WME-IMG co-CEO Ari Emanuel indicated that the agency wars "are over" by responding to a reporter's question about rival agency CAA "with the verbal equivalent of a hand wave," according to Rebecca Sun of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Emanuel said of CAA, "I don’t even think about them. They’re a third of our size. I kind of think about them a third of the time. Ish." He added, "They're still stuck in the '90s." Sun noted WME "quadrupled in size and scope" with its $2.4B acquisition of IMG last year, "growing to nearly 5,000 employees (compared with CAA's 1,500-plus)." The "gutsy merger also came with a substantial amount of debt." But Emanuel said that the financials "were on track." Emanuel: "We’re ahead of the plan by at least 12 to 18 months. We’re ahead of schedule as it relates to the culture and people adapting to the new changes." Emanuel added that the agency's plan is to "move away from the traditional representation practice." He said, "When we started with the business, (IMG) was 70% representation and 30% in ownership of assets. We’re going to shift that about 5% to 10%. Buying businesses that we can own and operate as opposed to represent is crucial to how we’re going to create the mix of things we do" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 7/13). VARIETY's Cynthia Littleton noted IMG "recently inked sponsorship pacts with Visa and Lexus that have a global focus." Emanuel: "Advertisers want to come to our company. We have the ability to deliver on multiple fronts. We can help give them perspective about sports on a global basis." Littleton cited IMG’s recent acquisition of the Professional Bull Riders as "a good example of an entity that will benefit from ... WME/IMG and allow the company to build up an asset that it owns outright" (VARIETY.com, 7/13).
