CAA Sports has acquired Inside Sports & Entertainment Group, "giving the sports and entertainment agency a new line of business in corporate hospitality," according to Liz Mullen of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. InsideSEG will "keep its name for now but operate as part of CAA Sports." Co-Founders Alan Baum and Ety Rybak and their partners Jim Zissler and Jason Zinna will "continue to run the agency but will now report to CAA Sports co-heads Michael Levine and Howard Nuchow." The firm "offers corporate hospitality and customized experiences to sporting events, including the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby and the Masters." Levine last week said, "It’s a new sales offering for us. We have never been in the business of providing or fulfilling straight experiential opportunities for individuals or to corporate buyers." Mullen notes InsideSEG will "continue to operate out of its office in Manhattan as well as take space in CAA’s New York and other offices" (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/24 issue). VARIETY's Alexandra Cheney noted the acquisition "comes on the heels of CAA backing out of bidding for IMG" in December. While the acquisition of InsideSEG will "help CAA continue to diversify, WME's sports business is much larger." WME and IMG combined employ "roughly 4,500 employees, approximately three times the number of employees of CAA" (
VARIETY.com, 2/24).
