Wasserman
Spencer Wadsworth’s once-promising soccer career had come off the rails. Two years after being chosen in the second round of the 2008 MLS Super Draft, the Dallas native was nursing a heat rash in the barracks of a second-tier team in the Vietnamese countryside. He wasn’t the same player he had been before suffering a debilitating ankle injury during his junior season at Duke.
“It’s time,” Wadsworth recalled thinking.
Spencer Wadsworth
Senior Vice President, Global Soccer, Wasserman
Age: 38
Born: Houston
Education: Duke University, sociology/psychology/markets and management
Family: Fiancée, Sofia Huerta
Advice to my 20-year-old self: Don’t sweat the small things, remember the end goal and be a little bit more professional.
How I deal with stress in the workplace: I overcommunicate, admit when I am stressed, ask for help and work on myself outside of the workplace daily to manage stress/anxiety.
Causes supported: I’m involved in youth programming that supports youth health and well-being practices. Mental health is another area I’m passionate about and I regularly support initiatives that bring resources to those struggling with addiction and anxiety.
Person in sports business I’d most like to meet: Pep Guardiola, who is the current manager of Manchester City.
Sports business leaders should be more mindful of … : Work/life boundaries and other people’s perspective.
In the years since his early retirement as a player, Wadsworth has built himself into one of soccer’s premier talent agents, particularly in the women’s game. He started out representing two friends and MLS players, Brek Shea and Lee Ngyuen, and soon had a client roster that included U.S. women’s national soccer team players Tobin Heath and Lindsey Horan. He joined Wasserman in 2012 and has never looked back.
Last summer, Wasserman represented 11 players on the U.S. Women’s World Cup team, six of whom were Wadsworth’s clients. Before that, he successfully fought on behalf of then-15-year-old Olivia Moultrie for the right to play in the NWSL before turning 18. Since Moultrie’s legal victory, Wadsworth has represented five under-18 NWSL signees. He also negotiated UCLA star Reilyn Turner’s name, image and likeness deal with Nike, the brand’s first with a college athlete.
But more than any business win, Wadsworth takes the most pride in seeing his clients find happiness.
“The stuff that makes me most proud has nothing to do with accomplishments in terms of transfers or anything like that,” Wadsworth said. “It’s seeing Lindsey Horan grow into a strong woman who’s engaged, is going to get married and has achieved the dreams that she wanted to. It’s seeing Brek, who’s got three kids, had a good career and carved out a nice life for himself. Those are the things that make me the proudest.” — Alex Silverman
Back to the Forty Under 40 home page
