There is not much to do on Boston College’s campus for a student waiting to break into the athlete management industry. As an economics major, I’ve been looking forward to the opportunity to take one of only two sports courses offered, the fabled Sports Economics, only to find out the course had been cancelled before I ever had the opportunity to enroll. The school year has become an off-season of maintaining grades and sending out applications to powerhouse firms, looking to build upon an opportunity first made possible by a rapidly growing firm in Birmingham, Michigan.

My mentor, Storm Kirschenbaum, who founded his baseball and football representation agency Metis Sports Management almost five years ago, gave me the opportunity this past summer to work beside him as an agent assistant. It was my first opportunity in athlete management, and while other agencies told me I was too young, he offered me an opportunity usually reserved for graduates.

The hire provided me with an unbelievable opportunity: learning the art of negotiation by sitting in on calls with some of baseball’s most respected general managers and big names in football’s front offices. Working closely beside an active agent also allowed me to get a better understanding for the balance agents maintain between marketing current clients and courting those they covet. Most importantly, I found myself heavily involved in every step of the process. Whether I was pumping research into recruiting packets on prospective clients or piecing together client marketing video packages, I began to understand how passionate I am about athlete management.

After the NFL lockout was resolved, I spent an afternoon taking notes as members of the NFLPA Board of Directors laid out the finer points of their newly ratified CBA over a conference call. I actually enjoyed meticulously working through the three hundred page agreement because the resolution of the lockout brought back something that seemingly lay dormant all summer, football business. Packets laden with information regarding the agency’s football free agents were stamped and addressed to every team’s front office as anticipation of the free agency window opening built, but penciled in that same week was my trip back to school for the new semester.

So as I wait out the eight-month off-season in Boston, I find myself looking for law schools with successful sports law programs and booking tickets for the Sports Analytics Conference hosted by ESPN downtown in March. Anxious to get back into the game I appreciate the opportunity to write about my experiences. Until next time be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on Twitter.

A Boston College Kid Waiting For His Break Into Athlete Management from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Here are some of the replies:

@DarrenHeitner Fantastic question. It would sure be the first step to demonstrating commitment.

— Night Train Veeck (@VeeckAsInWreck) February 2, 2012

@DarrenHeitner it’d be a lot tougher for us broke college kids if we had to do it for every agency. Maybe 1 or 2 premiere agencies

— Ryan McKenna (@RMcKenna32) February 2, 2012

@DarrenHeitner absolutely. Every professional opportunity u get involved with should be 4 the long run.$25 is nothing compared 2 that.

— Shawn (@Shawn_930) February 2, 2012

@DarrenHeitner It’s not a good sports agency if a) needs extra cash from interns, b) cannot handle a large volume of documents sent thru.

— Robert T. B?aszczak (@RobertBlaszczak) February 2, 2012

Knowing that many of my Twitter followers are individuals interested in breaking into the sports agency profession, I figured I had the perfect audience for the question. And I was genuinely interested in the responses. I asked, because I was recently forwarded an internship application letter from an established and respected agency that is charging a $25 application fee; something I had never heard of being done in the sports agency business.

The agency charging the fee is Platinum Sports & Entertainment Management, a St., Saint Charles, Missouri-based baseball agency.  Their internship application letter says that they receive over one thousand intern applications each year.  If they can convince those applicants to pay the $25 fee, they will make over $25,000 on application fees alone.  Sounds like a decent side business.  By the way, the internships are unpaid.

The internship application letter is embedded, below.

Internship Application Letter

Nick Brockmeyer of Platinum Sports & Entertainment Management has responded to this article with the following: We were getting over 1000 applicants a year from students that just thought the industry sounded “cool” and we wanted a way to narrow it down to those who were serious about the internship and had really thought through moving to St. Louis for an unpaid internship. Through this process we have done just that. We now have a much smaller selection of applicants to sort through and they have all thought about this thoroughly before applying. By no means was it set up to be a money making plan, nor has it turned out that way. We went from 1000 frivolous applicants each year to approximately 20 very good applicants. There are thousands of examples of entities in life that make one pay an application fee (including the colleges these students are coming from)….no one says a word about that. I can give you a list of every intern that has ever interned for Platinum and you can interview them all. They would have nothing but good things to say about our internship program. Many of our past interns are currently working for us right now. If someone doesn’t want to pay the application fee and go through our process I respect that decision and we will move forward with no shortage of intern applicants.

