CAA Sports, which has one of the largest consulting businesses in U.S. golf, "has acquired a Munich-based agency to increase its reach globally," according to Smith & Mullen of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The golf division of CAA Sports has established a long list of consulting clients that sponsor PGA Tour events and golfers. What CAA did not have, though, was the kind of global reach that many of its competitors, such as Lagardère Unlimited, IMG and Wasserman Media Group, already have or are also seeking. CAA Sports bought Munich-based Professional Golf Management, an event marketing company that manages most of BMW's golf activation. PGM has overseen BMW’s branding on the European Tour, where the automaker title sponsors three tournaments in England, Germany and China, as well as other int'l competitions. Marco Kaussler, who founded PGM 25 years ago, will join CAA Sports and work with CAA Golf co-Heads Billy McGriff and Ben Gannett to help guide the agency’s efforts in golf internationally. Those efforts "will be focused on finding int'l activation opportunities for their clients that need more of a global presence." Gannett said, “Our golf group helps major brands in the golf space activate with tournaments and player deals, and that’s very consistent with what Marco has been doing for BMW." As part of the acquisition, CAA Sports will now be managing BMW’s branding efforts at the BMW International Open, BMW PGA Championship, BMW Golf Cup International and its affiliated World Final, and the BMW Masters. PGM’s headquarters in Munich will provide CAA with its first office in Germany (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/17 issue).
