Sports Agent and Sports Lawyer Blog

We have seen it before – a prominent sports agent leaves his company and takes some of his star clients with him. One of the most prominent examples recently is Dan Lozano, who left BEST, and took his top clients including Albert Pujols. Lozano did not end up in litigation, but sometimes the agent and his former employer end up mired in a lawsuit. For instance, Matthew Baldwin is a prominent sports agent who left a firm and then ended up in court against his former employer.

In England, star soccer player Wayne Rooney apparently became mixed up in a lawsuit when his former agent left his firm.

Sports management firm Proactive sued him saying he owed them commission on a number of lucrative deals. Proactive's former agent, Paul Stretford, took Rooney with him when he left the firm in acrimony in 2008.

Despite Proactive claiming he should have paid them 20% commission on his multi-million pound deals because the contract had not been properly terminated, Judge Brendan Hegarty QC ruled in the footballer's favour.

It appears to me that Rooney may have benefited from what may be termed a loophole insofar as the actual agent-player contract itself was ruled to be invalid. Therefore, Rooney was lucky. Had the contract been valid and Rooney chosen not to pay the agency which negotiated his commission, the result likely would have differed.

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has previously been to court regarding the use of players names and statistics on online fantasy football leagues. Last year in a case with CBS Interactive, the court concluded that the use of this information is protected under the First Amendment. This meant that the players names and statistics were seen as publicly available information and CBS could use this player information without paying a fee. The NFLPA is now appealing.

CBS is not the NFLPA’s only nightmare. Yahoo! recently alleged that the NFLPA has threatened to sue them if they continue to use players stats and other related information without paying proper royalties. The two parties had a licensing agreement regarding this issue, but when that ended in March of this year, Yahoo! now believes they should not have to continue to pay for this information. However only a month after the lawsuit was filed in a Minnesota court, the parties have apparently agreed to settle. The details of this settlement were not made public.

This type of action brings in the question of what should players be compensated for. They are essentially a brand. They add value to their teams and to items they are associated with. Athletes perform on the field and people off the field are making money selling their brand. Take Oakland A’s pitcher, Dallas Braden for example. Soon after Braden’s encounter with A-Rod where yelled at him for crossing over his mound, souvenir stands began selling “Get Off My Mound” T-shirts. The A’s marketing department went to get the shirt approved by the MLBPA, but it was rejected. Thus to get around this they redesigned the shirt so it does not have Braden’s name on it, although it does have a silhouette of him throwing a pitch. It is obvious they are making money off of Braden’s actions, but is something wrong with this picture if Braden is also not earning anything?

As an athlete you are not always aware of when and how and when your brand is being used for profit. You work hard to prove yourself on and off the field and others should not be taking advantage of your success. This is why it is important to have an agent to look out for you. Your agent can and should make sure your brand is protected. They are familiar with the law and know what you are entitled to.

With the Major League Baseball All-Star Break upon us, now may be a good time for any unsigned prospects who were selected in last month’s draft to re-evaluate their options.

If you did not sign, you are probably either (a) leaning heavily toward going to college if you are a high school player, or back to college if you are a junior college player or (b) waiting for others in the top rounds to sign so that you can sign for something over the MLB recommended slot. Some players may be in another state of mind entirely, however. They may be wishing they could sign, but they are being low-balled by the team that drafted them.

Remember, you have just over one month to sign. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. on August 15, 2010. If you have not yet signed, it may be time to consult an adviser and see if the adviser can assist you. Up until now the team has probably been negotiating with your family. If you have not yet signed, it is probably time to be honest and realize that these negotiations have been unsuccessful. Even if you are fine with an outcome that results in you going back to school instead of launching your professional baseball career, don’t you think you should at least let an adviser try to see if he can assist you in working out a better deal?

For this blog’s earlier analysis on the MLB draft and a breakdown of the bonus structure, see these links here and here and here. Remember that fewer than 10 percent of players who are drafted will make the major leagues. This means that the payday you might be about to receive from the team that drafted you could be the largest single paycheck of your entire life. Don't you owe it to yourself to let an adviser see if he can help you?

The annual Major League Baseball Rule IV Draft starts tomorrow and lasts three days. Approximately 1,600 players from around the nation (and a handful from Canada and Puerto Rico) will be drafted during the 50 rounds.

The majority of players who will be drafted already have an agent or an advisor. For those that do not yet have one, it is far from too late to choose an advisor. Once the player is drafted, unless he is a senior in college, he has plenty of leverage, which means savvy agent or advisor can help the player negotiate with the team that drafted him.

As fewer than 10 percent of players who are drafted ever reach the major leagues, the size of their signing bonus could be the largest payday of their entire life. The importance of using an advisor or agent to negotiate with the major league organization cannot be overstated. Even if the player has a relative who is a savvy and successful businessman, a professional sports agent or advisor is absolutely critical.

For more information, contact the author at the phone number listed on this web page.

Everyone knows about Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson’s holdout. Johnson, who rushed for 2,006 yards and established himself as one of the league’s top 5 running backs last season, is refusing to participate in Tennessee’s off-season workouts.

Johnson and the team are at odds about renegotiating his contract. He’s currently playing under a five year, $12 million deal which he signed after being drafted in the first round in 2008. The problem here is that Johnson actually makes less money than one of his backups.

So who is to blame here? The agent, the NFL or Johnson? As this excellent analysis from NFL.com points out, it looks like Johnson’s gripes at being underpaid are legitimate complaints. But if you represent the Titans, you can probably understand why they do not want to pony up large guaranteed dollars for Johnson.

How will it end, and how will the NFL’s uncapped year impact the signing? So far we have seen few major ramifications of the uncapped year, but the Johnson situation may be one of the first tests, so to speak, of the new NFL paradigm which is inevitable

Sports agents can be easy targets sometimes, because the bad apples in the industry get an undue amount of attention. Sometimes, however, people go too far in impugning sports agent.

See if you can follow this saga of a potential problem with a sports agency. A major league ballplayer fires his agent. The cops are investigating a former employee of the agency for stealing money from the player. Somehow, a sports writer links this alleged theft with an entirely separate lawsuit filed against this sports agency.

Got all that? Me neither. Let’s see if we can sort out this scenario and figure out the preposterous implication made by this sports writer, a former lawyer who usually does outstanding work in my opinion. Last month, Angels first baseman Kendry Morales fired Hendricks Sports Management. Last week, the news was reported that an employee of Hendricks is being investigated by Coral Springs police for the disappearance of more than $300,000 from Morales’ bank account. Sounds like a fiasco, right? Clearly, the authorities will sort out whether money was stolen, and if it was, the responsible parties will face criminal charges.

