departure from Wasserman's music agency. Soccer player Abby Wambach also announced she would be exiting the firm.[27] Several others, including Best Coast, Beach Bunny, Hot Mulligan, Louis the Child, and John Summit, demanded that Wasserman step down from the agency.[25][26]
In response, on February 13, 2026, Wasserman announced that he had started the process of selling the Wasserman agency, and would also step back from his representation business interests.[21][28]
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.[29]
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."[30] 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."[31][32] Thomas 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."[33][34]
Following the release of the Epstein files in 2026, multiple figures in Los Angeles politics called for Wasserman's resignation, including Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, Los Angeles County supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath, Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia, and five members of the Los Angeles City Council.[35][36] The Olympic Committee stated that Wasserman would continue in his role, and that his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell "did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented".[37][38]
Personal life
Wasserman had a close relationship with his grandfather. The two would have breakfast together every Saturday and Sunday from the time he was a child until his grandfather's death in 2002.[39] He is divorced from music supervisor Laura Ziffren Wasserman,[40] whose grandfather Paul Ziffren was a Democratic Party leader and chair of the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee.[41][42] They have two children—a son and a daughter.[1][43]
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.[44] Wasserman co-chaired a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on August 22, 2016.[45] He has historically donated to Democratic political causes. Wasserman donated to some Republican candidates prior to the 2026 elections and organized a fundraiser for Senator Susan Collins, a Republican Senator widely seen as a centrist.[46]
