Author James Andrew Miller's latest book, "Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency," is set to be released on Aug. 9, and both the N.Y. Times and Hollywood Reporter have excerpts from the book on their websites. The portion available on the Times' site specifically deals with the creation of CAA Sports, something "most competitors regarded, and still regard, ... as a disaster, a loss leader, or both." However, in '15, sports for the first time in CAA's history "was the agency's top revenue producer" -- surpassing TV and film -- bringing in more than $215M.
* CAA President Richard Lovett: "In 1997, I called (Managing Dir & co-Chair Bryan Lourd) from New York and said, 'We have got to be in the sports business.' ... We needed to enter sports not only at the right time but at the right level."
* CAA Sports co-Head Howie Nuchow: "Richard knew the landscape was shifting. He said, 'This company has to diversify.'"
* CAA Sports co-Head Michael Levine: "We knew that the money was big in transactions having to do with teams. We knew that the money being spent by the networks for media rights was growing rapidly. And we knew the sponsorship business real well, and that there was a lot of money and margin there. The DNA of the company is to represent talent, and that was going to be no different in CAA Sports" (NYTIMES.com, 7/28).
