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Headline Sports Business

Lagardère Unlimited Hires Industry Veteran Andy Pierce As President And CEO

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Lagardere Unlimited’s new CEO has experience working at CAA and IMG.

Lagardère Unlimited lost a Chief Operating Officer when Kevin O’Connor left the company to become a Senior Advisor to Arnaud Lagardère, the General and Managing Partner of Lagardère SCA.  It now has a new Chief Executive Officer and President after it hired sports industry veteran Andy Pierce to fill that particular position.

Pierce was formerly involved in Golf and Consulting at Creative Artists Agency.  He served at CAA from April 2009 until the recent announcement that he was joining Lagardère Unlimited.  Prior to CAA, Pierce served in a similar capacity at IMG Worldwide.  He was an IMG employee for more than 25 years and was instrumental in running IMG’s well-known Golf division.

In 2009, when Pierce departed IMG for CAA, CAA Sports co-head Howard Nuchow said,

“Andy is one of the most accomplished and well-respected executives in the business and his experience helping blue-chip marketers drive business though successful sports partnerships will be invaluable to us.”

In his new role as Lagardère Unlimited CEO and President, Pierce will lead the company’s North American platform, reporting directly to Arnaud Lagardère.

“Andy is a trusted leader,” said Mr. Lagardère. “His 30 years of experience in forming corporate partnerships and within the sports industry will enhance our existing business and will bring about several new lines of business for Lagardère Unlimited globally. I have full confidence in Andy’s ability to lead and grow our sports business in North America.”

 

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.