Officially, Wayne Gretzky signed with IMG to expand his “brand and business portfolio across top-tier NHL and non-hockey,” according to a statement from the agency.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
The news that Wayne Gretzky had split from his long-time representative, Darren Blake, was percolating below the surface in the NHL these last couple of weeks. Gretzky and his wife Janet had been in negotiations to land new representation and it happened officially this week, when Gretzky rejoined IMG, his original agency, while Janet will be represented by a team of agents at the William Morris Endeavour (WME), IMG's new parent company.
The move doesn't necessarily mean Gretzky is any closer to returning to the NHL in an official capacity, but it does mean he will likely have a more visible marketing presence than before, in Canada and around the world.
Officially, Gretzky signed with IMG to expand his "brand and business portfolio across top-tier NHL and non-hockey," according to a statement from the agency.
Strip away the corporate jargon and it suggests Gretzky wanted to monetize his image even further in areas and platforms where he previously did little – nationally across the United States and internationally, where he hasn't capitalized on his worldwide fame.
Few who were there will ever forget the moment when Gretzky arrived in Nagano, Japan, for the 1998 Olympics by train and was stampeded by fans in a scene reminiscent of the Beatles' appearance at Shea Stadium.
Recently, Janet Gretzky had started working in film again and played the Caroline Bascombe Compson role in James Franco's film adaptation of the William Faulkner novel The Sound and The Fury. She previously appeared in films as disparate as The Flamingo Kid and A League Of Their Own. WME is one of the leading Hollywood talent agencies, with offices in New York and Beverly Hills, and previously represented Janet earlier in her acting career, before she began raising her family.
Just Tuesday, Wayne Gretzky attended a Blues-Ottawa Senators game in his wife's hometown, St. Louis. Of the Gretzkys' five children, only the youngest two remain at home.
IMG is the world's largest licensing business and thus uniquely equipped to build the licensing part of Wayne Gretzky's brand, believing it can do for him what it previously did for Arnold Palmer. It also puts on 3,000 events around the world and may eventually do something with Gretzky, beyond his annual fantasy camp in Las Vegas.
Gretzky was with IMG earlier in his career, represented by a close friend from his Edmonton playing days Michael Barnett, and reconnected with the agency through the Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer, a current member of the IMG stable of athletes. Barnett eventually left the player agency business to work with Gretzky in Phoenix, after Gretzky became a part-owner of the club in 2000. Barnett was the Coyotes' general manager between 2001 and 2007 and, in 2005, Gretzky went behind the bench to coach the Coyotes for four years, until they filed for bankruptcy in 2009, at which point the NHL assumed control of the franchise.
In the meantime, Gretzky's business dealings had been folded into Wayne Gretzky Enterprises, where Blake became his personal front-man. The two had met originally when Blake worked as the vice-president of operations for the NHL's New York Rangers and the NBA's New York Knicks during the final days of Gretzky's playing career.
Gretzky had kept an arms-length relationship from the NHL until this past fall, when the league settled with him financially over monies owed to him as one of the Coyotes' unsecured creditors.
Last January, Gretzky made a promotional appearance on behalf of his former team, the Los Angeles Kings, at an outdoor game at Dodger Stadium, and has been a far more visible presence in hockey circles ever since. In October, he attended the 1984 Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup reunion and in mid-November, turned up in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he taped a speech to introduce former teammate Rob Blake as part of the annual induction ceremonies.
At that time, he also acknowledged that he'd chatted with the Leafs' outgoing president CEO Tim Leiweke about the team presidency, a job which ultimately went to Brendan Shanahan. In an interview in Edmonton last month, Gretzky said he was content with maintaining the status quo – as an interested outside observer of the NHL. He also repeated that it suited him to just watch the game as a fan. There is no indication that the new relationship with IMG will change that.
Gretzky's new partnership with IMG will seek opportunities in marketing, endorsements, licensing, public speaking, broadcasting and new business ventures, according to the company's statement.
Currently, Gretzky is involved in the wine business through Wayne Gretzky Estates and as recently as last month, was on a cross-Canada tour to promote limited edition Breitling watches that retail for $10,999. He also maintains relationships with TD Bank, Upper Deck, Fairfax Financial and Peller Estates, which handles his wine interests in the Okanagan and the Niagara region.
"It's not that Wayne is looking to do a million things," said a source, with knowledge of the situation. "He's just looking to do the right things."