The next part is what makes no sense. In December, heralded Cuban prospect Aroldis Chapman switched agents from a relative unknown to Hendricks. He then signed a 10-year, $30.25 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds. His former agent, the relatively unknown Athletes Premier International, sued Hendricks as a result of Chapman’s switch. Somehow, the writer links Chapman's choice to retain Hendricks with the alleged criminal actions by a Hendricks employee.

I cannot figure out what the alleged criminal activity by the apparently rogue employee has to do with Chapman’s switch. A Hendricks employee allegedly stole money from a client. A player switched from another agent to Hendricks, spurring a lawsuit from the old agent. How are these things an indication that a player should not sign with Hendricks. The Hendricks brothers have been around for decades so they do not need this blog to defend them, but it seems to me that their name is being unnecessarily dragged through the mud.

Is it possible that sports agents who try to procure sponsorships for their clients are over-thinking the process a little too much? Milwaukee Wave soccer player Marco Terminesi probably thinks so.

Terminesi obtained a sponsorship for himself the old fashioned way. He ate at a local restaurant. He liked it. He talked to the restaurant’s manager. He asked the manager if the restaurant would sponsor him. The manager agreed, and now the soccer player has a sponsor:

"It's perfect for me," Terminesi said. "It's healthy food, and the players go there. And Felipe likes soccer." Camargo, a soccer fan himself, said he's been happy with the response so far. In his mind, both the Wave and his restaurant are on the same agenda: a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. "They care about their fans," Camargo said of the Wave. "And we care about our customers."

Of course I am being a little tongue-in-cheek with this post, as we know it is not always this easy to procure a sports sponsorship. Also, most leagues and governing bodies are not as loose with their sponsorship regulations as Major Indoor Soccer League, which allows individual players to place their sponsor’s logos onto their uniforms. Can you imagine the NFL allowing uniforms to be adorned with individual sponsor logos?!

The sports agent sponsorship scam which recently came to light in England illustrates yet again why all athletes should consult their sports lawyer before handing over their hard earned money.

In the latest scam, a British sports marketing agency asked for money up front from athletes in exchange for the promise of procuring endorsements. Even Andrew Steele, one of the athletes who was ripped off, acknowledged that he thought being forced to pay upfront was a red flag:

“I asked: 'why does it have to be up front, why can't I give it once the sponsorship has been secured?' They said that if the money didn't materialise then I would get a refund, so I thought I'd go for it.

Steele said his fears were lessened because the agent employed several prominent former athletes. This seems to be a common practice among sports marketing agents who are operating scams. They pay athletes to recruit other athletes. Because pro athletes tend to stick together, they feel better when one of their own is on board.

The bottom line here is that any time a sports agent request money up front, the athlete should run quickly in the opposite direction. While there may be certain hourly and flat-fee arrangement for certain types of sports agency duties, this type scenario is rare, and should only be entered into cautiously and with someone trustworthy. When in doubt, the athlete should consult a sports lawyer.

If Gilbert Arenas had a sports agent, would his legal problems be viewed as less serious? Arenas allegedly got into it with Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton. This dispute is far more serious than the average teammate-on-teammate spat because Arenas is being investigated by police for apparently threatening Crittenton with a gun.

Mike Jones, a former Washington Times sports writer, writes in his blog that Arenas “doesn’t have an agent boldly proclaiming a positive outcome for him, partly because he has no agent.” This comes on the heels of Crittenton’s agent making this statement:

“I’m confident my client hasn’t done anything wrong,” Bartelstein said. “The fact will bear that out. It’s unfortunate that rumors get going and inaccuracies come out before the facts are known, but all we can do is wait for the investigation to conclude.… Javaris will be exonerated of any wrong doing.”

Bartelstein is doing the right thing by his client. It is his job to make such statements and to believe in his client. If Arenas had an agent, he would undoubtedly issue similar statements. Still, I have my doubts that the agent’s statements would be too helpful in the investigation by law enforcement.

For precedent, see the Plaxico Burress situation. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was optimistic in his predictions. Rosenhaus is as talented and aggressive a sports agent as anyone in the business, but even he could not keep his client out of prison. Sometimes the agent has to fulfill his obligation to speak positively and defend his client, even when he knows there are higher powers, such as the law, that will be the final arbiter of his client's future.

The sports media and sports business world was in a frenzy recently over the upcoming launch of TMZSports, a gossip site apparently to be devoted entirely to athletes rather than entertainers. TMZ is already an established media brand and is one of the world's most heavily trafficked web sites, and it earned $40 million in ad revenue over the past two years.

While pundits have weighed in on what this means for sports media, no one has yet discussed what this means for professional athletes and the people who help manage their careers such as sports agents and sports lawyers.

My take is that it while it seems scary - because TMZ habitually pays people for tantalizing photos - it is not something that should scare athletes. Any athlete with a brain already knows that even a minor transgression is in danger of being captured by a cell phone camera and posted online within seconds. The reason that athletes need not be worried is that as Shanoff writes in the first link that I posted above, the general public does not care about the private lives of its sports idols. There are, of course, obvious exceptions, such as the Tiger Woods story. The bottom line is that it’s one more thing for athletes and their agents to monitor, but athletes need not be worried because of a new gossip web site, even if the site is already branded as one of the world's most popular.

To think that the paparazzi will suddenly be parked outside of NFL practice facilities and following offensive linemen around town on their nights out is an over-exaggeration. The TMZ culture of celebrity worship is a phenomenon which has been ongoing for more than a century; entertainers have always been the target of obsession. Only the elite of the elite professional athletes, on the other hand, have been treated as celebrity objects. I predict TMZ's venture will be a non-factor within a year of its launch.

As a sports lawyer, my job is to represent my athlete clients in lawsuits. However, there are times when filing a lawsuit is not in the client’s best long-term interests, and it is my job to advise the client of this.

Take the recent ruling in the Reggie Bush lawsuit. Bush was sued by a former investor, and Bush asked the court to move the case to arbitration. One reason that parties to a lawsuit often seek to avoid the court system, is that they want to avoid the publicity that comes hand-in-hand with legal matters. All court documents are considered public material, which means that anyone – blogs, reporters, fans, etc. – can get their hands on the documents. In arbitration, on the other hand, there is no particular obligation to make the material public. Arbitration pleadings are not filed at the courthouse, as arbitration is a private matter.

In Bush’s case, his advisers do not want the NCAA to get their hands on deposition transcripts. If the NCAA reviews the depositions and finds grounds to bolster their already ongoing investigation, that could be bad news. The article says that Bush’s lawyers will now seek summary judgment. If they lose, you can bet that their will be a settlement so that Bush’s testimony does not see the light of day.

