Forbes Magazine posted an excellent article last week highlighting the difference between the highest paid athletes of 1991 and today. To say the make up of the list has changed would be an understatement.

The number 1 highest paid athlete in 1991 was a Boxer, Evander Holyfield, making $60 million. In fact, in 2nd place was another boxer, Mike Tyson. Boxers also took up the 4th and 7th places. Compare that to today where not one Boxer falls inside the top 20, with only Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao likely to make the cut in the next year. This highlights two things. First, Boxing’s decrease in popularity. The sport doesn’t have the same clout it used to, with only the aforementioned Boxers bringing in the bucks. Second, it highlights just how much pay-per-view impacted the industry in 1991, which provides hope for the UFC for the future.

Another huge difference is the amount of athletes who play team sports. In 1991 there were only 4 players who played team sports in the top 20, with Michael Jordan at number 3 being the most notable. Fast forward to now and it is an entirely different landscape. With the significant increase in areas such as TV rights and stadium deals, players plying their trade in the big leagues are now coveting most of the top spots. This is also helped by large off-field deals in the endorsement arena. Kobe, Lebron and A-Rod all headline the list of team sport players making the top 20 today.

Following on with team sports, there’s one sport that has seen a meteoric rise by having an abundance of players breaking into the top 10. Possessing no players in the top 20 in 1991, Soccer now occupies three spots in the top 10 with Beckham, Ronaldo and Messi taking those spots. This increase can be attributed to the globalization of Soccer and its players. These players are now household names worldwide, and the increase in audiences in markets such as Asia has helped line the pockets of these stars.

Golfers still rank as high as they did in 1991, with Tiger filling the number 1 spot and Phil Mickelson at 5. Arnold Palmer was the highest paid golfer, and despite the endorsement dollars skyrocketing since 1991, he would not be short of cash with his beverage line of Arizona doing very well. Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman rounded out the golfing fraternity.

Formula 1 drivers remain just as well paid as 1991, with three drivers at each juncture.

With only Federer and Nadal charting this time round, Tennis has lost some steam. In 1991 the likes of Becker, Edberg, Agassi, Seles and Graf were all featured. The endorsement dollar has certainly stagnated since these times, with only the true champions contending with the world’s athletic elite. Is it that companies are losing their luster for Tennis, or is it just other sports have moved ahead?

An alarming stat is that at present there are no female athletes featured in the Top 20. With Tennis and Golf the most likely to appear, Seles and Graf made the cut in 1991, however not even the highly endorsed Maria Sharapova could crack the list this year. Alas, there is some hope for the future. Li Na, the Chinese born Tennis player, has signed a multitude of contracts including a lucrative deal with Mercedes. She is the star that the world’s biggest country has been looking for, and if she has continued success there is no reason why she can’t upset the ‘Boy’s Club’ that has become the top 20.

So what, if any, changes can we expect in the future? With the increased popularity of Soccer worldwide and the subsequent commercialization, there is no reason why in the near future half of this list cannot be Soccer players. Team sports’ athletes in general should steadily increase their rankings as TV rights deals continue to break records. Golfers will always feature heavily due mainly due to it’s popularity. One area that doesn’t feature, which may soon, is the UFC. The sport has exploded over the past few years, and with pay-per-view it is possible it can reach Boxing like levels.
As previously mentioned, Li Na is the best hope for female athletes to crack the top 20. Others that could sneak a place include Danica Patrick (If her move to NASCAR proves successful), Maria Sharapova (By continued growth in endorsements) and Caroline Wozniacki, who at 21 appears to have a long career ahead of her.

1991 To Now – What’s Changed? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The following could be titled the Teague Egan (student-agent) provision:

I see absolutely nothing wrong with the policy itself, and I would assume that we will see many more universities follow Southern California’s role in developing literature that puts athletes and agents at notice regarding disciplinary action as a result of violations of university policy.

University of Southern California Sends Athletes And Agents Memo To Students And Faculty from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The Sports Agent Directory is the most comprehensive sports agent directory in the world.  Sure, we provide links to various agency websites in our Sports Agencies feature, but the Sports Agency Directory, which is offered by Sports Agent 411, LLC provides everything you could possibly need in terms of information regarding athletes and their agents.  And information is power.

This product should be interesting to a wide array of individuals, including but not limited to, financial planners, concierge services, real estate agents, relocation specialists, nutritionists, training facilities, private jet companies, and web designers.  If you have a business that in some way may cater to athletes, this product will save you time, provide you valuable and up-to-date information, and save you money.

