About GA&M
A premier athlete representation and event-marketing firm
Since its founding in 1993, Global Athletics & Marketing, Inc., has grown into one of the premier athlete representation and event-marketing firms in the world. From the sprints to the marathon, from the hurdles to the pole vault, from Arkansas to Addis Ababa to Shanghai, some of the most-respected and successful athletes in the sport call GA&M home.
Global Athletics & Marketing stands for quality, with nearly half of its athletes competing in the 2016 Olympic Games. In all, nearly 50 GA&M clients have won over 150 Olympic or World Championship medals in 25 different events. GA&M athletes have also won more than 150 national championships and 15 major marathons, including Boston, London, Chicago, Tokyo and Fukuoka. Currently, GA&M athletes lay claim to five World Records.
GA&M also owns two of the top track-and-field events in the United States: the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix and the adidas Boost Boston Games.
Client Services
Endorsements/Contract Negotiations
GA&M secures endorsements for every athlete. Currently, all of GA&M’s athletes have promotional agreements with a major shoe and apparel company, and the firm also works to secure additional endorsements. Contract negotiation for our clients is one of the strongest aspects of GA&M’s business. We have strong relationships with every major shoe company and have secured lucrative contracts for all of our top athletes with Nike, adidas, New Balance, Under Armour, Mizuno, Reebok and Asics. Contracts for GA&M athletes totaled more than $6 million in 2017.
Marketing
GA&M is the only athlete representation firm in the sport of track and field that employs a full-time Director of Marketing to solicit corporate sponsors and partners exclusively for our clients and events. We specialize in securing “outside-the-box” opportunities for our athletes. These include promotional agreements with global corporations such as Proctor & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Intel, OMEGA, McDonald’s, SEGA, Garnier, TDK, VISA and Xerox; appearances on network TV game and talk shows; visits to the White House and appearances as guest speakers. GA&M also enjoys a strong relationship with corporations in the Japanese market.
Public Relations
GA&M is one of the few athlete-representation firms in the world that puts an emphasis on promoting its athletes beyond the sport and, equally important, helping them find the best ways to promote themselves. GA&M arranges worldwide press exposure for its athletes in mainstream publications such as Vogue, GQ Magazine, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, L’Equipe, Vanity Fair, London Times, London Daily Mail, the New York Times and USA Today.
Competition Entry
GA&M is proud of our record in securing entry for our clients into the world’s most sought-after competitions. Because of our outstanding relationships with some of the top meet directors in Europe and throughout the world, GA&M has a remarkable record of getting its athletes into the most prestigious events in the sport.
Professional Development and Guidance
GA&M works closely with coaches, trainers and administrators from all over the world to help guide the career of each athlete and to provide guidance for each athlete's career beyond their competition days.
Management
Mark is President of GA&M and meet director for all company-produced events. He heads the Athlete Representation division of GA&M and is authorized and licensed by the IAAF. In addition to developing both American athletes and foreign athletes based in the United States, Mark also identifies and develops new talent from around the world and has especially strong contacts in Ethiopia and China. He is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in history and economics, and earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law. He has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 1991.
Sandra is our marketing consultant and advises us on all Commercial and PR enquiries for GA&M athletes and events. Sandra comes to Global Athletics with more than 15 years of marketing experience at the highest level of global sport. She spent six years at FIFA where she served as Events Marketing Operations Manager and worked on two FIFA World Cups. She has also worked in media operations at three Olympic Games and most recently served as the Marketing Event and Account Manager for Dentsu/AMS at IAAF World Athletics Series events, including the 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 IAAF World Track and Field Championships. Sandra is Swiss and based in Europe.
Art joined GA&M in 2005 as Athlete Development Manager. A native Californian, he competed at American River College in Sacramento before being recruited to run for the famed University of Arkansas, where he was a member of seven NCAA championship teams under coach John McDonnell. After working in the Private Client Group at Morgan Stanley from 1997 to 2003, Art took over the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville in 2003 and continues as meet director.
Elias manages GA&M's office in Addis Ababa. After earning a degree in Information Science in the Philippines, Elias moved to Canada to study for a master's and lived there for a decade. Working first as a community education officer for a multicultural agency in Toronto and then as an immigration counselor, he returned to Ethiopia in 1998 and opened the first Internet Center in Addis. There, he helped many top athletes with email translation, which led to his working with Mark Wetmore and GA&M.
Since 2008, Matt has been charged with managing the company's digital, video and social media assets in all events and athlete web related outreach, handling the processing of GA&M athlete visas, as well as managing GA&M's developing marathon talent in Ethiopia. Matt competed in track and cross country at California State University, San Marcos, and graduated in 2006 with a degree in History and Spanish.
After retiring from professional competition in 2012, Jorge joined GA&M as our Athlete Development Manager for North American Middle and Long Distance talent. As a senior at Wheeling High School outside of Chicago, Jorge won the 1998 Footlocker XC National Championship title, and four years later, won the NCAA Cross Country title for the University of Colorado. He was the USATF Champion at 10000m in 2006, and was a 2008 Olympian at 10000m.
Matthew joined GA&M in 2016 and brings over 15 years experience in professional athletics to GA&M. Matthew works closely with Elias on our Ethiopian clients. A native of Hexham, England, Matthew is based in Europe and also is the point of contact for our British athletes and provides service to our athletes when competing in Europe.
A track standout while earning his engineering degree at Northeastern University, Art joined the GA&M team in 2006 as production manager for the meets. Art also works with GA&M staff on logistical support for both national and world championship events.
