Los Angeles 2028 is finalizing a deal to name Legends as its sponsorship sales agency to help pursue $2.5 billion in domestic sponsorship revenue for the first American Olympics in a generation, sources said.
The deal, worked out between LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman and Legends President and CEO Shervin Mirhashemi this summer, represents a major opportunity for Legends, which has not been involved in the lucrative global Olympics business. Mike Ondrejko, Legends president of global sales, will lead the work for Legends.
It’s not clear which other agencies were considered, but there was no RFP. In a July interview, Wasserman said “only a small handful” could manage an assignment of this scale, and that he was speaking with each of them. At the time, Wasserman said he intends to build a global sales operation, and an agency would help expand its reach.
Wasserman declined to comment. Legends representatives could not be reached.
Sales for the 2028 Games are still in the earliest phases. The joint venture between the L.A. organizers and the U.S. Olympic Committee only launched this month, and they cannot officially paper deals until January. Those deals wouldn’t take effect until after the Tokyo 2020 Games, when all current USOC deals expire.
The deal covers only sponsorship, sources said. But with its expertise and experience in ticket sales, Legends hopes to be able to expand into corporate hospitality packages, sources said. Olympic ticketing, however, is complicated because each national Olympic committee has its own authorized reseller with exclusive rights in those markets. Jet Set Sports currently controls the U.S. market, but its USOC deal expires in 2020.
It’s not clear whether Legends’ sponsorship sales efforts will be limited by category. Financial terms are also unknown.
“What’s going to be interesting to understand is if they are the exclusive agency, or the intent was to make them one of a handful of skilled agencies that would pursue this very lofty revenue goal,” said Dave Mingey, managing director at CSM Sport & Entertainment and a veteran Olympics sponsorship consultant.
Since the earliest days of Wasserman’s involvement with the L.A. bid, his agency competitors have privately worried that they might not get a fair shot at the Olympics business. Wasserman divisions did get some work from the L.A. bid, and superstar swimmer Katie Ledecky credited Casey Wasserman’s Olympics passion when choosing the agency for representation, but this is the first major deal from LA28 and it’s going outside his orbit.
Legends’ existing strength in the Los Angeles market — selling PSLs and and other inventory for both the Rams and Chargers at their planned Inglewood stadium — makes an already tantalizing opportunity even bigger, said Chris Lencheski, head of global sponsorship for MP & Silva. That same stadium is slated to host the ’28 ceremonies.
“Anyone selling [Los Angeles Olympic rights] already has a huge advantage considering how far out sponsors will know the location,” Lencheski said.