Best of all, the database is extremely easy to use.  Here are a few things you can do with it:

• Search for the agent, agency, or athlete name by simply typing a  name.
• Search for sports agents by sports specialization (MLB, NBA, WNBA, NFL, LPGA, PGA, NHL, ATP, WTA, MLS, FIFA), total salaries negotiated, total number of clients, or geographic state/region/country.
• Search for athletes by the sports the athletes play, teams the athletes play for, salaries earned, or by salary ranking.
• Download each and every agent’s vCard to your address book and export your search results to Excel or PDF.

A concern you may have is that the database will not have valid information since athletes and agents are constantly changing where they work and who they work with.  The first thing I decided to do was test the database a day after Dan Lozano left Beverly Hills Sports Council.  Sure enough, he was no longer listed with the firm, and the clients that he took with him from BHSC were listed with him and no longer with BHSC.  And the database is also kept fresh with new salary information, player-agent switches, etc.

Here is what you can expect to find when you pull up an agency:

• Sports agency name
• Web site addresses, mailing addresses, phone/fax numbers
• Agents, principals, and decision-makers within agency
• Option to download vCard to address book for each agent/executive
• Total salaries represented
• Number of clients
• Names of clients, including Sport (League) name, Team name, Salary, Status, Professional league profile page link
• Option to export detailed search results to PDF and save
• Option to export address list search results to Excel and save

The Sports Agent Directory includes over 590 sports agencies and 1,050 sports agents.  And if you thought that’s a lot of information on the sports agent side, wait until you see what is offered in terms of customization of results according to athlete selected:

• Search for athletes by name
• Search for athletes by sport(s)
• Search for athletes by team names
• Search for athletes by minimum/maximum salary range
• Search for athletes by salaries
  • Top 10, 25, 50, 75, 150, 200, or ALL by order from highest to lowest
• Sort by Athlete name, agency name, recent salary, team name, or sport
• Athlete search results include the following: Athlete name, Agency name, Sport (League) Name, Team Name, Salary, Status, Professional league profile page link, Comprehensive agency details (see above)
• Option to export search results to PDF and Excel and also save
• Directory includes the following recent contracts/salaries:
  • Baseball (MLB) $2,791,608,253.00 (1,100+ players)
  • Basketball (NBA) $2,028,572,288.00 (450+ players)
  • Basketball (WNBA) $8,077,242.00 (120+ players)
  • Football (NFL) $3,009,647,577.00 (2,000+ players)
  • Golf (PGA) $297,854,588.00 (500 players)
  • Golf (LPGA) $33,620,120.00 (115+ players)
  • Hockey (NHL) $1,722,204,565.00 (1,000+ players)
  • Tennis (ATP) $68,480,832.00 (130 players)
  • Tennis (WTA) $45,916,487.00 (65+ players)
  • Auto Racing (NASCAR) $166,438,043.00 (41 athletes)

I’m not done yet.  The listings only include sports agencies and agents who have clients, so you don’t have to waste your time pitching agencies and agents who do not have clients.  Additionally, you will receive email updates whenever new data is available, such as new client hirings, firings, etc.

So now the big question – how much does it cost? It is $2,500 for a 1-user yearly subscription or $250 per month for a yearly subscription.  $5,000 for a 3-user subscription and very favorable pricing plans for large groups/corporations..

If you are interested in testing the product feel free to contact me.  Readers of SportsAgentBlog.com may be eligible for a slight discount off of the stated price. I would not sell a product that I have not tested myself, and after trying out the service, I can see its true value.

INTRODUCING: The Sports Agent Directory from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Larry Johnson is not the only athlete who needs a lesson on social media best practices.  There are many others who have the potential of being in his shoes, or worse, in the future.  It is very easy to write a 140 character (or less) message and click send, immediately blasting those words to the world.  That is why it is so important for athletes and their agents to be very careful in implementing a solid social media policy.  Speaking of agents…

Agents also have to be careful about what they tweet.  Their words do not only reflect on their own image, but affect their clients as well.  If an agent is posting controversial tweets, it could affect the way that others perceive him and his clients.  Agents are known to frequently tweet about their clients (as a side note, we are putting together a master list of sports agents on Twitter.  Follow that list by clicking here.), but rarely do you see an agent talking bad about another person’s clients.  Especially when the player is a direct competitor of your client.  It just seems like a bad practice.