Should A Sports Agency Charge Internship Applicants A Fee? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The initial name of Sports Agent Blog was, “I Want to be a Sports Agent.”  On December 31, 2005, when the first post on this website was published, I was a Junior at the University of Florida and was determined to some day become an agent, representing a variety of athletes.  I can proudly say that I accomplished my goal and helped many athletes in the capacity of “agent” since forming my own company in 2007.  Years later, I am also able to confirm to myself that being a “sports agent” is not for me.

My decision will allow me to expand my current offerings and enter into new lines of business that excite and inspire me.  First of all, Sports Agent Blog will continue to exist and will be updated with the same frequency.  In fact, my relinquishing of the title of “sports agent” should permit further growth of Sports Agent Blog, as many practicing sports agents who currently believe that I am conflicted by running this site in conjunction with representing athletes may put such fears aside.  I look forward to contributing to this website from a completely non-biased position.  In addition to Sports Agent Blog, I occasionally post legal related articles on ChangeLegal.com (mostly related to intellectual property) and very recently created Sport-in-Law, which I believe has major potential to be the go-to website for everything “Sports Law.”

I have been practicing law for roughly a year-and-a-half and have focused my efforts on intellectual property and other types of civil litigation in addition to having a nice sized practice dealing with transactional work.  A majority of my files involve either entertainment, music, or sports related matters.  Recently, I have been working with a handful of sports agencies as their general counsel, assisting them with contract drafting/review and litigation.  With my knowledge of sports law coupled with my experiences in the world of sports agency, I believe I have a unique ability to assist agencies in the aforementioned areas in addition to salary arbitration, sport-specific grievances, and other related matters.  Removing the stigma that is attached to being a sports agent while trying to grow my practice in these areas will hopefully allow my practice to reach entirely new levels.

And then there is my entrepreneurial spirit.  As has been reported by SportsBusiness Journal, my colleague, Jason Belzer, and I recently started a company named Collegiate Sports Advisors.  We have been fortunate to have early success in our efforts, but believe that there is still a lot of untapped potential.  I want to be able to continue to think outside of the box about new and innovative opportunities, whether inside or outside of sport.  I also plan to continue to teach at Indiana University Bloomington in Fall 2012, and perhaps beyond.

What about Dynasty?  The company I founded in April 2007 will continue to exist, but will not be a “sports agency.”  In fact, it is no longer incorporated as DYNASTY ATHLETE REPRESENTATION, LLC.  I have submitted paperwork to change the entity to DYNASTY DEALINGS, LLC.  The agents working for Dynasty will continue to represent their athlete clients so long as the athletes confirm their desire to have such individuals as their official representatives.  For instance, Bryan Swalley will remain as the agent for many of Dynasty’s existing baseball player clients.  And I will still work with many athletes and entertainers, but as an attorney and/or consultant, and not as an agent.

So what am I?  I am not a sports agent.  I am an attorney, consultant, professor, journalist, and entrepreneur.  I am thrilled to make this announcement and I look forward to the future.

My Jerry Maguire-esque Moment? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

During their playing days, doesn’t the athlete have a head coach?  Don’t they have a specialized coach on the sidelines?    Doesn’t the athlete have a coach for his contract (meaning his/her agent)?   Doesn’t the athlete have a strength & conditioning coach (also known maybe as a trainer)?   Today’s athlete may even have a diet coach (meaning a personal chef).

Why then do most athletes not have a financial coach?   Why can’t they have someone who works like a head coach where they teach the athlete about something on a daily or weekly basis?  Or maybe they do and simply were not happy with him/her?   In reality, the financial coach is the most important one.   The financial coach is the only necessary one of all mentioned above.  I challenge anyone who can argue that an agent or strength and conditioning coach will still be with the athlete five, ten, and twenty five years after his playing days are over.

How has it come to pass that 95% of the time I receive a resounding no to the question posed to the athlete “Are you saving as much as you could have, should have, or want to?”  Part of the reason could be that people will refer an athlete to a personal chef or a personal trainer or a realtor but few athletes refer a financial coach to another athlete.   The reason: I will make the statement it is because of society’s “I want it now” attitude.   Referring a great agent to an athlete, referring a super trainer to an athlete, or a wonderful personal chef, produces “immediate gratification”.   The athlete sees immediate results.  Referring a “financial coach” could take years to produce results.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue with anyone wishing to do so.

