Irving Azoff’s Iconic Reportedly Acquires Frank Sinatra NIL Rights

Frank Sinatra in the studio circa 1955.

Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group has reportedly acquired Frank Sinatra’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights – with plans to open a Rat Pack-themed venue in Las Vegas following separate IP deals involving Nat King Cole and Dean Martin.

Word of the company’s latest purchase surfaced not in a standalone release or music-space coverage, but in a Bloomberg snippet. This buyout-disclosure approach isn’t new for Iconic – which last year said it’d scored a $1 billion tranche for song-rights deals – but it means we’re without an abundance of information about the play.

In any event, the mentioned outlet indicated that Azoff “plans to create a Rat Pack-themed venue in Las Vegas.” While the timing here remains to be seen, said venue would represent the latest in a line of efforts to expand music monetization beyond traditional sync and streaming.

Primary Wave earlier this year premiered Bob Marley Hope Road at the Mandalay Bay, and the multi-stage experience currently has dates scheduled into December, for instance. The company also brought Whitney Houston slot machines to Vegas, to name another quick example.

Back to Iconic’s Sinatra deal and wider venue ambitions, evidence suggests that the Rat Pack-themed establishment has probably been front of mind for some time.

To be sure, the entity has from the outset made a point of scooping up NIL rights, including in deals with Rod Stewart, the Beach Boys, and Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry.

Furthermore, per data compiled exclusively in DMN Pro’s Music IP Acquisition Tracker, Iconic also has other pieces of the Rat Pack puzzle in place. Early 2022 saw the company invest in the work of Nat King Cole before taking a piece of Dean Martin’s “entertainment rights” later that same year.

(Technically, Cole was reportedly associated with Humphrey Bogart’s earlier Rat Pack iteration as opposed to that which later rose to prominence under Sinatra, but you get the idea.)

Then there are the Oak View Group co-founder and V-U2 producer Azoff’s well-documented professional ties to the Sphere, execs from which have emphasized plans to continue booking movies and shows on the same day. At the intersection of those facts and the commercial performance of the venue’s spin on the Wizard of Oz, a Rat Pack programming tie-in doesn’t appear to be outside the realm of possibility.

In other NIL news, after investing in Len Blavatnik-backed immersive entertainment company Lightroom over the summer, Reservoir Media last month bought Miles Davis’ catalog and highlighted plans to spearhead name and likeness collaborations with the jazz legend’s estate.