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Zucker, one of the most influential talent representatives in the Sports Business, will be joining a number of his former colleagues at Excel.
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Alan Zucker, one of the top people in global sports and media business’s IMG’s management team has announced that he will be joining one of the company’s largest competitors Excel Sports Management.
Zucker will be teaming up with three of his former high-profile colleagues at Excel Sports Management, Mark Steinberg, Casey Close and founder Jeff Schwartz.
Well it is not unusual for agents and managers to move companies in any industry and particularly in sports management, the news of Zucker’s decision to join Excel could well be a cause of concern for the new management at IMG, the William Morris Endeavor (WME) company and private equity firm Silver Lake Management who jointly paid out in excess of $2.3 billion for the company late last year.
Alan Zucker is expected to make a considerable dent in IMG’s client list, which includes such high profile sports personalities as veteran NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, Maria Sharapova, Billie Jean King and Venus Williams from the world of tennis, veteran golfer Arnold Palmer, Alex Ovechkin, Peggy Fleming, Dick Vitale, Billie Jean King and Lindsey Vonn to name but a few.
While speculation in the sports management industry is that the chances of a major migration of Zucker’s client base for Excel Sports Management has to be regarded as unlikely, at least in the short-term, the fact that the company has now lost three of its major management team to Excel in almost as many years will have to be a cause for concern.
High-profile golf agent Mark Steinberg was the first to join his former colleague Jeff Schwartz at Excel bringing with him some of the world’s top golfers, with the jewel in the crown being Tiger Woods. Following shortly after in Steinberg’s footprints was Casey Close, who has been given tremendous credit for the rapid establishment of Excel’s baseball division, with a stable that includes Derek Jeter, Clayton Kershaw, Freddie Freeman and Masahiro Tanaka.
Alan Zucker graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing in 1989. Alan joined IMG in 1996, claiming up the management ladder to the reached the role of Senior Vice President with responsibility for Clients and Managing Director of Talent Marketing, a post he had held since January 31, 2011.
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