Lionel Messi joined FC Barcelona at the age of 13, where he lit up opponents and scored his way to a massive contract with the premiere squad, eventually earning a starting job.  On Sept. 18^th, Messi chalked up a new deal with the club and never wants to leave, stated the official Barcelona website.  The luminary striker and celebrated Argentinean national player will be under a new contract with the club until 2016. The club has yet to disclose any official amount of money that the new contract is worth, but under his previous contract, this stud was being paid between $10 – $12 million dollars annually. Some Spanish press are projecting that Messi will earn between $15 – $18 million dollars per year with his new contract.

Buyout clauses are common in sports negotiations and contracts.  Buyout clauses are used if a player or team decide to dissolve the contract and relationship at any point during contracted years. It is similar to making a premarital agreement in order to protect both parties involved. For soccer players in Europe, especially with young guns, these clauses are very important considering the amount of attention these players will receive from other clubs during their tenure under contract. The buyout allows a team to purchase a player or buyout their contract for a specific price. In Messi’s situation he had a buyout clause of $220 million dollars in his previous contract. However, turning 22 years old and just reaching his prime, the Argentinean has a new buyout clause of $367 million dollars for his next 6 years.  Seems a bit pricey to pay for a player, but after seeing Real Madrid and Manchester City spend a couple hundred million dollars it may be realistic and necessary.

To put things into perspective, Messi is considered one of the best players in the entire world, if not THE best. Fellow soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is also considered one of the world’s top performers and set a new record in terms of a buyout clause. Chairman of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, wanted to protect their new star from any oil sheiks that had him on their mind. Ronaldo and Real Madrid agreed upon a $1,000,000,000 Euro buyout clause earlier this summer, making Ronaldo the first ever billion euro player; his previous buyout was worth $200,000,000 euro. If a team were to buy Ronaldo, they would essentially pay the salaries of the other 66 players under contract with Real Madrid. Now that is some serious dough!

Messi Situation is Anything but Messy from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Baseball

• Who does not love when a player fights back from adversity to regain his old dominance? [Phils lock up closer Lidge with three-year, $37.5M extension].

Basketball

• Let the bashing of the one-and-done rule resume [Lawyer says Arizona signee Jennings heading for Europe].
• When you lose a couple of key players, you have to spend [With Brand out of picture, Warriors reach verbal agreement with Maggette].
• India is far away from having a strong developmental system, but India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has added basketball to its priority list [NBA Hopes to Make India Next Hoops Frontier].
• 5 years, $82 million, and the right to bang the boards alongside Samuel Dalembert [Sixers strengthen low post play, sign Brand to five-year deal].
• I would be thrilled with that amount of money after the expiration of my rookie contract, too [Agent says Bucks' Bogut will sign 5-year, $72.5M extension].
• While J.J. is getting no love, another Blue Devil is [Maggette signs contract with Golden State].

Sports Agents/Agencies

• Ted Forstmann, IMG’s Chairman and CEO, is quite worried about the American economy [The Credit Crisis Is Going to Get Worse].
• CAA expands to provide services to soccer players and coaches [CAA Sports and International Soccer Agency Gestifute Create Global Partnership to Represent Top Talent, Including Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and Head Coach Jose Mourinho].
• Yes, the BCS is being represented by IMG in its negotiations with television networks [BCS Enlists IMG for TV Negotiations].

Tennis

• If you did not see last weekend’s Wimbledon final match between Nadal and Federer, you surely missed a spectacle.  18 swooshes in all [Nike Scores Big "Ad In" Win At Wimbledon].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The Wall Street Journal gathered a panel of five sports scientists and exercise physiologist to make a list and rank the worlds top male athletes on a plethora of categories (ladies, the article said they will rank the female athletes in the future, so stay tuned).  The panel graded the athletes based on their individual performances, the difficulty and competitiveness of the sport, along with the athlete’s speed, reflexes, stamina, coordination, as well as power, strength and size.

The article was extremely interesting, as it talked about the abilities and qualities needed to excel in each particular sport by the athletes and how each sport ranked along those qualities.  In order to be put on the list, the athletes had to be not only dominant at their particular sport, but they had to be athletic enough to have the qualities to dominate other sports as well.  A truly great athlete must be in good enough shape and have the ability to dominate in other areas as well.  This is why LeBron James was not only a sick basketball player, but also he was also an amazing wide receiver in high school as well, and with some of the dunks I’ve seen from him in the NBA I bet he could participate in the long jump or high jump and excel easily.

The sports scientists and physiologists seemed to have agreed with me when making some of the decisions on the list.  LeBron James was the number two pick on the list, followed by boxer Floyd Mayweather and Charger great LaDainian Tomlinson.  The surprising number one choice was Czech decathlete Roman Sebrle.  Those of you who know who Roman is might not think he was such a long shot as he can apparently throw a 16-pound ball the length of a 53-foot yacht and leap over a two-lane highway.  The five experts believe Roman has the speed and agility of an NFL player with the leaping ability of an NBA player matched with much much more.

Many of our favorite athletes did not even crack the top ten.  Some sports were too one dimensional like swimming and golf and those athletes would not excel at more physical sports, according to the panelists. To find out who cracked the top ten or to hear what these experts thought about particular sports check out (Who is the greatest Athlete?).

Ever Wonder Who the Greatest Athlete In the World Is? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules