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Wasserman Media Group Signs Andrew Luck; Hires Luck’s Uncle

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Wasserman Media Group’s Athlete Management division has been best known for the leadership of Arn Tellem, who represents some of the highest profile athletes in professional basketball and baseball.  Tellem’s name has recently been in the news regarding whether or not the Texas Rangers will sign his Japanese starting pitcher client Yu Darvish by this afternoon’s deadline, but recently, someone else has stolen the show at Wasserman.  That person is a brand new part of the Athlete Management team and is about to make a huge splash in the sports agent industry.

Wasserman Media Group has long resisted entering the world of representing professional football players.  In order to change course, the company needed a really good incentive.  That incentive just happens to be former Stanford quarterback and likely future #1 overall pick Andrew Luck.

Within the past few days, Wasserman Media Group hired Andrew Luck’s his uncle and NFLPA-certified advisor Will Wilson, who will represent Luck leading up to the 2012 NFL Draft.  Wasserman has also named Wilson the company’s Executive Vice President of Football.  Wilson formerly served as Executive Vice President of International Business & Special Events of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Soccer United Marketing (SUM) for the past four years.

Wasserman Media Group will not only represent Luck with regards to his professional contract with the team that selects him, but the company will also help Luck find opportunities off the field of play, including marketing endorsements, media relations, social media counsel, and charitable and community development.

On Twitter, I openly wondered whether the signing of Andrew Luck and the establishing of a football division may hamper Casey Wasserman’s interest in being strongly involved in a future Los Angeles NFL team.  Apparently, Wasserman does not believe that hiring Wilson and representing Luck will conflict with his efforts to bring a team to Los Angeles.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.