Crowd Seats initially launched in Los Angeles in August 2011 and has since offered numerous sports ticket deals, with discounts ranging from 50-76% off face value.  Los Angeles sports fans received access to weekly deals featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Chivas USA, and Santa Anita Park.  In it’s first two months, Crowd Seats has saved sports fans over $1800 off the face value of tickets.

Now, sports fans in New York and New Jersey can get the same savings.  The first deal features Big East Contender Rutgers University and Army University as they face-off in the inaugural “Army at Yankee Stadium Series” in the Bronx.  Crowd Seats is including a $10 CrowdSeats.com Gift Certificiate to all new customers, good for any future ticket purchase on the site.

Crowd Seats Founder and CEO Justin Cener believes the launch in New York City is the start of further expansion, fueled by consumer demand for discounted sports tickets.

“The demand for deals has been tremendous – we’ve had requests from consumers in almost every market with a professional team.  People desperately want to attend more games, but in this economic state, it’s a challenge for families and individuals alike.  We anticipate growth into further markets throughout the next six months.”

On any given night, 25-35% of sports tickets go unsold, representing millions of dollars left on the table and thousands of seats empty in stadiums nationwide.  Cener describes Crowd Seats’ offerings as a win-win for teams and fans.

“Sports Tickets are perishable – if you don’t sell it, you lose it.  Crowd Seats has created a medium for teams to generate revenue from their distressed and last-minute ticket inventory, which teams love.”

Consumers are pretty happy as well.  Crowd Seats offers deep discounts of 30-90% off face value, with no added fees.

To access the Rutgers vs Army Yankee Stadium Deal, simply visit  CrowdSeats.com!

CrowdSeats Opens to New York City Market from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

It was only yesterday, June 6th, that crowdseats.com officially launched its website. Crowd Seats is a daily deals site that offers sports tickets at HUGE discounts.  The discounts range anywhere from 50-90% off face value with no fees. This is a benefit for both the consumer and the sports organization. These time-sensitive, daily deals offer fans an opportunity to get in the crowd at a fraction of face value, while teams benefit from generating significant revenue from otherwise perishable inventory. The  inherent overages (i.e. additional revenue streams) that are guaranteed for each ticket sold on Crowd Seats are what makes sports tickets a perfect fit for this business model.  Popular group buying sites get merchants on board by promising new customers in exchange for huge discounts.  Crowd Seats’ merchants can expect more – each ticket sold on Crowd Seats will lead to more revenue through supplementary purchases such as parking at the stadium, concessions such as beer, soda, and hot dogs, and merchandise like jerseys and hats.  These additional revenues make daily deals ideal for sports teams.

A handful of teams have thought about this already and have utilized group buying websites for the past two years. Many sports organizations, including the Dallas Mavericks, have experimented wtih Groupon and LivingSocial and had great results. In a case study produced by Crowd Seats, deals involving tickets for NBA, NHL, and MLS games were reviewed.  The combination of revenue generated through ticket sales via various daily deals sites and supplemental revenue generated at the stadium (Fan Cost Index) has resulted in NBA teams taking in an average of over $50,000/deal.  The NHL and MLS based deals also did tremendously well.

Notable Deals:

• Dallas Mavericks, October 2010, 4819 Tickets Sold, $173,000 Revenue
• Toronto Raptors, March 2011, 2368 Tickets Sold, $101,000 Revenue
• Toronto Raptors, November 2010, 3049 Tickets Sold, $97,000 Revenue
• Colorado Avalanche, February 2011, 1784 Tickets Sold, $51,000 Revenue
• New England Revolution, August 2010, 2515 Tickets Sold, $45,000 Revenue

The Fan Cost Index is the sports industry metric of measuring what a fan spends once he/she buys the ticket.  This includes parking, food, beverages, beer, souvenirs, programs, etc. Each time a ticket is sold on Crowd Seats, the team will generate revenue from the ticket sale (minus Crowd Seats’ cut, which varies) on top of the guaranteed additional “overage” revenue from parking, concessions, etc.  This model makes Crowd Seats very attractive to teams and sporting events of all levels (pro, minor league, local).

According to Justin Cener, Founder and CEO of Crowd Seats,  “Sports ticket inventory is very similar to hotel inventory – if you don’t sell it, you lose it.  Crowd Seats enables teams to generate significant revenue from otherwise perishable inventory.  Moreover, unlike traditional businesses, sports teams generate large supplementary revenues after the ticket is sold through parking, concessions, and merchandise, making the sports industry the perfect partner for daily deals.”

