Former NBAer JAY WILLIAMS has "agreed to become managing partner for the Leverage Agency, a sports, entertainment and media marketing company" founded by BEN STURNER, according to Steve Wiseman of the Durham HERALD SUN. Williams said of the opportunity with Sturner, "We kept waiting for the right time. He's a legit character. I trust him. To do something with him on a bigger level, considering the network I have and the network he has, it's really the perfect time for us to try to take the sports world by storm." Williams while at Duke Univ. "sent letters to executives at top companies to forge relationships." That groundwork gives him "contacts in this new venture, which Sturner and Williams stress is sports marketing, not contract negotiations." Williams "explored the sports agent business but admits he was 'turned off' by that aspect of the business." Williams plans to "continue to work in television along with his new role with Leverage." His contract "is up" at ESPN (Durham HERALD SUN, 7/29). In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Terry Lefton reports Leverage also is adding former Anheuser-Busch VP/Sports & Entertainment Marketing BRAD BROWN to "head sports and entertainment consulting." Brown will be based in St. Louis and travel, while Williams will be based in N.Y. and L.A. Brown said, "The thought is that I can bring buy-side knowledge to the sell side and really help sponsors activate" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/29 issue).