Disclosures.  The information contained herein is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.  Further, the information herein is intended solely to provide general information and does not constitute a promotion of any offerings or products.  Donald J. Kushner is an independent financial advisor with Arque Capital, Ltd., and does business as DK Sports Financial.  Arque Capital, Ltd., and DK Sports Financial are unrelated entities.  Securities offered through Arque Capital, Ltd.  7501 E. McCormick Parkway, Suite 111 North Court, Scottsdale, AZ 85258.  (602) 971-9000.  Member FINRA/SIPC.  Any unauthorized reproduction of this information is strictly prohibited.

Coaching! from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

What: MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

When: March 2-3, 2012

Where: Hynes Convention Center, Boston, Massachusetts (map)

Panels

• Art & Analytics of Negotiation
• Baseball Analytics
• Basketball Analytics
• Cuban one-on-one with Simmons
• Fanalytics
• Football Analytics
• Franchises in Transition
• Media Rights: Pricing, Power and Competition
• Motorsports Analytics
• Soccer Analytics
• The Commish: The Role of the Modern Commissioner in Sports
• Ticketing Analytics

Cost: Non-student ($450), MIT alumni/faculty ($300), Current student ($175). Register here.

March 2012 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I immediately contacted Jim Gallagher, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at IMG Worldwide.  Gallagher quickly put the rumor to bed.  ”There aren’t ANY conversations going on with Lagardère, or any other company or individual for that matter, regarding a purchase of IMG,” said Gallagher.  ”There’s a good reason for that…IMG is NOT for sale.  We are focused on growing all of our businesses around the world.  We set a goal of EBITDA of $146 million for 2011 and while audited numbers won’t be available until March, we are confident that we delivered the $146 million.   Building on that credibility, we have budgeted $170 million for ’12 and $200 million for ’13.  At that time we have several options.”

Meanwhile, Lagardère may still be looking to expand after its acquisition of Gaylord Sports, but I currently have no confirmation of same.

IMG Worldwide Squashes Rumors Of Being Up For Sale from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

This week’s lecture focused on Marketing, Media and Endorsements and their application in regards to Athletes. Catering to many students who had little knowledge in marketing, the course began with a quick lesson in regards to the Marketing Mix, in particular in relation to the Marketing P’s.

The first guest speaker of the day was Dr. Sheila Nguyen, who is currently a lecturer at Deakin University. Dr. Nguyen spent much of her time in the US, having previously worked for William Morris and helped market many leagues and brands, including the NFL. In fact, she was part of the team responsible for creating the movie “Invicible” starring Mark Wahlberg.

Dr. Nguyen’s insight to the industry was a fascinating one, and drawing on her many facets of experience she garnered a valuble blueprint to follow. The marketing of a sports property does not follow a direct chain, but rather it works in a circle. The Marketing Circle includes Assessing, Measuring, Optimizing, Fine Tuning and Implementation. Once completed, the cycle begins again, as the said property should be continually assessed. Drawing on many examples from the US, she highlighted where marketers got things right, and where they failed.

Another point Dr Nguyen brought up was in regards to the public’s perception of what sports marketers do. Surveying sports fans close to her, she concluded that the public think all sports marketers do are give away items, create billboards and sell merchandise. She described this as only 10% of what actual sports marketers do.

The next part of session had a heavy focus on branding and promotion. Sporting Teams and Athletes are unique in the sense that they have a high level of brand loyalty. Due to this, sports marketers need to approach their objectives differently. Looking at the history of sports advertising, the class came to an interesting conclusion. In the 90′s you would see Athletes eating fast food when promoting them in ads. Nowadays, the ads cut away prior to Athletes eating. This could be due to the public’s perception changing in regards to healthier eating. One just needs to look at the MJ/Larry Bird McDonalds ad and the Dwight Howard/Lebron James one of recent times.

The second round of special guests of the day were Sports Agent Tom Petroro and his client, current AFL player Nick Dal Santo. Tom started off by looking through all the avenues of endorsements, and how each related to Australian Football League clients. Most notably, he mentioned that many of the top players set up a company that owns their image rights, ensuring that they are protected. Once Nick Dal Santo arrived, Tom and Nick discussed the subject from an Athlete’s point of view. Nick Dal Santo currently has deals with Puma and Channel 9 (In regards to “The Footy Show”), and mentioned what obligations he has to these companies.

This was the first of a two-part module on Media, Marketing and Endorsements. The next report will conclude with the second half.

Course Report: Accelerated Sports Management Program – Part 2 from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Tebow’s season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride.  Not only was he not named the starting quarterback in training camp, but speculation was that he was third on the depth chart to Brady Quinn.  After a miserable 1-4 start and public outcry, Denver was forced to start Tebow in what was supposed to be a glimpse of next season.  All he did was help resurrect the Broncos season and lead them to an AFC West Division title.

Tebow represents the American underdog.  Since being drafted by the Broncos a year ago, he’s been written off as a football player whose game will never transfer to the NFL level.  He is a prototypical fullback disguised as a quarterback.  His weakness is throwing the football despite playing a position where throwing is a must.

Tebow has overcome these deficiencies with his will to win, leadership and determination.  These intangibles have helped him lead many improbable ‘miracle’ comebacks and game-winning touchdown drives at the end of games.

But just as much as Tebow is capturing an entire nation with his never-say-die attitude on the field, he is creating polarizing discussions off of it with his consistent devotion to his religious faith.  For example, he can be seen praying after every touchdown and doesn’t pass up an opportunity to thank God in every interview.

While many view him as a role model bringing good to a sport plagued by athletes with off-the-field issues, others want to see him fail.  Such individuals believe he is shoving his faith in everyone’s face and question if the way he carries himself is just an act.

But whether he is talking to inmates at Lake City Correctional Facility or visiting children at the local cancer clinic, Tebow is using football as a platform to make a difference in peoples’ lives.  Playgrounds across the country are even full of children ‘Tebowing’ – a term used to describe praying in the end zone after a touchdown.  In addressing his influence on people Tebow explained, “I’m just very thankful for the platform that God has given me.  It is special to have the platform of playing football because I have the opportunity to affect people.”

Time will tell whether we are witnessing a transcendent athlete or just the latest fad.  But for tonight’s playoff game against New England, people of all ages – some not even football fans – will be tuning in just to get a glimpse of what is now known as, ‘Tebow-Mania.’

Tebow-Mania Creating Believers from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Salgado developed Coastal Advisors LLC about 15 years ago and focuses on providing disability and life insurance to professional football players.  As Salgado stated back in 2010, “if it’s a player that’s a first or second round draft pick in the NFL, then he’s a guy that should look at disability insurance.  If it’s a guy who will be a late rounder or a free agent, they’ll probably not qualify for disability insurance.  For example Willis McGahee is a guy who took out a “loss of value” policy and unfortunately was injured in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.  So even though he was drafted late in the first round, he wasn’t a top 10 pick so the “loss of value” policy was in place to compensate for lost money.  Willis was not a client of mine, but his injury combined with the quality of player he was and that he was at a recognizable school like the University of Miami playing on National television in the Fiesta Bowl, shed light on how important my business is for future top prospects in any sport.”

Since our interview, Salgado has done very well for himself.  And he is building quite the roster of 2012 NFL Draft players as clients.  With a lot of time left before the Draft, Salgado has been retained by Jonathan Martin (OT – Standford), Mohamed Sanu (WR – Rutgers), Levy Adcock (OT – Oklahoma State), Ronnell Lewis (LB – Oklahoma), Mitchell Schwartz (OT – Cal), and Nick Toon (WR – Wisconsin)

Salgado believes that the number of draft eligible clients with Coastal Advisors will grow to about 12-15 by next week.  He will also be at the Senior Bowl, so any agents or players interested in Coastal Advisors know where to find him.  The Big Daddy is hard to miss.

Richard “Big Daddy” Salgado Insuring The Best Of 2012 NFL Draft Class from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

What:

When: Friday, February 24, 2012

Where: Bloomington, Illinois

Keynote Speaker: San Diego Padres executive and sport marketing guru Dan Migala

Other speakers:

• Matt Difebo - VP, IMG College Ticket Solutions
• Mary Pink - Associate Athletic Director of Marketing, Iowa State Athletics
• Erin Harvego - VP Marketing, Big Ten Network
• Jeff Jurgella - General Manager, Badger Sport Properties-Wisconsin Athletics
• Gary Friedman - Director of Athletics, Illinois State Athletics
• Marty Hickman - Executive Director, Illinois High School Association

Cost: $25 (includes lunch and an internship fair). Registration form is embedded below.

Symposium Registration Form

Illinois State University Sport Management Symposium from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules