Golden 25: LA 2028 Leader Casey Wasserman #25

(ATR) The chairman of the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will spend the next year creating a marketing plan for the Games.

He is number 25 in the 2018 edition of the Around the Rings Golden 25. Published since 1997, the Golden 25 is an annual review of people, events and issues expected to influence the Olympic Movement in the year ahead.

Casey Wasserman, 43, led the bid from Los Angeles when the 2024 Olympics were the objective. He played it cool when the IOC decided to cast its lot for 2024 with Paris, accepting without reservation the offer of the 2028 Olympics by the IOC.

With little to build for LA, Wasserman would seem to have an easy time waiting for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 before he needs to spring into action. That will not be the case.

Wasserman will work on creating the marketing program that will provide near $4.5 billion in OCOG-generated revenue to pay for the Los Angeles Games. Supposed to go into effect in 2019, the marketing plan will mean nine years of exposure and activation for LA corporate sponsors, an unprecedented lead-up that usually is seven years long.

The Los Angeles 2028 marketing plan may include other firsts. With the U.S. a possibility to host an upcoming Winter Olympics, the LA plan could be integrated with the marketing for a ’26 or ’30 Winter Games.

More certain is the likelihood that LA and Paris may forge a partnership that will compliment the marketing programs of both Olympic cities.

Wasserman is the first organizing committee chair who comes from the world of sports marketing. He heads the Wasserman Media Group, a Los Angeles-based agency representing professional athletes and sports properties.

2017 ranking - #6

Reported by Ed Hula.