It is clear that consumers will benefit, receiving discounts at 50- 90% off the face value of tickets to their favorite teams. Teams will also greatly benefit from the first group buying site specifically targeted towards their product. With the website now officially online as of Monday, June 6th, you can now go and check it out yourself. Fans who want to receive future offers for local events can sign up for the” Deals Newsletter” at http://www.crowdseats.com.

Crowd Seats Brings Group-Buying and Sports Tickets Into the Same Arena from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Take advantage of this great opportunity to network with sports & entertainment lawyers from around the Detroit, Michigan area and speak to business and legal professionals from the Pistons!  Hurry, though.  The deadline to order tickets is this Friday, April 8, 2011.  For the full size poster/order form, please click here, or find it below.

SLA & NSELS Night @ The Palace from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The Special Master rejected the Union’s complaint; however the he did rule that the NFL violated the Reggie White settlement agreement governing the CBA, regarding the NFL’s specific media contracts with ESPN and ABC. Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reported that the Special Master did not grant the injunction, but instead, awarded $6.9 million in damages for the CBA violations of the ESPN and ABC contracts. According to the Associated Press, the NFLPA was asking for $60 million in damages, but was awarded $6.9 million. Most importantly, the Special Master did not grant the Union’s request for an injunction, thus allowing the NFL to keep $4B from the TV contract deals with networks in 2011.

After the ruling both sides claimed a victory. The Union was happy the Special Master found minor CBA violations with the ABC and ESPN contracts. NFL Executive VP & General Counsel Jeff Pash called the award a “modest” amount at a press conference, but had to be delighted with the outcome. Union spokesman George Atallah tweeted after the decision, “Now for the good news: The NFL, until the appeal in Minnesota, has $4 billion to not play football next year. VICTORY!”

I believe this is a clear victory for the NFL. Comparing an award of $6.9 million with $4 Billion from what the Union called “lockout insurance” gives the NFL a lot more chips at the bargaining table.

The fact that the Union immediately appealed the ruling, and is now asking U.S. District Court Judge David Doty, the judge in charge of overseeing the NFL’s CBA, to issue a decision on its appeal before the March 3^rd CBA officially expires is another example of how the Union is truly taking this ruling. One of my favorite quotes from an NFL statement over the weekend read, “As we have said all along, a new CBA has to be hammered out at the negotiating table, not in the courtroom. If the union commits to invest as much time, energy and other resources in negotiations as it has in its litigation strategy, a new agreement could well be reached by March 4.”

Although the NFL appears to have an advantage after the Special Master’s decision, the ruling could be beneficial to both side’s progress and enhanced efforts for a new CBA. This ruling could entice the NFLPA to negotiate more fervently in hopes of coming to an agreement before the critical March 4^th deadline, just like the league’s statement above suggests.

On a side note, the league’s Exec VP/Business Operations Eric Grubman also mentioned to reporters in January that the TV money at issue has to be repaid, with interest, once the games resume. Conversely, the NFL recently mentioned that it would not touch the $4 billion from the television contracts until a potential second lockout year in March 2012, if a new CBA still has not been reached. If these statements are true then the NFL now has even more incentive to come to an agreement for a new CBA and get these funds active.

Moving forward, Judge Doty will hear oral arguments for the appeal on February 24^th in an open federal courtroom in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Judge Doty has been favorable to the players in recent rulings. The NFL even asked the judge to remove himself from his role overseeing the NFL’s CBA after his decision in the Michael Vick ruling, claiming Doty was showing bias towards the NFL players by meeting with player representatives before hearings and making inappropriate public comments. However, I am not so sure about Doty ruling with the players on this decision.

NFL Management and the NFLPA will be enhancing the intensity of negotiations between the two parties over the next several weeks. Hopefully the Union will let Judge Doty decide this decision on appeal, and not let it disrupt the flow of negotiations. As we all know, the sides have many other issues to agree on before March 4.

The NFL Gets to Keep A 4 Billion-Dollar Bargaining Chip from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The weather in East Lansing, MI has been around 20 degrees or under for what seems to be forever now. Every time I step outside of my house to go to the law library or to walk my dog I tell myself that spring and summer are right around the corner. And although it’s only January and I just say that to keep my mind off of how cold it really is, it is never too early to start thinking about the summer. Warm weather, BBQ’s, water, beach time, the sun, and now…great sports law programs are being offered in Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

South Texas College of Law/Houston is offering an amazing opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy from June 2nd-July 25th, 2011. Orientation for the program will be on June 3, 2011 and classes begin on Monday, June 26. Classes will meet at the CAPA Florence Center, housed in the Palazzo Galli-Tassi, which dates from 1400 and is located in the Santa Croce area of Florence near the Duomo. Courses that will be offered are International Amateur Sports Law, as well as International Professional Sports Law.