A few days ago, though, Allan Walsh (@walsha) did just that.  The hockey agent for Octagon who represents Montreal Canadians goalie, Jaroslav Halak, tweeted:

“Interesting stat of the night….Price is 10W, 32L in last 42 starts. Hmm.”

Walsh was referring to starting goaltender, Carey Price.  The tweet has been deleted from Walsh’s account since the it was covered by various media outlets.  It is not that Walsh is right or wrong about his statement, and he is definitely entitled to his opinion, but perhaps it is better that he keep that opinion to his close friends and not share it with the world on Twitter.  It got Walsh a lot of publicity, but that is not our goal as agents; it is doing the best for our clients.  Does the tweet help out Halak at all?

Walsh responded to the criticism he received from the tweet with the following statement:

“It was a tongue in cheek comment not meant to be taken seriously, forgot it was Montreal and everyone loses a sense of humor.”

I tweet about athletes who are not my clients, and sometimes I may even make jokes about them.  But I have never written a bad tweet about a direct competitor of one of my clients.  For instance, I would not tweet about how poorly another reliever was doing on the AAA Memphis Redbirds squad while Pete Parise was the closer.  That type of discussion is better reserved for talks behind closed doors with management.  The point will still be heard by the other side of the table, without the additional public embarrassment for all parties.

Athletes And Agents Need To Learn How To Properly Use Twitter from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

You’ve landed a talented athlete as a new client. A professional contract is fast-approaching. When the contract is signed, will the athlete’s online presence be ready?

In sports, the athlete’s name is the brand. So it should come as no surprise the bad guys on the internet, known as cyber-squatters, may try to take advantage of your athlete’s name and brand.

An example: In California, a single cyber-squatter was recently convicted of registering the domain names of nearly 800 basketball players. Domain names are Web browser addresses, like SteveNash.com and ChrisBosh.com. The affected players ranged from NBA pros to top high school and college players. Because of this one squatter, hundred’s of athletes were unable to take the first step into online branding. This was just one squatter — there are thousands of squatters on the NET trying to make money from athletes’ brands.

As an agent, you need to start managing your client’s online brand early —before fame and success attract the cyber-squatters. It’s critical for agents to help athletes create a comprehensive online branding strategy.

Here are 5 simple tips to help agents prepare and protect a player’s online brand:

1. Register a Dot-Com Domain Name

Domain names are Web addresses, so they are the focus of your online branding plan. Having a domain name with your player’s first and/or last name in it, like RogerFederer.COM, is the Grand Slam of Internet branding. The domain is also part of the player’s main email address.

But, web domains are a scarce resource, and are registered on a first-come-first-serve basis —  so even RogerFederer.COM doesn’t own Federer.COM

Once you start searching for an available domain name, you’ll be surprised how hard it is to find an available domain name. If your client has an uncommon name, you may be lucky and still be able to acquire CLIENTNAME.COM. Other good domains to register are nicknames. Shorter domain names are usually better, dashes and digits in a domain name are not as easily remembered by site visitors.

The Dot-Com domain is the most memorable and upscale—it’s far better than the other top-level domains (.NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, .US, etc.).

To register a domain, visit a Domain Registrar like Godaddy.com (http://GoDaddy.com). If the client’s name is available, you can register it for about $8 a year – you’ll need to renew every year or you lose the name. There are also many websites, such as Afternic.com and Sedo.com, that help you buy and acquire domains that are already registered — though auction prices can be exorbitant.

As long as you’re able to get the athlete’s main domain, it’s not worth going overboard speculating on a bunch of domains when an athlete is just starting out. However, keep in mind that the squatters will try to take advantage of typos in web addresses, so you may consider acquiring common misspellings of your client’s name (for Tennis, think Nadall.com, Nedal.com).

Later in this article I have some tips for what to do if you can’t get the name you want.

2. Create Social Networking Accounts

When fans want to find out about an athlete, they’ll go to the social networking sites; MySpace and Facebook are the biggest. With MySpace, you’ve always been able to get a page like http://Myspace.com/CLIENTNAME, so, you’ll want to grab that. Facebook now has that feature, too. And you’ll want to start and take ownership of a Facebook Fan Club for your client.

What content do you put on all these social media sites? It doesn’t matter—you can leave them blank to start with. The main point is that you control the real estate for your brand.