This case proves that there are always valid reasons not to sue, even when the athlete thinks a lawsuit is the best course of action.

When a reporter makes an irresponsible, but not libelous statement about a client, does a sports agent have an obligation to contact the reporter to respond?

This article on NBCSports.com’s usually excellent Circling the Bases blog by Aaron Gleeman contains a ludicrous statement. In reporting about St. Louis Cardinals prospect David Freese’s recent arrest for driving while intoxicated, Gleeman reports that the arrest is unlikely to damage Freese’s chance at making the Cardinals opening-day roster.

Gleeman reasons that the fact that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was once arrested for driving under the influence makes it less likely that the Cardinals will come down on Freese. While this criticism of La Russa stops short of libel, it’s absurd for Gleeman to argue that because La Russa condones driving under the influence simply because he was once arrested for doing so. I do not know this for a fact, but I think it is safe to say that La Russa’s arrest, while embarrassing and not something to laugh about given the potentially deadly ramifications of getting behind the wheel while drunk, does not make him a sympathizer with drunken drivers. If the arrest has no impact on Freese’s shot at the roster, it’s because drunk driving does not impact one’s ability to play third base.

So what is the sports agent's obligation? La Russa will make the hall of fame and probably does not care about this type of smear job by a reporter. Still, should his agent contact the reporter to tell his side of the story? What if instead of La Russa, the manager in question was a substantially lesser-accomplished baseball man? Would that make it more important for the agent to step in and engage in spin control? It's often unwise to engage in serious back-and-forth the media and bloggers, because they can distort your statements. Still, as an agent, I think it is important to treat every instance such as this one on a case-by-case basis, and consider at least a polite e-mail inquiring as to the basis for the reporter's statements.

Do sports agents wield any influence with their clients’ coaches? When heralded Detroit Lions rookie Matthew Stafford was declared out for Sunday’s game against the Ravens, Stafford’s agent undoubtedly breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Stafford’s shoulder has been bothering him for several weeks. He famously threw a last-second touchdown pass with the injured shoulder last month, but the Lions are a team that is going nowhere. Why risk permanent and debilitating injury if Stafford is unable to single-handedly revive this moribund franchise’s hopes? No matter how well he plays, he will not salvage the season, which means that Stafford should be held out, and should have been held out for the entire time he was injured.

Jack Bechta recently wrote that sports agents should intervene and insist that their client be properly evaluated, and if necessary, held out of game action. Sports agents have to tread a thin line between their ensuring that their intervention does not cause any additional problem between their client and the team. But as we have written previously, sports agents have a fiduciary duty to protect their clients’ long-term interests. If intervention is the best way to protect the interests, then the agent is obligated to speak up.

When Aroldis Chapman’s former sports agent sued his new agent this week, the lawsuit threatened to put the entire system of sports law and sports agent representation on trial. I mean this in a literal and figurative sense – the unsavory practices of the business of sports agents may be brought to light publicly, as well as in the courtroom.

The facts of the lawsuit are undisputed. Chapman, a recent Cuban defector who is considered a sure-fire superstar, signed with Athletes Premier International and Edwin Mejia after his defection. He became disenchanted, and subsequently signed with a more established agency, Hendricks Sports Management. So API and Mejia sued Hendricks, alleging tortious interference with their business relationship and also unjust enrichment.

This article from the Associated Press contains a hint that if this matter goes all the way to trial and up the chain of appellate courts in Massachusetts, the entire realm of player representation could be on trial:

Stealing clients is a longtime and lucrative practice among some sports agents, who can earn up to 5 percent of salaries reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

This is probably an accurate statement that most people who aren’t in the sports law or sports agent business don’t understand or don’t realize. A former college baseball teammate of mine who is now a high-ranking executive in the front office of an American League team told me that it happens every day in baseball and he has never seen such a switch result in litigation. Sports law experts apparently agree, as the article notes:

"Generally speaking, players can change agents at their discretion," said Michael McCann, a sports law professor at the Vermont Law School. "There is certainly evidence of agents poaching clients (in cases) that don't result in litigation. Maybe it's unethical; maybe it's wrong; but it happens."

In most industries, if you sign a contract, you are bound by the contract. As we blogged earlier, it’s not always that way among college coaches. Still, that does not mean that an athlete, coach or even an agent should give up his right to pursue justice because standard business practice in his industry involves breaching contract. While the industry may view contracts as not worth the paper they are printed on, courts will often see things differently. Anyone who thinks he has suffered damages from a breached contract or because a competitor has interfered with his work should consult a qualified sports lawyer for legal advice.

When Bears quarterback Jay Cutler started mouthing off about what he perceived to be poor officiating, the media in Chicago took notice. Apparently, Cutler has been complaining during the game at a level far more than normal to the officials. Maybe he is looking to use them as scapegoats for his poor on-field performance.

For some reason, Bears coach Lovie Smith has done a poor job of bringing Cutler’s complaining under control. So does that mean Cutler’s sports agent should try to step in? Sports agents are not babysitters, but they often have the means to persuade their clients that certain actions have adverse consequences. This is not a complex formula: If Cutler were perceived as a “good guy” he may be more likely to procure additional well-paying endorsements. If he were perceived as a “complainer” then Cutler’s public persona will not be well-received.

Sometimes you have to wonder if the folks at Nike really are smarter than everyone else in the sports endorsement world. Nike has announced a partnership with the group that regulates high school sports in Texas:

As part of the agreement, Nike will provide discounted rates to the roughly 1,300 UIL-member schools. Nike also will be an official sponsor at both UIL athletic and non-athletic events

What does this mean on a practical level? While most high school athletes will never have the opportunity to turn professional, those who do will have already been Nike clients for many years by the time that they begin their professional careers. So who do you think they are more likely to sign with if they have been associated for Nike since their formative years? That’s right, Nike.

If a sports agent gets into trouble, rest assured that his alleged sports agent problems will follow him for the rest of his life.

For instance, consider the case of Robert Caron, an Illinois lawyer who was formerly a sports agent. Almost 15 years ago, several USC football players were suspended for taking gifts from Caron’s sports agency. Now, Caron is in legal trouble (and has terminal brain cancer), and is facing even more charges.

What this illustrates to me is that sports agents, many of whom are governed by no code of ethics or morals, can be held accountable for their actions even when said actions happened in what appears to be another era. I think this is a good thing. Without a code of conduct for sports agents, such as the Rules of Professional Responsibility, which lawyers are required to adhere to, if the Internet is the only thing that holds people accountable – when reporters drag up old ethical violations – maybe more sports agents will think twice before undertaking ethical problems.