The classes will be taught by Professor James Musselman of South Texas College of Law and Ralph Cindrich, a former 5th round pick by the New England Patriots at LB and founder of Cindrich & Co. Athlete Management. Mr. Cindrich will have another Super Bowl Champion added to his impressive client roster as two of his clients (James Farrior- LB, Pitt and Marco Rivera- OT, Green Bay) will be facing off in Super Bowl XLV on February 6th at 6PM. For more information check out their website.

Mr. Cindrich is also teaching another Sports Law class in Hague, Netherlands & Lausanne/Geneva, Switzerland through Stetson University Law School. The program is from July 3rd- July 29th and will likewise feature classes in International Amateur Sports Law and International Professional Sports Law. For more information visit Stetson’s website.

For those of you who live in East Lansing or will be in the area on February 16th, Mr. Cindrich will be speaking at Michigan State University College of Law at 12PM in the Castle Boardroom of the Law College.

If you have information about any other sports law programs being offered this summer please feel free to share it with us and the SportsAgentBlog.com community. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @ZaKurtz.

Study Sports Law Abroad This Summer from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

FIFA reports that more than 450 players were tested, including around 200 match-day checks, and no athletes were positive for any steroids or banned substances. FIFA chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak confirmed that no positive results were found.  That means that for the fourth straight World Cup tournament (1998, 2002 and 2006, 2010), no soccer/ futbol player has ever been caught for doping.

When first hearing this news, I was glad that no athletes turned up positive for this year’s 2010 World Cup. Then after thinking further, I had to question how this could be possible for four straight tournaments. I played club and college soccer at many different levels throughout my career and never really ran across soccer players talking about using steroids, but I know it has to exist out there.  Even if it is not openly used or discussed, it is hard to believe that nobody slipped up and took a supplement or something over the counter that contained a banned substance similar to the StarCaps case currently going on in the NFL with the Minnessota Vikings players testing positive for a banned substance they “unknowingly ingested.” In 2008, two New York Red Bull players were caught for violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Policy (SABH). According to Red Bulls manager director Erik Stover, both players said “that they ingested an over-the-counter supplement that unknowingly contained a banned substance.”

Four straight World Cup tournaments means that nobody has “accidentally” ingested a banned substance in sixteen years during tournament play.  Either all the athletes do a great job of hiding this from FIFA officials, or FIFA and the magnitude of the World Cup do a great job of deterring these athletes from doping by suspension and loss of pay.  Could this unblemished record for four straight World Cup tournaments really be possible, or will the next Jose Canseco pop out sometime and start blowing the whistle?

Soccer Players Don’t Use Roids from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Dez is at camp and has already caused a ruckus. Here is a video interview with Bryant from Dallas camp over the weekend, where he states that he will not carry Roy Williams pads or do any of the other traditional rookie chores or gags. Dez says that he was brought to Dallas to win games, not to carry teammates’ pads.

At a press conference the day after Bryant signed, Jerry Jones thanked Bryant’s agent Eugene Parker of Maximum Sports Management for working with the Cowboys to help make a deal before camp possible. Parker represents Michael Crabtree, the 49ers WR that held out well into the regular season last year. Parker had also represented previous Cowboys first-round selections Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins, and had both reporting late to Cowboys camp. With reports claiming that Parker wanted to make a deal with the Cowboys ASAP and ultimately signing a contract only a few days later, it looks like he learned some lessons from the Crabtree holdout and his previous dealings with the Cowboys in Jerryland.

And since the NCAA started investigating several schools last week for impermissible agent/player benefits, let’s not forget what happened to Dez Bryant last season when he only played in three games because of an NCAA suspension for lying to NCAA investigators about dinner and a meeting with Eugene Parker’s former star NFL client, Deion Sanders. Did Parker try harder to get Bryant into camp with a contract and no holdout because he felt responsible for Bryant losing his eligibility last season? Maybe the NCAA even learned something from Dez Bryant’s dilemma at Oklahoma State, and has picked up the level of enforcement this year (or maybe they stumbled upon these NCAA violations from a student athlete’s Tweet about a trip to Miami with the boys).

Anyway, with Bryant’s contract negotiated, the Cowboys began training camp this Saturday with a full roster and no worries about a potential hold out by the player they moved up in the draft to grab. But will Bryant’s signing spur other first round picks to finalize their contracts in the near future? Are NFL contracts getting harder to negotiate? Are agents demanding more money and holding out, or are contract terms and clauses delaying the process or even causing an impasse?

This year’s first overall pick Sam Bradford and his agent Tom Condon recently started negotiations with the Rams. Condon and Bradford are looking to negotiate the richest contract in NFL history.  One worth around $45-$50 million in guaranteed money.