If you or your client does create some content on a social media page, keep the site very professional. Don’t let the athlete use these accounts for gossiping with friends, uploading photos or video of last Saturday night’s party, or other unprofessional uses. Future sponsors and advertisers will be watching, so you need to keep the client’s content squeaky clean and  presentable. Once something is on the Internet, it’s nearly impossible to take it down.

But remember: The main point is to acquire these online properties, even if you don’t use them at first. It’s far better to have nothing on a Web pages than to have cyber-squatters fill the page with advertisements.

3. Create a Twitter Account

Twitter, an online Short Message Service (SMS) site, is extremely popular and growing so quickly that it gets a checklist item all to itself. When fame first strikes, Twitter is where the trendsetters will talk about your client. Beware: Twitter squatters are already grabbing up all the famous Twitter account names.

Signing up for a Twitter account is free, so sign-up for an account name that matches the client’s real name. You may want to update the Twitter status occasionally with things like recent victories and upcoming games. But again, the key is to own the Twitter account for later use and to prevent someone else from controlling the Twitter account.

4. Setup Email and Instant Messaging

Fans, sponsors, advertisers and other vendors will want to communicate with an athlete. When your client owns a COM domain, you can automatically receive all email sent to any address at @CLIENTNAME.COM.

But, as part of a comprehensive branding plan, create free accounts at Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and HotMail: CLIENTNAME@gmail.com, CLIENTNAME@yahoo.com, and CLIENTNAME@msn.com. Setup the accounts so that they invisibly forward email to a single address.

Additionally, try to get brandable accounts for AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger.

5. Setup Voicemail

For a business phone number, you can set up a free GoogleVoice (http://voice.google.com) account, which comes with a free phone number in almost any area code. Configure GoogleVoice to automatically forward voice-mail to your email accounts as an audio/text attachment. Or you can forward all GoogleVoice calls to your cell phone (the forwarding will be invisible to the caller).

If your client needs to speak with the press by phone, he or she can easily make phone calls through the GoogleVoice account using their existing cell phone. Have the client use the GoogleVoice as a business phone number for all sports-related activities to prevent the athlete’s personal phone information from becoming mixed with the athlete’s career info. Keeping an athlete’s professional life and personal life separate will also help protect the athlete’s privacy.

Troubleshooting Your Brand

What do you do if you can’t get all of the above items? Well, if your athlete’s name is very common like Joe Smith, then he’s a little late to the Internet party. But you can still try for domains like “JoeSmithHockey.com”.

What if fame has already struck and the athlete’s brand is already cyber-squatted? There are laws to protect an athlete’s name and brand. Contact an intellectual property attorney who specializes in trademarks. If the athlete’s name is fairly unique, having a lawyer send a letter to the various social media sites can often get them transferred to the player. Gaining control of a squatted domain is a little more complicated, but an attorney can definitely help to acquire it. Solving cyber-squatting problems through the legal system will cost you a lot more time and effort than doing it right the first time.

Be Ready for Fame…

Most importantly, it’s critical to be a few steps ahead of the cyber-squatters. With the first whiff of fame, squatters will notice an up-and-coming player and grab up all the prime Internet real estate related to that player. You can reduce future legal costs by keeping up with online trends and by beating the squatters to the prime Internet real estate. Your client’s future sponsors will appreciate a clean online-brand that isn’t full of Internet spam.

Remember: Your job as an agent is to help plan for the athlete’s entire career. It’s never too early to get a player’s brand ready. By spending a little effort up front, you can make future success that much sweeter.

Managing An Athlete’s Online Brand: A 5-Step Getting Started Guide For Agents from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Over the past week, I have received many calls and messages from friends, colleagues, family, and clients, asking me who Jay Hairston (on the left, wearing the cap) is and why he was sending them “friend requests” on Facebook.  Originally, I thought it was just a coincidence that I was the only “mutual friend” on these peoples friend lists.  After the fifth call/message, I started to get curious.

On Monday evening, I decided to finally do something about it.  I did a search for “Jay Hairston” on Facebook and was greeted with a profile picture displaying Athletes Premier International‘s logo.  I also noticed that we had over 150 friends in common, yet Jay never friended me on Facebook.  Did we just know a lot of the same people and had never met?  Again, his friends included former roommates, fraternity brothers, and family of mine (who have less than 50 friends total on Facebook).  Most concerning was that this guy I had never met nor heard of was sending friend requests to all of my clients.