Ask yourself why a sports agent would criticize his own client in a public forum. According to the track site LetsRun, Michael Johnson is the agent for Jeremy Wariner (although the USATF web site says Deon Minor is Wariner's agent). Surely when asked whether Usain Bolt could beat his client in the 400, Johnson demurred, right? Not exactly:

Asked what the triple Olympic and World Championships gold medalist needed to do to beat the American LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner, who have dominated the event over the last five years, Johnson replied: “Well right now, not very much because they’re not running that fast. They didn’t run 43 seconds last year, so I think he (Bolt) could step on the track this year and run 43 seconds, I honestly do,” he said.

It’s always a good thing when agents are honest and do not place unrealistic burdens on the shoulders of their clients. Still, it’s rare for an agent to directly state that his client will likely lose to someone else.

If college football players are paid, as some hope will happen eventually, surely they will need sports agents, right?

This article notes that famed athlete-broker Sonny Vaccaro is traveling the nation trying to convince the future generation of American leaders that college athletes should be paid.

Unfortunately, as with most schemes dreamed up by Vaccaro, the concept may be sound in theory, but sorely lacking in details and in practicality.

Here are two of the biggest problems with the scheme. First, you would not know how to choose which players get paid and it would be impossible to create an equitable system. Second, when some players are paid, the ones who don’t get paid will inevitably fall by the wayside, leading to dramatically scaled back athletic departments and lost sports:

How do you choose how players are paid? Are they all paid the same?” McCann said. “Do you have a tiered system based sort of like a market? Then you can be creating stars who get paid a lot of money. I could see why some people find that inconsistent with college model of amateurism.

“(If revenue-producing athletes were paid) colleges would start cutting sports considerably. You would start seeing reduction in the size of athletic departments…. Particularly male team sports that are expensive and don’t generate a lot of revenue.”

The residual economy which would inevitably emerge if high schoolers could be sold to the highest bidders as free agents might sound like a good business practice for sports agents looking to expand their clientele, but in the big picture, this seems like a sure-fire disaster. Can you imagine the chaos which would emerge if high school athletes planning on attending college needed agents? The only benefit that I see is that this may force the federal government to step in and create a uniform agent registration process so that agents need not face the same process in all 50 states.

We have blogged on multiple occasions about creative methods of obtaining sports endorsements. Here is an interesting endorsement which apparently has an indirect payoff.

NBC is allowing viewers to submit a design for skier Lindsey Vonn’s helmet. The contest does not disclose a direct payoff to Vonn, but it is sure to increase her visibility. Every time she is shown on TV, the network will highlight that she has a helmet designed by a viewer, and Vonn will stand out from the pack of usually faceless Olympians who are shown on TV only once every four years.

Vonn’s agent should be commended for procuring this endorsement opportunity. It is especially praiseworthy because the agent probably drew no direct commission for brokering the deal, but he knows it will pay off in the long run.

Sports Agent Lawyer Blog was recently quoted in an article in San Diego City Beat about the energy drink sports endorsement market.

While I have no knowledge of any of the principals involved in the story or the legal proceedings, I was asked to comment by the reporter about the agent’s purported practice of taking a direct commission from the energy drink company when he linked his athletes to the company.

The article calls it a “questionable double-dipping practice.” Here is how it works: The agent has a business relationship with a sponsor. The agent also has athlete clients who need sports endorsements. Naturally, the agent links the athlete and sponsor together and everyone is happy. The questionable practice is that the agent not only takes a commission from the athlete – all marketing agents take a commission when they procure endorsements – but he is also paid by the company.

Here is my quote about the practice:

Attorney Jason Wolf, who blogs about these issues at Sportsagentlawer.com, said this double-dipping isn’t illegal.

“It’s not common, but it’s also not uncommon,” Wolf said. “It’s not unethical, but it raises some questions as to whether the agent is in it for himself or has his clients’ best interest in mind. It makes me raise maybe one eyebrow instead of two.”

The reason this raises questions is that the agent is supposed to have his client’s best interests in mind. This practice is not proof that the agent is failing to meet his fiduciary duty, but it definitely raises questions. I also suggested that perhaps one reason that the practice is not unethical is that there is no uniform code of ethics governing sports agents, and no enforcement of such regulations. Without a code of ethics, how can conduct be deemed to be in violation of the ethical regulations?

Track superstar Sanya Richards has weighed in with her take on sports agents, and she does not portray sports agents in a flattering light.

Richards notes that she is being sued by her own agent, although she provides no details on the lawsuit:

I am currently being sued by an agent, someone I once had a great deal of respect for. I speak out not just for myself but for so many athletes, in track and field, that have been in similar situations and for the athletes to come!!!

She also makes a crucial point about the USATF agent certification process, namely referring to the lack of regulation by the sport’s governing body. She apparently had a negative experience with her agent:

Now why would someone that got me a deal, that I would have gotten with or without them, believe that they should be paid beyond the time they worked for me?

It blows my mind that these kinds of people exist. People that want to watch you work as hard as you can and then take it away.

In my opinion, the USATF agent certification process leaves a lot to be desired. There is a reason that track athletes and track agents are on the verge of war with one another. The athletes come and go, but the agents are always there. As a result, they wield an extraordinary amount of power in the sports. I hope that someone such as Sanya Richards, who had the courage to put her name out there with this blog post, can start a drive to revamp the process and reform the sport.

Everyone has an opinion about baseball sports agent Scott Boras. People either love him or hate him.

One thing that Boras does well is drive up the price for his players. This benefits all major league baseball players, and their agents, because he makes more money available. Owners’ complaints about Boras are well-documented: He is a hold-up artist who artificially inflates salaries to the point where baseball is on the verge of a permanent disparity between the large- and small-market teams.

We will cover the disparity in another blog post. What has impressed me about Boras’ recent comments is that he called out the St. Louis Cardinals for crying poverty:

In an interview that ran about 15 minutes, Boras chided the Cardinals for portraying themselves as a "middle-market franchise" and served up a reminder of a potential power-shifting decision the Red Sox made last winter.

Boras always presents unrealistic demands in the initial stages before contract negotiations get serious. He also obtains results, as witnessed most recently by the eight-year, $180 million contract that his client Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees last offseason.

Boras also disputed MLB's complaints that the current economic crisis will depress the market for free agents:

"We hear this every year," Boras said of MLB's forecasts that spending will be down. "Based upon their bad economic forecasts of last year, I won't invest in their stocks of choice."

As most readers probably know, I am a sports agent for Wolf Sports Management. So today we are deviating from the norm of bringing you sports agent legal news in order to release the following announcement:

Wolf Sports Management, a Fort Lauderdale-based spots agency, has signed Kenny Johnson, a point guard who recently graduated from North Alabama.

Kenny is 5-foot-11, and has been characterized as a quick and speedy guard who is not afraid of contact under the basket. He also has a strong 3-point stroke. On Monday Kenny has a workout with the Vermont Frost Heaves, a team in the Premier Basketball League next week. He has another scheduled tryout with an ABA team after Thanksgiving.

Wolf Sports Management is thrilled to have Kenny Johnson aboard and looks forward to a long-lasting and fruitful business relationship.

For more information about Wolf Sports Management or basketball player Kenny Johnson, contact sports agent Jason Wolf.

Earlier we blogged about concussions in the NFL and the lasting damage they can cause football players. We just wanted to point out an outstanding, if painful, article about former 49ers lineman George Visger, who is afflicted with hydrocepahlus, or "water on the brain." He even has a shunt in his brain as a result of one too many hits to the brain.

Here is a chilling excerpt from the article:

Here’s the score. Visger’s head got knocked around so much playing football, scar tissue formed over the ducts in the brain that supply fluid to the spine. When the fluid builds up enough pressure, it crushes Visger’s brain from the inside out, against the hard, bony skull. If the pressure is not alleviated, his brain will hemorrhage, he’ll go into a coma and die. That’s what the shunt surgically installed in his brain is for, to relieve the pressure. If the shunt should clog—which it has done often in the past, thus the multiple brain surgeries—the pressure builds up inside his skull, causing an intense headache and nausea. If the pressure doesn’t subside, then Visger is supposed to jam the needle in the side of his head and drain off the excess fluid.

I am not suggesting that football players from the old days need to start suing leagues because of the damage previously suffered. At some point, however, the NFL needs to wake up and institute major reform. How anyone can ignore the mounting evidence and argue that football at high levels is not potentially life-threatening is beyond me. This is a topic that Sports Agent and Sports Lawyer Blog won't stop covering until the league makes substantial changes in its policies.

Have you heard about the sports agent who obtained an endorsement for his pro athlete client, but the athlete had to pay money for the privilege of doing the endorsement, instead of the other way around?

A new mouth guard on the market, which retails for up to $800, is being presented as a performance boosting mouthguard. Among the endorsers of this product are All-Pro RB Adrian Peterson and NHL Hall of Famer Brett Hull. They not only endorse the product, they have invested in the company, Bite Tech, which manufactures the special mouthpiece.

The article raises two interesting points. First, should agents advise their clients to try new products if they are alleged to improve performance? (We will cover this in a future blog post; for now, consider whether a sports agent would be wise to recommend that his client try one of the new and improved hockey helmets)

Second, and more importantly, is this a good endorsement if the athlete is not paid anything? The article makes it sound like Hull, Peterson and the others who are involved aren't necessarily endorsing the product as much as investing in a business in which they believe. However, the article also contains this excerpt, which makes me think there is a little bit of a smoke-and-mirrors situation going on here:

But Bite Tech's biggest boost has come from its litany of athlete investors and users, a testament to Kittelsen's prodigious ability to work the room. For instance, Kittelsen first met Hull at Michael Jordan's golf tournament and later cornered him at a restaurant. Hull says it was his idea to invest in Bite Tech, which is precisely what Kittelsen wanted the hockey star to think.

"It has to be their idea," Kittelsen said. "If it's their idea, then they really believe" in the company.

So in other words, the founders of this company have essentially found a way to promote their product that is virtually revolutionary. Not only do they pay nothing to big-time athletes in exchange for an endorsement, they actually have convinced the athlete to pay the company for the privilege of endorsing! Brilliant marketing for the company, but for the agent and athlete, it may not be the smartest move. To be sure, if the product works and the business takes off, the athlete has made a good investment. But at what cost? A superstar such as Adrian Peterson has a brand to protect; he cannot be involved in just any random product. Now he is not only receiving nothing for an endorsement, he is actually paying this company for the privilege of serving as a spokesperson.

I recently read an article about the National Basketball Retired Players Association's program to help retired athletes transition to so-called civilian life. Charles Smith, a nine-year NBA veteran, is heading up the effort to help retired pro athletes.

Smith's efforts are admirable. However, when a retired pro baller gets to the situation where he needs major assistance in getting his financial house in order, it begs the question: Where was the agent to begin with? Why didn't the player's agent offer to set up his client with financial advice, tax shelters, and retirement planning? I am not suggesting that all agents need to delve into areas with which they are unfamiliar. Still, an agent absolutely must be willing and able to offer the resources for his client to take advantage of. Of course the article is correct when it states that only the athlete can come to the realization that he needs to plan for his future:

Sometimes the first challenge is convincing players that they need to plan at all. They live in a world of instant gratification and relative comfort. The average N.B.A. salary is about $5.8 million, and the minimum is $457,000. No one ever anticipates losing it all.

“I understand they’re sitting there and: ‘It ain’t me. It’s not going to happen to me,’ ” Smith said. “You got to think that way. But on this side of the fence, and when you’re getting ready to retire, now we have to shoot straight with them.”

In my view, agents need to be more proactive. Agents can, and should, do everything in their power to make sure that their clients are more than simple money-generating machines. They should understand that the clients are human beings, often from underprivileged backgrounds, who need someone to counsel them on their financial future, or at the very least to steer them toward a professional so that they will not end up like Antoine Walker.

We recently blogged about pro athletes suing reporters. Now comes word that the Major League Baseball Player’s Association is closely monitoring baseball team media comments for signs of a collusive-type effort to artificially limit baseball salaries.

Michael Weiner, MLBPA’s new leader, says the union is worried about the “predictions” that a glut of players who are not tendered contracts by their teams will result in lower salaries for free agents:

"I don't think it's an accident that in recent weeks, management officials, without attribution, have been making predictions about what's going to happen in this year's free-agent market," Weiner said. "There have been predictions about the [money] players will get, what players will be offered [salary] arbitration and what players will be non-tendered [contracts].

As an agent, I think this behavior, if true, is deplorable. However, as a sports agency that counsels its clients on how athletes should utilize the media to deliver the right message, a subject which we have blogged about on several occasions here, this is a situation to monitor. It shows that even when you hear something as seemingly innocuous as sweeping predictions about the market, there is a method to the communication.

If you’re an MMA fighter, you have to be pleased at the recent news that Georges St. Pierre has signed with Under Armour. As MMA goes more mainstream – and people finally recognize MMA for what it is, which is a legitimate sport that has nothing in common with WWE – more endorsements are sure to follow.