The sooner Condon can work a deal, the better for Pro Bowl veteran quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who will be using the numbers from Bradford’s expected large rookie deal as a barometer for their own contract negotiations. Peyton is even represented by Condon. Brady is rumored to be looking for somewhere around $20 million a year. He is set to make $6.5 million this year($3.5 base) after a negotiating a $3 million bonus in March.  Perhaps Brady wants to beat Peyton in next year’s Fortunate 50 US Athletes. Peyton is the only NFL player in the top ten (#9) of the list, earning a total of $30.8 million including endorsements ($15 million).

Condon surely isn’t the only agent attempting to finalize a contract for his clients. With training camps rapidly approaching for all NFL teams, we will likely see a barrage of draft picks signing contracts and rolling in the “quam,” as Rod Tidwell would say. We all know Drew Rosenhaus and the RSR crew are out there working hard and smart for Terrell Owens and the many other NFL clients on their high profile roster.

According to NFLLabor.com, through Saturday (based on official notification to the league office), 71 percent of the players selected in the 2010 NFL Draft (182 of 255) have signed contracts. Through Thursday, July 22, 163 of the 255 players selected in the 2010 NFL Draft had signed contracts, up from 126 of 256 draft choices signed as of July 22, 2009.  As of July 24th, among players selected in the first three rounds – 26 have signed this year vs. 20 at this time last year, an increase of 30 percent. Through midnight on July 25th, a total of 33 players selected in the first three rounds have been signed.

Although the velocity of overall players signing contracts has increased this year, the number of first round players signing contracts early has certainly not followed suit.

Before Dez Bryant signed, Vlad Ducasse, the 61^st overall pick by the New York Jets, was the first second-round draft pick to sign a contract (Props to Mike Tannenbaum, Ari Nissim and the rest of the Jets management for doing a great job with so many contracts this off-season. There’s still a couple more BIG deals to negotiate). Only four other second-round picks have signed since Vlad. Two of them signed over the weekend. Here is an up to the minute, team-by-team list of all the players drafted in 2010 who have signed with their clubs.

While some people are shocked and amazed when they hear that Bryant was the first first-round pick to sign a contract, and that it was so close to the beginning of camp, this is not the first time the first contract has been negotiated so late. Logan Mankins, the 32^nd pick of the Patriots in 2005, was the most recent first first-round draft pick to have signed this late- and he signed on July 25^th of 2005.

NFL executive vice president Jeff Pash said Thursday (July 22) that it’s normal for so many top draft picks to remain unsigned at this point, and used as evidence the fact that only two first-rounders (pick #1 Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez ) were signed at this point last year.

Even if it is “normal” nowadays for rookie draft picks to sign deals late into the summer, there has to be some reason why the agents for so many of the top NFL rookies and veterans are hesitant to sign contracts this season.

According to ESPN’s Adam Shefter, this is because of the uncertainty that remains with option bonuses in contracts, and relies on the fact that the 2011 season is still not 100% guaranteed because a new (CBA) Collective Bargaining Agreement has not been reached yet.

Agent Jack Bechta from the National Football Post and JB Sports Inc brings up a great point about the flow of cash from signing bonuses in Keeping the rookies hungry. Bechta said:

“Although the pace of signings for later round players is moving about 15% faster than last year (from data turned in to the NFL as of July 16th), it doesn’t mean that the flow of signing bonus cash is moving at the same rate. Usually, when a player signs his deal, it can take up to 10 business days to get the signing bonus check. Furthermore, teams rarely pay out the whole bonus at once. For example, the Cardinals, who have just two late picks signed thus far, have been known to painfully prolong the bonus payout over three years. The Eagles, on the other hand, are more generous and are all about getting the deal done and trusting their player to do the right things. For the majority of first- and second-rounders, of which only one has signed (Vlad), only a portion of their signing bonuses will be paid right about the same time camp begins. Several GMs and head coaches believe that once their players get a pocket full of cash it could mean party time, lots of time cruising in their new ride, sharing the wealth with the boys and cutting back on the workouts.”

Jack Bechta was told by a General Manager he knows, that he likes keeping the rookies poor and hungry until camp. Therefore, he directs the salary cap manager to hold off negotiating until after the July 4th weekend.

Additionally, Bechta stated “If it were up to the agents, all the rookie deals would be done within a few weeks after the draft. The players would have their money, the financial consultants could start their planning, and the players could get set up in their new city.”