Since I was not friends with Jay Hairston, I could not read his profile.  I went to API’s website, and found that his name was completely omitted.  This is where I started to get really concerned.  I sent a few tweets to API’s twitter account, asking for an explanation.  The only response I received was Jay Hairston changing his Facebook privacy settings to restrict me from finding him in a Facebook search results page.

I had one of my friends who had accepted Jay’s friendship request pull up his profile, and that friend let me know that Jay lists himself as the Vice President of Player Relations and Recruiting.  At this point, I knew something very shady was going on.  What business does a rival agency have in reaching out to my entire network?  There is nothing illegal about making friend requests to people you have never met, but it sure does make you and your company look very shady.

This is an interesting and silly tactic for a brand new agency.  Athletes Premier International has one baseball client, and it is a big one: Aroldis Chapman.  First of all, I have given the agency no reason to solicit my friends, family, or clients.  Second of all, the company has received good press thus far in its shopping of Chapman to various MLB teams, does it need to now resort to dirty tactics to grow further?  Third, why is Jay Hairston not listed on the company’s website?  And of all employees, I have most concern about a VP of Player Relations and Recruiting contacting my clients.

I reached out to Jay and he was nice enough to respond in a timely manner.  Additionally, he was pleasant in his responses, but I think I was more upset that he was lying to my face than anything else.  I would have been happier if he was blatantly honest and told me to go screw myself.  Here is what he said to me in our conversation thread.  Let me know if you think he is being genuine.

Mr Heitner.  By no means am I attempting to do anything shady as you put it.  I am simply networking!  I do appologize if I offended you in anyway.  This was not my intentions.

My response:

You are telling me the truth that you friended former roommates and fraternity brothers of mine in an effort to network?  What value do they bring to the table?

What networking did you hope to do by friending my clients that I have listed on my agency’s website?

I am not out to hurt your company or anyone elses company.  I am more than happy with representing the clients I currently have and using those gentlemen to provide solid referrals.  I truly hope that you have no cruel intentions.  I believe that most men are honest, and I will take you at your word, even though your actions (including preventing me from pulling your name up on a search) should lead me to believe otherwise.

I have documented everything thus far and encourage you to stay away from my friends and clients.  You guys just picked up a superstar; I firmly believe that continuing to “network” with my friends and clients will not be worth your while.

I accept your apology and hope that we can put this entire matter behind us.

His last response was very nice, but I believe that it was entirely mocking the situation at hand.

Mr Heitner, as for friending former roommates and fraternity brothers of yours, yes it is random!  I am NOT in the practice of stealing or attempting to steal anyones clients!  Its not who I am as a person or who API is as a company.  I am simply trying to get our name out there!  That is all!  In my expierience the more people that know who you are and what it is you do. The better off a business will be.  As you know, people do talk.  So whether that’s the gas attendant at your local gas station or an athlete at a university.  You never know who will be the link to that next big client!  Once again I do appologize for the simple misunderstanding!

You are simply trying to get your company’s name out to my friends, family, and clients?  Create a blog, send out tweets, contact athletes that are not already represented, but solicit my friends list on Facebook?  I doubt my step-father is going to be the link to your next big client.  There is no misunderstanding about what transpired.

And as for Jay Hairston’s Facebook status as of yesterday, it read: “we must be doing something right…”  I agree, if that something is “getting your name out there” in an unethical manner.

Aroldis Chapman’s Agency Up To Shady Business? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Golf

• Seems like a good fit to me [CAA Sports signs Greg Norman].

Baseball

• Should more players embrace Twitter as a tool to strengthen their fan bases? [Twitter and Major League Baseball: A Missed Opportunity]
• The studs of this year’s Cape Cod Summer League [2009 Under Armour Cape Cod Baseball League All-Stars Named].

Basketball

• The Rockets are the first NBA team to enter into a direct single-affiliation partnership with an NBA D-League team: the Rio Grande Valley Vipers [NBA D-League Announces Affiliates For 2009-10 Season].
• Do you buy that it’s not about Minnesota? [Sources: Drop in salary affects buyout]

Sports Business

• I prefer partnerships, although not the legal definition [Sponsorships vs. Partnerships]
• Some great advice here [Sports Business Review: Athletes can use LinkedIn to build a powerful network].

Football

• Cheating away money from athletes and agents? [Ex-NFL linebacker Bosworth possible fraud victim]
• A lesson on the 80-man active roster [Why do players get cut when draft picks get signed?].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (7/17/09) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules