Colts QB Peyton Manning is repped by CAA.
Creative Artists Agency has hired three execs to head CAA Sports, the division that has quickly become a sports powerhouse.
CAA got into the sports game when it inked to make endorsement deals for then-USC quarterback Matt Leinart. The percentery then brought in Tom Condon from IMG and negotiated Leinart's football deal.
CAA also helped negotiate the recent deal that brought David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.
The division will be led by Howard Nuchow, who most recently was Mandalay Sports Entertainment prexy; David Rone, who was exec veep of Fox Sports Networks and general manager of Fox College Sports; and Michael Levine, who had been president of Van Wagner Sports Group.
The trio will work closely with CAA Sports agents Condon and Ben Dogra, who rep football players including Peyton and Eli Manning; Casey Close, a baseball agent whose clients include Derek Jeter; and Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry, who rep hockey players.
Hiring of the trio, who don't rep athletes, indicates the agency has an endgame that goes beyond player deal commissions and endorsement deals.
Reports have the agency wooing attorney-agent Leon Rose, who reps NBA players LeBron James and Allen Iverson, among others.
CAA reps more than 350 jock clients, with additions coming as the agency enters basketball.
Rival sports dealmakers have been skeptical of CAA's strategy, saying the agency has spent big bucks to be in a business where commissions are much lower than the 10% on movie and TV deals, and where many contracts have salary caps, at least the ones with player unions. Sports dealmaking requires a high volume to be worthwhile, they said.
At Van Wagner, Levine was heavily involved in branding efforts in deals that involved pro basketball, baseball and NCAA Sports. Rone made TV deals at Fox involving 49 sports teams. Nuchow helped build Mandalay Sports into a major player that owns teams and venues.
"Howard spent 10 years helping build Mandalay, and he wouldn't have left to make shoe deals for footballers," said his ex-boss, Peter Guber. "It is clear to me that with the caliber of guys CAA has assembled, that the agency wants to be a lightning rod in the sports arena. They want to be the first stop for anyone who wants to play in the sports arena."
Levine will be based in New York, while Rone and Nuchow will start Feb. 1 in CAA's new Century City headquarters.
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