IMG CEO and owner Ted Forstmann has asked to personally make a pitch to the New York Jets and New York Giants on the sports marketing agency’s bid for the rights to sell what is expected to be the biggest naming-rights deal in U.S. history — for the new stadium to be constructed at the Meadowlands.
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IMG (CEO Ted Forstmann above) has not
been as active in naming rights as in other
sports marketing lines of business. |
“He has decided he would like to make a presentation on behalf of the company,” said Steve Tisch, New York Giants co-owner, who added that he knows Forstmann socially.
But another bidder, which some in the industry say is the front-runner for the naming-rights deal, is Wasserman Media Group, a company owned by sports entrepreneur Casey Wasserman. Sources said Wasserman, who is a close friend of Tisch’s, also has been personally involved in the talks for the deal.
And there’s yet another bidder, 16W Marketing, said Frank Vuono, a partner in the firm, which overlooks the Meadowlands and is named after the exit on the New Jersey Turnpike that fans use to get to the stadium.
Tisch said a decision on who will market the naming rights will be made by early summer. Although he has personal relationships with Forstmann and Wasserman, who he has known since Wasserman was a child, Tisch downplayed the importance of those relationships in helping either IMG or WMG to seal a deal.
“[Wasserman] is a friend, but I have a lot of friends I do business with,” Tisch said, adding that his father, the late Robert Tisch, was a friend of Wasserman’s grandfather, the late movie mogul Lew Wasserman. Tisch noted that he is only one of four votes on the stadium management committee, the others being Giants co-owner John Mara, Jets owner Woody Johnson and Jets President Jay Cross.
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“[Casey Wasserman] (above) is a friend, but I
have a lot of friends I do business with.”Steve Tisch
New York Giants Co-owner |
Wasserman’s personal relationship with Tisch is not the only asset Los Angeles-based WMG brings to the table. Jeff Knapple, president of WMG’s marketing division, has negotiated some of the biggest naming-rights deals in the world, including the $180 million Emirates Airlines deal for British soccer club Arsenal, the $187 million Philips Arena deal, and deals for the Staples Center, Toyota Center and Citizens Bank Park.
“All the resources the company possesses are being applied to this process,” Knapple said.
16W Marketing, which is partnering with Team Services on its bid, also has been involved in a number of naming-rights deals, including 3Com Park in San Francisco.
IMG is the largest sports marketing company in the world, but the company has not been as active in naming rights as in other sports marketing lines of business. Peter Johnson, IMG’s former CEO of Sports and Entertainment, originally made the agency’s presentation to the Jets and Giants several weeks ago, Tisch said.
But Johnson is one of several high-level IMG executives who have left the company recently because of differences with Forstmann over the direction of the company. Forstmann, a Wall Street financier who became CEO of the company the same day Johnson resigned, has taken a hands-on approach at the agency.
Of Forstmann’s involvement in the Meadowlands bid, an IMG spokeswoman said, “Ted is the CEO of IMG and it would, of course, be normal for him to be aware of and involved in significant business deals.”
