Menu
Game Changers

Debbie Spander, Wasserman

Photo by: CALEB DIAZ

G
lobal sports agency Wasserman had only five broadcasting clients when Debbie Spander joined to develop a broadcast and coaches representation division in 2011. Five years later, Wasserman represents more than 50 broadcasters and coaches, including Aaron Boone, analyst for “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN; Frank Thomas, studio host and MLB analyst for Fox Sports; Brent Barry, studio host and game analyst for TNT and NBA TV; Nicole Zaloumis, host of Sirius XM’s “B/R Spotlight” on Bleacher Report Radio; Candace Parker, women’s college basketball game analyst for SEC Network/ESPN; and Alyssa Roenigk, writer, reporter and host for ESPN.

Debbie Spander
WASSERMAN,
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, BROADCASTING AND COACHING
In the past year, Spander was part of a team of agents at Wasserman who signed and negotiated new NBA head coach deals for Luke Walton with the Los Angeles Lakers and Fred Hoiberg with the Chicago Bulls.

“I am one of the few women who represents sports broadcasters, and, as you may know, it’s a fairly male-dominated industry,” Spander said.

Spander said she doesn’t know why that is, though she points to the past, saying, “That’s the way it has always been. It started out men representing men.”

But she adds that being a woman in the business doesn’t hurt. “I think it’s an advantage because I see the industry a little different than men in the industry see it,” she said. “I’ve had to fight my whole career to get where I am.”

Prior to joining Wasserman, Spander represented broadcasters at her own company, A-Game Media, for about a year. She also has experience as an executive at MTV and at Fox Sports, negotiating broadcast talent deals as well as rights agreements and marketing and sponsorship deals on the network side of the table.

Her focus now is on her clients.

“In the industry, I felt I could make more of an impact working for individuals as opposed to large corporations,” she said

— Liz Mullen

  • An attribute I look for when hiring: Passion combined with substance. Passion for sports media and the ability to provide value to clients.
  • A networking tip I’ve learned: Cultivating connections into meaningful relationships is critical in successful networking. The key is not just following up, it’s being useful and informative to those you want to develop deeper relationships with. Get to know them and don’t make it about you.
  • Biggest challenge I face working in sports: Competing in a landscape filled with peers who tell prospective and current clients what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
  • Best advice I’ve received for career development: Develop and hone skills that are valued in the marketplace. Being a successful broadcast agent requires many different skills, but everything starts with my knowledge of the broadcast marketplace and my ability to negotiate and structure deals.
  • Woman in sports business I’d most like to meet: Jeanie Buss. I admire Jeanie, a successful, strong businesswomen who has done a great job running the business of the Los Angeles Lakers. Most important, she has a fantastic reputation for treating people well, which is sadly becoming a lost art in business.
  • Most memorable sporting event attended: The 1984 Final Four, which started a string of my attending 30 out of the last 33 Final Fours. What started out as a fun family trip has now turned into a valuable networking event. My father still covers the Final Four, so I also get to catch up with him.
  • Groups supported: I’m on the board of Westcoast Sports Associates, a Los Angeles-based charity that has funded more than $3.5 million of after-school and summer sports and mentoring programs for disadvantaged youth in Southern California. I also support my two alma maters, Stanford and UCLA, as well as various charities dedicated to cancer and heart disease research.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/09/12/Game-Changers/Debbie-Spander.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/09/12/Game-Changers/Debbie-Spander.aspx

CLOSE