I’m not sure if I agree with Shefter regarding the uncertainty of the 2011 season and the issues surrounding the CBA (although a rookie wage scale is one of the topics on the bargaining table), and their effect on the timing of negotiations; however, I do believe that option and signing bonuses in contracts play a huge role in the timing of players signing contracts. The earlier a team negotiates and signs a contract with a player (once which includes a signing bonus and an option bonus), the earlier that team is liable and on the hook to that player if anything happens to him. A prime example of this is the Giants early signing of Chad Jones and his unfortunate car accident earlier this summer. As Bechta points out, the G-men worked out a deal for Jones before he was injured, giving him an $826,000 signing bonus. After a serious car accident at 5AM in New Orleans, Jones may have career-ending injuries and is not likely to return to the G-men anytime soon. He will likely spend the Giants money on doctors bills and rehab before even playing a down for the team.

The Dolphins negotiated a deal with Jake Long in April of 2008, before they had even drafted him with the first overall pick. Long was given around$30 million guaranteed. Could you imagine the amount of criticism Parcells and the Dolphins management would have received for signing a rookie that early if Long was injured shortly after he was drafted, like Jones was?

I think that the uncertainty of the 2011 season (because a new CBA has not yet been agreed to) may have some influence over the terms of individual contracts and could cause for a delay in making an agreement; however, that could also cause some agents and players to crave a deal even more, and is not why early round draft picks and others aren’t signing in 2010.

Whatever reasons NFL management and agents have in delaying signing of rookies and free agents, with the amount of money being offered to players in the NFL, the trend is likely to continue. Every agent is going to try his/her best to bring in the most money for their client(s) as soon as possible, while GM’s and team management are going to save as much money and limit the clubs liability as much and as soon as possible. Even if it means scaring fans and negotiating contracts right before the season begins.

Here is a complete list of all the locations and dates that training camps begin.  All 32 NFL teams open camp by Saturday, August 1.

Feel free to comment and explain why you feel early round NFL contracts are getting negotiated later and later.  Is it uncertainty of the Collective Bargaining Agreement looming overhead?

You can follow Zak on Twitter @ZaKurtz

Sign Here Please: Are NFL Contracts Getting Harder to Negotiate? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

On September 24, 2009, NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist, Chris Bosh, and the attorneys at Winston & Straw LLP defeated cybersquatters who had created domain names for over 800 athletes and entertainers in an attempt to profit from related advertising.  In an unprecedented move, the court awarded Bosh and his attorneys not only custody to chrisbosh.com, but further awarded the Raptors forward custody to all other third-party domain names owned by the defendants. According to Bosh’s lawyer Brian Heidelberger, this was the first time a plaintiff has convinced the court to award third-party domain names directly to the plaintiff.  In doing so, Bosh has stated that he has custody of the domain names with the sole intention of giving them back to the athlete or celebrity the site belongs to, free of charge. However, that has proven to be trickier than anyone could have expected.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

Since he was awarded custody of the third-party names, less than thirty domain names have been claimed, leaving 777 still in the possession of Bosh and his attorneys. Mr. Heidelberger made an announcement at the 36th Annual Sports Lawyers Association (SLA) conference May 19-22 asking others to help allocate the remaining domain names to the appropriate athletes and individuals.

If you are an athlete, celebrity, agent, or work with any of the following, please view the list of third-party domain names to see if you or anyone you know has a domain name that is currently in the custody of Bosh and his attorneys.

VIEW THE LIST OF DOMAIN NAMES

If the domains are not claimed within a certain amount of time, they will fall back into the public domain and may fall to cybersquatters yet again.  Act now, on this limited time offer.  Only the athlete or entertainer can sign the appropriate form and retain custody of the domain name.  Please contact Brian Heidelberger (bheidelberger@winston.com) if you would like to claim a domain name or have any questions relating to this lawsuit.

Limited Time Offer From Chris Bosh from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

On March 5^th the uncapped NFL season began, causing the list of UFA’s (Unrestricted Free Agents) to dwindle down for prospective teams by 212. The effect of the uncapped year and the collective bargaining agreement’s unsuccessful extension, caused many NFL players to lose millions of dollars and has frustrated agents, athletes and team managers. On the other hand, an uncapped year has the possibility of giving smaller market teams with money a real chance in the free agency market if they are willing to spend money (however, many experts believe this will not happen, and the teams will continue their current free agency trends). The lack of restrictions and modifications to the structure of free agency makes the uncapped year an unpredictable, but exciting one.

Not only are players more restricted and less mobile in free agency, but other important incentives and benefits for teams and players will be missing or are restricted as well. The 2010 uncapped NFL year has an effect on many areas of the game. The issues below highlight some of main changes an uncapped year has on the NFL owners, players and fans of the game.