A lot of people are probably asking themselves: Now that St. Pierre is in the fold, who will be next? The question that I would like answered is: Which mainstream company will dip their toes into the MMA world next? It’s not like MMA is a stranger to big corporations; many endorse the league overall. But to date few major sports endorsing companies endorse individual athletes, and that is sure to change now that Under Armour has signed up St-Pierre. This is good news for MMA fighters and their sports agents.

For more information on sports agents and endorsements, contact sports attorney Jason B. Wolf.

Here comes another story of professional athletes who were bilked out of their hard-earned money. Several players on the Columbus Blue Jackets recently spoke to a reporter about the instances in which they were swindled.

As always, the article is just another cautionary tale which has at its root the fundamental problem of who an athlete can, and cannot, trust. This is why we here at Sports Agent and Sports Lawyer Blog continually emphasize the theme that athletes need to employ risk managers, someone who can assess and analyze each and every investment opportunity and explain the pros and cons to the athlete. This person should be an attorney, but not necessarily be the athlete's personal counsel, and should not be the athlete's financial adviser.

It's easy for the athlete to be seduced when approached by an inventor or entrepreneur who promises to give the player a share in the Next Big Thing. There is no doubt that occasionally, some people do have solid ideas and the athlete could actually benefit from making an investment. More often than not, the opposite is probably true. We have written several times about athletes and their financial problems. Even having a professional financial adviser is not always sufficient:

Most athletes have a financial adviser, but the people serving in that capacity vary widely.

Several Blue Jackets said they allow relatives or family friends to manage their money. Other players are represented by large sports agencies that handle all their financial matters, including bill and mortgage payment.

It's a subject that will never go away until athletes get smarter about their overall risk-taking strategy. People essentially need to allocate only a fraction of their overall disposable income to high-risk ventures. Then they need to figure out the best way to maximize that percentage. Blue Jackets player Rick Nash has the best approach. His lawyer, agent, financial adviser and accountant are all unrelated to one another. This ensures that there are greater checks and balances.

Typically when a baseball agent is released from prison, it is not necessarily a time to celebrate. The case of Juan Ignacio Hernandez Nodar, a sports agent imprisoned in Cuba for the past 13 ½ years, is different. I am not sure that we can lump Nodar into the category of disgraced sports agents.

The fact that he was imprisoned in after a trial in Cuba which does raises some doubts as to his actual guilt. He allegedly helped Cuban baseball players defect to the United States. Another noted sports agent, Joe Cubas, said that Nodar was made an example by the Cuban government.

``We had half the Cuban Olympic team ready to defect at a tournament in Mexico'' in 1996, Cronin told El Nuevo Herald in a telephone chat as he boarded a plane for Miami so that he could meet Hernández Nodar upon his arrival. ``But the government made a lesson out of Juan Ignacio and El Duque, and everything went cool.''

I personally do not know whether Nodar would have been convicted in an American court, although it seems doubtful.

With the World Series finally wrapped up, it also means we’re on the figurative eve of the Hot Stove season. Baseball players have 15 days following the conclusion of the World Series to file for free agency.

This leads to endless speculation about which player will exercise their option clauses, which players will be non-tendered by their clubs, and who needs whom in order to fill lineup holes for next season. As usual, MLB Trade Rumors does a stellar job of evaluating every team’s needs and wants based on their payroll.

For anyone wondering about who are the free agents, Cot’s Baseball Contracts provides a run down of free agent position players here, and pitchers here.

Rest assured that while the agents for the big name free agents this year such as John Lackey and Chone Figgins are counting on big paydays from the few teams able to add payroll this offseason, agents for the other players are frantically studying the data to see where their clients would fit. Most players have probably already made their decision about filing for free agency, but a few are still waiting for final word from their agents before deciding what road to take.

After free agency gets going, that means the winter meetings are right around the corner, and then a quiet period over the holidays, followed by the usual flurry of arbitration hearings (and last-minute compromises) before teams report for spring training.

Athletes need endorsements. Olympic athletes especially need sponsorships. We have blogged several times previously about various methods used by Olympians to raise money for their sports careers, from creative endorsements to new techniques to find sponsorships. Now comes what is believed to be a first in Olympic history.

The Colbert Report is sponsoring the U.S. Speedskating team. What is unique about this opportunity is that Colbert is not paying any money to the team. Instead, he is asking his fans to donate money. Time will tell how much money this deal brings in for U.S. Speedskating. It seems like an unusual sponsorship arrangement. It is probably an indication of how difficult times are for athletes if they have to sign endorsements with businesses in exchange for nothing more than a promise to ask fans for donations.

Are female golfers going to earn more money in sports endorsements?

Michael Whan, who was named the new LPGA commissioner earlier this week, has an extensive background on the marketing and business side. He worked at North America TaylorMade adidas Golf from '95-'00 and has also worked as a brand marketer for BriteSmile and Procter & Gamble.

While Whan's selection was reportedly a surprise to golf insiders who thought the new commissioner would be a more established name, this is probably good news for LPGA golfers. As they try and resolve the problems their sports has been facing, it will be helpful that the new leader has a marketing background. Reports estimate that the LPGA has lost about 13 events since the beginning of 2008, and the league itself has been forced to lay off employees.

Not least of their problems are a dearth of sponsorships, endorsements and marketing opportunities for their athletes. With the new commissioner coming from a marketing background, rather than from an established league or sport, it seems that the golfers on the LPGA can look forward to a stronger and more robust business model, which should translate into more money in their pocket.

Baseball scouting in the Dominican Republic is a well-documented problem these days, as a few high profile players have been caught misleading their teams about their age. Now, a Dominican Republic court has ordered the Washington Nationals to pay about $75,000 in damages to former scout Jose Baez who was fired after signing a Dominican prospect who lied about his age.

As usual, ESPN The Magazine’s Jorge Arangure Jr., is all over the story (he is one of the only top-level American journalists covering the inner workings of baseball in Latin America). Based on Arangure’s summary of the testimony, the reason Baez was fired was because he was believed to have participated in the player’s scheme to lie about his age.

Bottom line here: This is just another sordid chapter in MLB’s decades-long mismanagement of baseball in the Dominican Republic. Change is inevitable, but there is no agreement on the best way to reform the system. While some people call for a global draft as the panacea to solve these problems, there are numerous reasons not to have a worldwide draft, such as the inevitable destruction of local baseball (see Puerto Rico for an example). My proposed solution is for MLB teams to invent a new classification, which would be below the current “Rookie League” level, and play two or three teams in established leagues. Those who succeed would eventually be promoted to Rookie League or low Class-A teams in the U.S. As they would be taking kids as young as 16, the teams would be charged with educating the kids and keeping them until they age out of the system a couple of years later.

If an athlete endorses a product, does it sell? This is the first of several blog posts we intend to write about the process of endorsements by pro athletes.

There is no doubt that corporations benefit when they hire pro athletes to endorse their products. The exposure is priceless when millions (or more) people watch an event in which an athlete is utilizing his sponsor's product. As for the question as to how much help an athlete's endorsement offers to a product's sales, that can only be answered on a case-by-case basis. This article implies that Lance Armstrong's endorsement of these Oakleys may help the company sell them for $400 apiece.

Corporations don't always have a strong process for following up on their endorsement money and tracking actual sales. It could be that these glasses will sell for $4,000 because they are solidly made, available in limited quantities (only 200 pairs are being produced), and have acquired a special status as sought-after by luxury consumers. How much of that aura surrounding the product can be traced back to the athlete's endorsement? It may be nearly impossible to definitively answer that question.

Should you start you pro sports career now, or should you go to college instead? Before long, that choice may be made for you. If collegiate sports spending is unsustainable, what does that mean for future professional athletes?

The Knight Commission recently held its annual gripe session in Miami and more than 75 percent of college presidents believe that the level of college athletic spending is too high, and that something must be done to reign in scholarship costs. That sounds to me like the presidents plan to cut scholarship costs as soon as they can.

What does it mean for kids hoping to pursue professional sports careers if there are fewer scholarships? Only time will tell, but one would think a natural and inevitable consequence is that the level of competition will be diluted at the collegiate level.

If collegiate competition is watered down, what happens to pro sports? Let’s consider a non-revenue sport like collegiate tennis, which has a vibrant professional tour. If scholarships are cut, more high school tennis kids will try to make it on the professional tour. Would that add to the quality of pro tennis? If colleges nationwide eliminate 500 tennis scholarships over the next decade, then how many of those kids will turn pro? More importantly, how many of the few remaining athletes will forgo collegiate tennis entirely, as the entire game is less meaningful? I predict that this is an opportunity for many sports such as tennis to capitalize and launch more professional leagues, teams and organizations, and differentiate their levels of competition. Consider what would happen if the majority of college golf scholarships were eliminated. We already have several “minor league” golf tours, but wouldn’t you expect to see a few more?

The amateur-professional sports distinction, and the blurred line between the two worlds, is a well-documented discussion. I think the line could eventually become more solidified as colleges continue to cut back, which means that college sports’ loss will be pro sports’ gain.

If you are interested in sports law related issues, please contact the sports law firm of Koch & Trushin, P.A.

Stop me if you have heard this one before: A successful professional athlete did a poor job managing his finances, and he is now in serious debt.

Professional athletes need to maintain strict control over their finances. They also need someone who assesses their risk and manages their varied investments. I am not talking about a financial adviser, but I am referring to a person who keeps track of everything for the busy athlete who cannot handle his own personal dealings.

The recent fiascos involving former Mets pitcher Livan Hernandez and Celtics forward Antoine Walter are instructive. Hernandez is being sued by his lender for his home in Miami and he is subject to liens from two neighborhood associations, the pool guy and the state of California. This article breaks down Hernandez's financial problems.

As for Walker, he has debts of more than $4 million according to a Boston Globe article. What's most incredible is that Walker has earned about $110 million in his NBA career. Walker has deeper problems as well - he's facing multiple felony counts for passing bad checks.

Continue reading "Who Manages Risk for Athletes?" »

I get a lot of calls and e-mails from basketball players who want to play overseas. What's the best way to get the attention of European, Asian, South American and African professional basketball coaches and teams? How good is the competition over there? What should I do position myself to play overseas basketball when my amateur career is over?

Unfortunately, the answer is complicated. We will explore the best ways to go about finding an overseas team in a later blog post. For now, let's talk about what I think is the absolute wrong way to find a basketball team overseas.

For every Jeremy Tyler, who left high school early to play basketball overseas in Israel, there are a lot more players who wish they could go over there but are not mature enough in their game and off the court to play overseas.

Tyler signed a one-year, $140,000 contract. Apparently he plans to use this league as a jump-start to a higher, more lucrative league next year. Then he'll be ready to jump to the NBA when he's eligible for the draft in 2011 (Remember that you're not draft-eligible in the NBA until one full school year after your high school class graduated - or in Tyler's case, after the class would have graduated).

One has to question the wisdom of Tyler's decision. He is passing up the chance to earn a high school diploma. Here is Tyler's reasoning:

“I left high school early because I felt I could develop my game more by playing professional,” Tyler said.
“Why?”
“Because high school sports wasn't that fun,” said Tyler, 18. “I wasn't getting better. I was developing bad habits. Hopefully here I can develop my skills, and I can show the world I have talent.”

Here's hoping his basketball career works out and he gets drafted in the NBA in 2011. If basketball doesn't work for him, he will lack even the most basic of credentials (a high school diploma) and be virtually unemployable in any career, even minimum wage jobs. This is a short-sighted and narrow-minded decision in my opinion, one that has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with money.

Does your agent know that you have a Twitter account? Have you discussed with your sports lawyer whether your Twitter feed has the potential to cause legal trouble?

In this era of Twitter, when every athlete has the chance to bypass the media and talk directly to his fans, how many athletes take strong stands? Jets kicker Jay Feely has a Twitter account, and is not afraid to be an athlete who expresses political opinions. In the long run, it's probably great that Feely has a forum to talk in an uncensored manner.

However, the larger issue is to question what impact an athlete can have on his career - and his endorsements - if he fails to strategize his message. I think that very athlete Tweeting about what he had for dinner, praising the fans, or complaining about a long practice is missing a tremendous opportunity. People praise Twitter because it allows the athletes to communicate without a filter.

Being forthright with your fans is a great opportunity, but athletes should keep the larger goal in mind: It's all about exposure and marketing. The time when every athlete could command multiple endorsements is over; companies are extra judicious in screening their potential endorsers and you can be sure that they are checking out your Twitter account before they ink you to a deal.

Continue reading "Should Athletes Take a Political Stand on Twitter? Ask the Agent" »

Endorsements are difficult to procure for professional athletes.

It's a refrain we've heard time and again since the economy went into a nosedive in late 2008. Apparently one company thinks they have a new gimmick that will make it easier for everyone. Brand Affinity Technologies brings athletes and companies together in a streamlined deal-making process for endorsements. While the article in the New York Times contains some bizarre factual errors (such as referring to Cris Carter as a player for the Minnesota Vikings; Carter retired in 2002 and last played for the Vikings in 2001), the concept sounds interesting in principle.

If it takes off, this sounds like an ideal way for athletes to get corporate endorsements. As with any new concept, the problem is in scalability - it requires a lot of athletes and a lot of businesses. If everyone from the mom-and-pop deli to Microsoft sign up on the corporate side, and athletes from Peyton Manning down to Olympic athletes in obscure sports are available on the player side, it should work. One downside is that an executive with the company says "we can change out the talent very quickly," although he does not explain a situation in which he changed out talent (instead, he explains that he tailored a campaign to a specific event, not that he fired an athlete and replaced him with someone else). I am not sure that an agent should be steering his client to endorsement deals that have the tendency to crumble into nothing at the drop of a hat. Ask yourself whether a short-lived endorsement for your client is better than no endorsement at all? These days, until the endorsement climate picks up, the Brand Affinity concept seems to have potential.

In an era in which athlete endorsements are increasingly difficult to come by, here's a story about a coach who has sponsors knocking at his door, and has refused any athletic endorsements.

Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner leads the most popular sports program in the city, and has apparently been approached by a number of businesses for endorsements. So far, he is content not to increase his income through endorsements, but to collect the $880,000 in salary instead, and focus on settling into his first-ever head coaching job.

There is nothing to criticize about Pastner declining to chase endorsements. His quote about why he does not want endorsements is interesting:

"I don't want it to be about me," he said. "I thought, 'Hey I haven't coached a game yet. I don't deserve any of those things and if anyone wanted to do endorsements, they should go get the former players, former coaches.' That's my thinking on it. "I feel what's best is for this first year not to do any of that. It's not to say we're not going to do it in the future, but for this year, the whole focus needs to be strictly on Memphis."

In the long run, is this young coach wasting precious capital? I suspect that he has been receiving advice from an agent, although I do not know this for sure. I do know that he is taking a precarious gamble with his career. On the one hand, he must be supremely confident that he will have a great season. If that happens, his price will only skyrocket and he can command more endorsements (both in quantity and price) next year. On the other hand, if Memphis stumbles, or does not distinguish itself, then he may command less next year.

It's every agent's and athlete's worst-case scenario: You find what seems like a plum spot for your client overseas, but the team fails to pay up. Because the team is not subject to jurisdiction of the courts in the United States, there isn't much the agent or athlete can do to obtain the money which is duly owed.

Attorney and agent Tom McLaughlin has been chasing Greek basketball team Olympiakos for about five years now, and he finally has the chance to get paid. He sued because a couple of his players were not paid by the basketball team, and he did not receive his agent's commission.

He proposed having the federal marshals seize all of the team's assets, but instead it looks as though he will need to settle for a deposition of the team's billionaire owner. Here's hoping he gets paid, and that Olympiakos honors its debt.

Continue reading "Agent Sues Overseas Basketball Team" »

Every sports agent does more than negotiate contracts. Does your agent have your back? Do you use your agent as an advocate who can get your message out there to the right people?

Over the weekend, Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker was deactivated for his team's game with the Seahawks because of undisclosed violations of team rules. On Monday, the mystery deepened, because no one would come forward and say what, if anything, Sims-Walker did wrong.

This analysis by the web site Pro Football Talk states that Sims-Walker's agent, Adisa Bakari, did not return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment on the reason for the suspension. Whether Bakari had his reasons for not returning the call or e-mail is not my point; this article is not a criticism of Bakari.

Continue reading "Athletes in Trouble - Should the Agent Comment?" »

When the NCAA settled the Andy Oliver dispute about whether high school baseball players were barred from consulting a lawyer in negotiations with professional teams, Oliver's life got a little bit easier, but the problems for high school baseball players may be just beginning.

The NCAA declared Oliver ineligible because when he was a high school senior, his adviser was present during negotiations with the Minnesota Twins. The NCAA has a rule banning high school kids from consulting with agents, attorneys or advisers. Earlier this year, the judge ordered the NCAA to stop enforcing the rule. Now that the case has settled, the order was vacated, which means that the rule can still be enforced. That does not mean the issue is dead.

However, as Baseball America points out in this analysis, the fact that nothing has changed is not a positive development. Think about the logic of this policy: A 17- or 18-year-old high school baseball player needs to make the most important decision of his life, whether to go to college on a baseball scholarship or whether to sign with the professional organization that drafted him. Logic says that he would need qualified legal advice from an expert. All sorts of questions would be going through the family's mind - Is the team's offer fair? How can I get more money from the team? What's best for my baseball career? What's the best financial opportunity? Am I being taken advantage of?

The baseball player is being compelled by the NCAA to make a life-changing decision without being educated about the options. If that's not restraint of trade, I don't know what is.

Continue reading "High School Baseball Players Still Cannot Consult Advisers" »

Maybe you’re an athlete looking for an agent. You hear about a player holding out, and wonder to yourself: Who is advising this guy? Michael Crabtree’s situation in San Francisco is a prime example in which a lot of people might be wondering whether Crabtree is receiving bad advice.

Crabtree is the only top unsigned player from the 2009 NFL Draft. He’s missing out on untold millions of dollars in salary – not to mention endorsements that could be coming his way. His agent, Eugene Parker, must have a strategy in mind, right? Parker is a veteran NFL agent who is well respected in this business.

At some point, however, the athlete has to realize that the agent represents the athlete. The athlete is in charge. Just like an attorney makes legal decisions but ultimately is not the boss of his client, the agent should not direct the athlete. We don’t know whether Crabtree’s strategy will pay off in the end. We do know that a lot of people are wondering whether Crabtree knows who is running the show. I'm not criticizing Parker; I don't know him. I'm not criticizing Crabtree either. But eventually, a holding out athlete has to take a long, hard look at his situation and recognize that only he knows what is best for his career - and not playing is rarely beneficial to an athlete's career.

When former major league baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine signed with a sports agency last week, a lot of people were wondering why he needed an agent. Valentine just wrapped up a six-year stint managing the Chiba Lotte Marines, a Japanese baseball team, and has already agreed to return to ESPN as a broadcaster. Valentine previously worked for the World Wide Leader in 2003.

This was reportedly the first time that Valentine felt the need to have representation. Why the change of heart? Simply put, if you’re an athlete – or even a retired athlete - looking to maximize your earnings, you should consider hiring someone to look out for you. While Valentine is busy appearing on ESPN’s family of networks, his agents can devote themselves to exploring endorsements, marketing and cross-promotional opportunities.

Valentine is savvy. He is 59 years old, and his career accomplishments already are impressive – he managed the Mets to a World Series; he revitalized baseball in the industrial Tokyo suburb of Chiba, Japan, leading the Marines to a Japan Series victory in 2005; and won more than 500 games as a major league manager. He realizes that he needs to capitalize on his global success, and that’s why he signed with an agent.