Editor’s note: This story is revised from the print edition.
Jill Smoller at WME may be best known as the longtime agent for tennis icon Serena Williams, but she has represented multiple male and female star athletes across sports and knows something about building a brand.
She is taking a long-term approach with her newest client, 19-year-old University of Kentucky hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin, who has smashed both world and NCAA records. “We think she has the ability to transcend the sport,” said Smoller, who counts Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green as a client for off-court marketing.
McLaughlin’s team has been hearing presentations from potential shoe and apparel sponsors and is likely to make a decision about a deal in the next month, Smoller said. It is likely that McLaughlin’s shoe and apparel endorsement company will end up being the same, Smoller said, but did not provide details.
She did say, however, that McLaughlin is drawing “enormous” interest from sponsors. McLaughlin is the first repeat Gatorade Athlete of the Year winner in the 16-year history of the award, which is given to the best male and female high school athletes in the nation.
“Potentially, she is going to have Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles,” said Smoller, who represents Olympic silver medal-winning sprinter Allyson Felix and represented the late Olympic gold medal winner Florence Griffith Joyner. But Smoller is not just looking at marketing her around the Olympic cycles, she said.
McLaughlin is fast and attractive, but “more importantly she’s an incredibly grounded, incredibly bright and incredibly articulate person,” Smoller said. McLaughlin has 297,000 Instagram followers, 108,000 Twitter followers and 17,000 Facebook followers, and interacts with her fans regularly on social media.
■ WASSERMAN SIGNS MLS MIDFIELDER: Wasserman has signed Altanta United FC midfielder Andrew Carleton, the club’s first homegrown player, for representation in all areas.
Carleton, 18, has played well on several youth U.S. National teams. He started on the U-17 U.S. National team that reached the quarterfinals last year, where he scored two goals. He will be represented by Spencer Wadsworth. He was previously represented by the Stellar Group.
■ ICM SIGNS RUSSILLO: ICM Partners has signed ESPN broadcaster Ryen Russillo in all areas, including broadcasting, publishing, personal appearances, branding and screenwriting.
Russillo, has been with ESPN Radio since 2006, where he has hosted and co-hosted multiple programs and worked on NFL, NBA and MLB coverage. He is the host of a yet-to-be-released ESPN podcast and was the host of “The Ryan Russillo Show” on ESPN Radio.
At ICM he will be represented by Ted Chervin, Mark Zimmerman, Will Horowitz and Michael Charny. He had been represented by CAA, but has been without representation for about two years.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