1. The biggest and most influential change financially to players is the change in number of years needed to become an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA). Players who would have been unrestricted free agents in 2010 because they’ve been in the league four years, now have to wait an additional two years to become a UFA. That affects 212 players, who would be unrestricted free agents but are now tagged as restricted free agents (RFA’s), which gives their original team the right of first refusal, allowing their previous team to match another team’s offer before they can accept an offer from another team. This change limits mobility of 212 players in the NFL and may be one of the main reasons Brandon Marshall is still with Denver, and why Jason Campbell hasn’t left the ‘Skins. Some of the 212 players affected by this include: Wide receivers Brandon Marshall, Vincent Jackson, and Miles Austin, running back Ronnie Brown, line backers Barrett Ruud, Sean Merriman, and quarterback Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins, Chad Pennington, Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Moore of the Panthers, the Jets Kellen Clemens, Brodie Croyle, Joey Harrington, Kyle Boller, and Rex Grossman. Here is a list of the current restricted free agent signings to date.
2. There will be no salary cap ceiling or floor for the upcoming season. The cap in 2009 was $128 million with a floor of $112 million. Additionally, there is no proration for players signed or no acceleration for players traded/released (no June 1 rule). Without proration in an uncapped year, teams can release players without consequences. This means that NFL organizations can choose to drop a player, and avoid paying any future bonuses and base salaries that team owed him from that day on. Normally, players receive money from a signing bonus immediately upon signing a deal, but teams are allowed to spread the cap hit from a signing bonus across the length of that players contract. Now, that doesn’t matter. For example, a $20 million signing bonus on a five-year deal results in a cap hit of $4 million in each of those five seasons (including a player’s base salary, incentives and other bonuses). When a player is released or traded, the bonus money assigned to the cap in future years is accelerated onto the current year’s cap, forcing the team to devote a portion of its valuable cap space to players who are no longer on the roster. This year, because of the uncapped year, things are very different. Teams can release players with heavy base salaries and large signing bonuses without having to worry about being under the cap. That presents teams with an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get out of any contract mistakes they believe they made in the past.  Look out agents!
3. The final eight 2009 playoff teams are restricted in their ability to sign free agents in this uncapped year.  The final four teams (the Saints, Colts, Jets, and Vikings) have more restrictions than the last four teams (Chargers, Ravens, Cardinals, Dallas), but all eight are more restricted with who they can pick up in free agency versus other years. The rules are very specific for the final four teams, but pretty much states that the teams can only sign: a) a free agent whose prior contract was terminated, b) their own UFA’s, or c) 1 UFA for each of their own UFA’s they lose to another team, that doesn’t fit into categories A or B above. The rule for the final eight teams is very similar but slightly less restrictive.
4. The league will be able to end the rookie-specific salary cap; however the 25% rule is still in place. This means that all the complaining about enormous rookie wages may come to an end (Emphasis added).  If it doesn’t, the 25% rule is still in play and means that the rookie salaries cannot increase by more than 25% of the amount the player who was drafted in that same position last year earned.
5. The 30% rule no longer applies to new contracts. Without this rule, teams can offer new contracts with large sums of Paragraph 5[1] salary in future contract years.  This gives teams the option of whether or not they will pay the high P5 salaries they have previously negotiated and ones they will negotiate this season. This will only affect veteran incentives, not rookies.  It is no longer relevant whether incentives are “Likely To Be Earned” LTBE or not (NLTBE). For the same reasons mentioned above, the uncapped year will give the owners the option of paying and working out present and future contract terms for players.
6. Clubs do not have to pay any player benefits or programs for this season. This includes severance pay, 401K programs…Commissioner Goodell did mention earlier this year, that the league will continue to contribute to disabled player funds however.

The 2011 schedule[2] will not be created until an agreement is reached.  If there is no deal by March 1, 2011, owners can (and will) lock out players. The NFL Management Council and NFL players union have a lot on their plate to discuss over the next year, but the league and the players union are focused on making an agreement and continuing the league’s prosperity.

To keep up to date with current NFL Labor law news check out http://nfllabor.com/. The league does a great job of updating the site daily to keep fans up to date with the latest CBA and NFL info.

[2] The game schedule is an issue the two must negotiate this summer, as the league is asking the players to expand the regular season from 16 to 18 games.

Labor Relations in the NFL: The Impact of the Uncapped Year from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

With the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV in Florida this year, it is hard to imagine any more star power in the Sunshine State.  However, the 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium defied the norm and did exactly that, bringing some of the top names in the sports industry to Gainesville.

The symposium was titled “Bargaining Collectively,” and covered all areas of collective bargaining agreements in the MLB, NBA, and NFL. For those of you unable to attend or watch the event LIVE on ustream, here is a brief recap of each of the panels.

The moderators for each panel took slightly different approaches on how to conduct the sessions.  This was a great idea and kept the audience and panelists on their toes and active during the discussion.  Dr. Harvey Schiller, President of the IBAF and CEO of GlobalOptions Group started the symposium off with a bang, addressing the crowd of around 60 or more with some opening remarks on professional sports and CBA’s.

Following Dr. Schiller’s opening remarks and a fifteen-minute food and networking break, speakers for the first panel on MLB collective bargaining issues began taking their seats.  The panelists in attendance were Marc Edelman, Gabe Feldman, Bob Ruxin, Nick Ohanesian, and UF Law Professor Thomas Hurst, who served as the moderator.

Mr. Hurst introduced the panel and gave a brief introduction of each of the four astonishing panelists before giving them the floor one at a time to speak.  Each panelist addressed a different issue relating to major league baseball and the current CBA that will expire on December 31^st of 2011.  Mr. Ohanesian (Resident Officer at the Jacksonville Resident Office of the NLRB) gave a transitory recap of the labor law process and layed down the foundation to discuss collective bargaining issues.  Following Mr. Ohanesian was Bob Ruxin, Harvard Graduate and astute author of An Athletes Guide to Agents, with contributions by SAB’s own Darren Heitner (this is my plug for everyone to go out and buy the book).

Mr. Ruxin led off with the story of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale’s decision to negotiate their contracts with the Dodgers together in 1966.  After an amazing season by both players, Dodgers management met with the two separately and used their demands against each other. The two stars then sat down for dinner and discussed their contract issues, when Drysdale’s first wife, Ginger, suggested that they negotiate together.  Like any good husband would do, Don listened to his wife and the dynamic duo battled the Dodgers together.  Koufax and Drysdale did not like management’s stance on their contracts and they decided to not report to spring training.  In the mean time, the Dodgers trashed the two stars and their tactics and staged a public relations war against the two in the media.  After four weeks, Koufax told Drysdale he could negotiate new deals for the both of them. Koufax ended up getting $125,000 and Drysdale $110,000, which were the two highest salaries in baseball at the time.  This story is important because it represented one of the first situations in baseball where contracts were collectively negotiated between players and management.  The ramifications and fallout from that deal opened up the eyes of everyone involved in MLB and helped create the first ever collective bargaining agreement in professional sports in 1968 (emphasis added).

Following Mr. Ruxin, Gabe Feldman addressed the group. Each speaker had about 10-15 minutes to speak, which was followed by questions from the audience. The four panelists complimented each other very well and hit on many of the major areas that will be mentioned at MLB collective bargaining negotiations.

All four panelists had some great points to interject.  This session also included some additional commentary from Donald Fehr, the former Executive Director of the MLBPA, who was sitting in the audience enjoying his time and waiting for his turn to speak at the closing ceremonies.

I could obviously write much more about the great comments and suggestions the panelists made during the MLB discussion as well as the rest of the symposium, but in order to save time, I will leave you with a semi brief recap of the remaining panels.  If you have any questions about the symposium feel free to ask Darren or myself any questions (email: zakurtz@gmail.com or Twitter: @zakurtz).  Darren will also be posting video of the event as it becomes available.

After the conclusion of the MLB session, it was time for the NBA to step into the spotlight.  The moderator for this panel discussion was UF Professor, Mark Fenster.  Mr. Fenster took a different approach and directed questions to the panel and specific panelists.  The panelists in this session included Sports Illustrated Legal Analyst and Vermont Law School Professor Michael McCann; renowned author and advisor Marc Isenberg; sports litigator Alan Milstein, and Patrick Muldowney, attorney from Baker Hostetler and counsel for the Orlando Magic.  This panel discussed recent news such as Gilbert Arenas’ gun issue, Brandon Jennings and the “one and done” rule and ended with a discussion on revenue sharing and other possible issues that could cause an NBA lockout.  All of the individuals on this panel were not afraid to share their opinions and beliefs, even if they differed from other panelists.  This caused for some great debates and passionate discussions.  The brilliant minds of Michael McCann and Marc Isenberg worked well together and seemed to agree on many issues…more specifically, revenue sharing and the role of the NCAA on future NBA athletes.  Patrick Muldowney was viewed as the “pro-league” representative, although he did render neutral opinions that covered both sides throughout the discussion.  Professor McCann discussed his research regarding arrests of NBA players and their age, stating that no correlation exists between younger NBA players and arrests (Check out the Sports Law Blog for Professor McCann’s article on this topic).  Overall, the energy from these professionals was great and was certainly palpable by the audience.  Although the NFL panel covered more interesting topic areas to me, the NBA discussion was my favorite panel to listen to.  Not only were the debates exceptionally intelligent, but also each of the four speakers were very spirited while arguing their side.

Last but certainly not least was the NFL panel discussion.  This panel consisted of eight individuals, and like the previous two discussions, the amount of knowledge on the subject areas was overflowing from the UF Law School covered tables.  The moderator was a UF Levin College of Law professor Jeffrey Harrison.  Panelists were Ralph Cindrich of DeBartolo Sports & Entertainment; former VP of the Green Bay Packers and President of the National Football post, Andrew Brandt; J.I. Halsell, salary cap analyst and expert formerly with the Washington Redskins; Ryan Morgan, President & CEO of Morgan Advisory Group; Glenn Schwartzman, CEO of Alliance Sports Management; J. Richard Burnoski, President and CEO of Empire Sports Agency; and Paul J. Healy, Agent/Advisor and Partner at Healy Stone & Zahler.

Mr. Harrison had his own unique approach to moderating his panel.  Mr. Harrison posed several questions throughout the hour and fifteen-minute pane, and allowed any/all panelists to chime in on issues they were familiar with.

Ralph Cindrich kicked off the last panel by showing a marketing video that he and the DeBartolo Sports team made for Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski.  Cindrich went on to talk about how new media outlets such as YouTube are being used by agents to market unknown athletes and even stars with notoriety.  He mentioned that NFL scouts and managers actually do watch these videos.  Using Rex Ryan’s 27 views of the Zbikowski video is a prime example.

This star studded panel tackled the hard issues relating to the upcoming collective bargaining agreement that ends in March of 2011.  The panel unanimously agreed that the owners and NFLPA are unlikely to come to a decision by the end of this March, thus making this next season an uncapped year.  This would mean that the NFL would act like the MLB, with no ceiling or floor in regards to team salaries.  According to the panel, the players are asking for transparency and want to see the books.  They are asking management to take less than the 18% they currently are taking.  Both of the requests are unlikely to be accepted, which will most likely bring an uncapped year to the NFL.

Salary cap expert J.I. Halsell and Andrew Brandt discussed the ramifications of an uncapped year.  Halsell mentioned that this would drastically decrease the number of unrestricted free agents.  The uncapped year will add two more years to player’s contracts, making them unrestricted free agents in six years instead of the usual four years that we are accustomed to.  Mr. Brandt followed with a discussion on revenue sharing and discussed the wide disparity between teams in baseball and how that could occur in the NFL next year.

Glenn Shwartzman, J. Richard Burnoski  or “Bruno” and Paul Healy also discussed the role of agents during collective bargaining agreements.  The three took turns discussing how important it is to communicate effectively with your client right from the start.   Bruno mentioned that if an uncapped year is a likely possibility, like it is here, the agent may handle the players contract differently.  Healy discussed the ability to have players paid over a 30 week period instead of the more traditional 17 week period, which would help tremendously if a lockout were to happen.

Overall, the large NFL panel worked great together and covered almost all areas that I was interested in learning about.  They even threw in some helpful hints to future agents about being honest and truthful at all times with your client, even if it is something he may not want to hear.  The panelists all agreed that they would rather lose a client, than take on someone with unrealistic goals or visions of themselves or their agent.  The panel concluded with a Q and A session that was very informative.

After three great panel discussions, the symposium was finally ready for the great Donald M. Fehr to address the crowd.  The insightful words of Mr. Donald Fehr were an amazing way to end a great symposium.  Mr. Fehr worked as the MLB Players Association’s Executive Director for 26 years.  He recently (2009) passed the title over to Mike Weiner.  During his tenure with the MLB, Mr. Fehr successfully negotiated two collective bargaining agreements with the MLBPA and the league (2002 and 2006) and has a tremendous amount of knowledge in the areas of collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance matters, arbitration issues, and pensions and health care matters.

Mr. Fehr is an amazing speaker.  He not only discussed the many different areas that would be covered in collective bargaining agreements, but was able to connect with the majority in the room (law school students) and all others through his use of specific comparisons and diagrams on the white board.  He began his dialogue talking about the draft and recited one of my favorite comparisons of the day to describe how ludicrous the whole draft thing really is.  He compared the teams taking part in the draft with prestigious law firms and the college or draft eligible athletes with the law students.  He compared the fairness of the draft system on NCAA student athletes with a hypothetical situation where law students could only get a job offer from one of thirty possible law firms.  The law firms would interview with students, research the top students, test the students, and rank them or choose them based on those tested areas.  The students who were picked by those thirty schools would be lawyers while ALL others have to choose something else.

As I mentioned throughout this article, all the panelists were very insightful.  I could not possibly recap all the great speakers or discuss the conference in its entirety.  That is why everyone reading this should plan on attending next year’s symposium at UF and find out for themselves what all the fuss is about.

I would like to thank Darren, Adam and the rest of the UF EASLS crew for putting together such a wonderful symposium.  I would also like to thank all the wonderful speakers who dedicated much of their time and energy to the symposium. It certainly was a success to everyone.

Recap: 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules