Sports Agent Blog » Fantasy Sports

Bloomberg Helps Teams, Agents, Fantasy Players

Michael Goldman — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:00:08 +0000

Bloomberg L.P., the mega-financial services firm owned by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, expanded its reach into the sports arena forming Bloomberg Sports a little more than a year ago. This venture utilizes their experience in financial data to provide statistical analysis. Bloomberg’s “Pro” level services are marketed to teams, broadcast firms, and agents & players, currently tailored to meet the needs of the baseball industry. And this venture is finally paying off, as Sports Business Journal reported earlier this week that 17 MLB clubs signed on with Bloomberg Sports to use their scouting tools. As baseball arbitration winds up and players head to Spring Training, I’m sure there are a few agents out there questioning their preparation in recent contract negotiations, and possibly some already confident in their analysis.

Every agent has his method of preparing for contract negotiations, but many come down to stats, and the agent showing a club why his client deserves a certain contract. A few months back we looked at RayRubin Sports Analysts, just one firm that agents go to for their statistical analysis. Some agents and baseball professionals use Sabermetrics, a method discussed on SAB in its early days. Whatever program or consultant an agent may choose, one thing is for sure, agents always need to do their due diligence in preparing for negotiations, and a lot of this rests on being prepared to showcase their clients’ stats in the most helpful way possibly. Maybe Bloomberg Sports will be the next big thing in performance analysis for teams and agents. For agents that are perhaps more hands on, this may streamline other processes which they’ve used in the past to prepare. Bloomberg has done things so well in the financial industry, maybe those who specialize in preparing these types of analyses should be scared. If I was an agent, I would certainly want to be on the exact same page as those 17 clubs that are working with Bloomberg now, knowing that at some point in the hopefully near future I would be sitting down with them to negotiate a new contract for my client.

For the GM in all of us, Bloomberg has also created a “Consumer” version of their services to aid the Fantasy player, available for Football and Baseball. I don’t know how much these programs cost for the average-joe, but there are plenty of hardcore fantasy sports players out there pissed about losing their league by a point this season.

Bloomberg Helps Teams, Agents, Fantasy Players from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Skillful Planning or Lucky Break? Fantasy Football’s Unique Ruling

Joshua Levy — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:00:18 +0000

As training camps across the NFL come to a close and Week 1 just around the corner, we think about all that is great with the sport of football. The anticipation for a Sunday morning kickoff, the feeling that this could be the year, the marriage of Ochocinco and Ochouno, and of course, another Brett Favre retirement, are all things that make the NFL the spectacle that it is today. This season appears to be one of the most anticipated in history because of the potential lockout that looms in 2011, as this could be the beginning of the end for the NFL as we know it. With all this in mind, the potential lockout would have a major influence on a different aspect of the game that would also significantly alter the scope of football: I’m talking about fantasy football.

Fantasy sports have become more than just the nerdy cult phenomenon that it originally appeared to be when it was run by advertising agencies through regional newspapers in the late 1980s. Fantasy sports have now become an online game of luck, skill, addiction, and witty team names. It is the culprit of an estimated $3-4 billion economic impact, as well as the number one contributor to decreases in work productivity from September to January.

There are a few things everyone should know about fantasy football: Never draft a kicker before the final round, anyone on the Jaguars with a hyphen in their name is usually a good bet (Maurice Jones-Drew, Mike Sims-Walker), and if you need a WR, contact Matt Millen as he seems to be loaded with them year after year. All kidding aside, this lucrative business has become a cash cow, as an ever-growing list of websites are increasing their funding towards fantasy sports – the growth and opportunity are looking more promising than ever. While the rules of the game and the guidelines most leagues follow are fairly similar from league to league, the discussion of the legality of it all is not quite so uniform. It would be foolish to say that money and gambling aren’t predominant aspects of fantasy sports. While the pride of winning and the feeling of true fantasy immortality are all well and good, a cash incentive is often the best way to reward a winning season. There is no way for anti-gambling agencies to regulate whether or not the tens of millions of fantasy owners are playing the game for money (unless they use pay to play online leagues), but what the government can do is rule whether or not the activity as a whole is actually legal, and they have. The issue boils down to whether or not there is skill involved in fantasy football.

About 4 years ago, there was an interesting lawsuit involving the legality (or possible illegality) of fantasy sports. On June 20, 2006, Charles E. Humphrey, Jr. filed a complaint in the federal district court in the state of New Jersey against Viacom, Inc. (owner of the three main providers of online fantasy leagues), alleging that pay-to-play leagues are illegal Internet gambling. In most states, “the test of the character of the game is not whether it contains an element of chance or an element of skill, but which is the dominating element that determines the result of the game.” According to previous rulings, games that fall under the gambling statutes are those classified as games of chance rather than games of skill. What makes fantasy sports such an interesting topic of discussion with regards to that matter is that there is no consensus opinion. The main question still remains the same: Does fantasy football require any skill, or is it merely all luck? I guess it depends who you ask, because as we all know when we win, it was skill, preparation, and knowledge that brought us the trophy. Yet when we lose, it was most likely because someone else got lucky.

In the end, the court ruled that “fantasy sports involve elements of both skill and chance, but the skill elements are dominant… as through research, intelligence, and skill, the participants can control the outcome of the contests.” There you have it: You can now officially brag and say with pride that you won a fantasy football league because you tactfully put together a team that gave you the best chance to win. Just don’t go rubbing your winnings in anyone’s face.

Copy of case: Humphrey v. Viacom, Inc.

Skillful Planning or Lucky Break? Fantasy Football’s Unique Ruling from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (7/14/09)

Darren Heitner — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:00:02 +0000

Off to Tallahassee for the weekend (it is the capital of Florida for you non-Geography majors) and then back to Gainesville to move into a new residence for my final year of law school. I sent out the initial batch of invitations to potential moderators and panelists for the 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium. In the invite, no date was specified. As of right now, the tentative date is Friday, January 29, 2010. Mark your calendars, but don’t book your flights until the date is confirmed. For more information about the 2010 Symposium and for an overview of the 2009 Symposium, go to http://www.ufsportslaw.com. I designed the site myself. Also, join the Facebook Fan Page to get updates on the speakers attending, the date confirmation, and other news regarding the future event. The 2009 Symposium was a huge hit and is still talked about by many in attendance and those who watched the live stream across the globe. If you are interested in partnership information, don’t hesitate to contact me. As for stories I missed over the past week:

Basketball

Worldwide Wes: A name I have not heard in quite some time [Surprise! William Wesley, aka Worldwide Wes, is at the Center of a Recruiting/Sneaker Controversy].
Did you know that it’s run by a major Coach Agent? [Warren LeGarie: The Man Behind Vegas Summer League]
I love that Tellem always makes time for this [NBA Stars to Play for Peace at Youth Clinic].

Baseball

Thoughts? I don’t like the idea [Time to End the Draft System?].

Football

Hopefully this is not what the UFL is looking forward to a few years down the line [AFL heading for bankruptcy?].

Sports Business

Fantasy Sports 2.0 [FanDuel turns fantasy sports betting into a social game].
After reading this article, all I could think about is how much Chinese companies like Houston Rockets players. Will that change if Yao doesn’t return? [The Future Of Endorsements]

Sports Agents

“The jockey agent is more like a theatrical agent.” [Lodi roots key to top jockey agent Mullica's success]

Contract Negotiation

It still boggles my mind that the NFLPA does not complain THAT MUCH about the Franchise Tag [Quirky Sports Contracts].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (7/14/09) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Practice Makes Perfect

Vinson Vadakara — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:00:25 +0000

The majority of people on this site are looking to represent players from one of the big four (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL). When it comes time to represent a major client, how many contracts will you have negotiated? Well now, thanks to PASPN.net’s Fantasy Basketball Mock GM game, you can practice your agent skills against other people practicing their GM skills. This game is unique in the fact that is uses the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement to set the rules and regulations that must be followed. This give both sides, agents and GMs, a chance to simulate negotiation skills under the actual restrictions of the NBA.

Here is the description of the game sent to us by the site:

Just like Real NBA GMs, 30 + users come together to create a virtual NBA league with 30 GMs and at least one Agent to negotiate free agent contract and player buyouts. The game uses the NBA’s Collective Bargaining agreement so they are pretty much taking over the GM duties of an NBA team like the real NBA GMs do. The NBA uses the Collective Bargaining Agreement to control spending as well as to even the competition playing ground for NBA franchises so that smaller markets can compete with the larger markets. This game captures the essence of the business side of the NBA.

The game is broken down into 5 phases:
Phase 1 is before the NBA rookie draft
a. You can trade soon-to-be free agents to free up salary cap space for free agency
b. You decide team options
c. You can move up in the rookie draft
d. No free agents can be claimed
e. You can negotiate buyout

Phase 2 is the rookie draft
a. You draft rookies

Phase 3 free agency (starts a day after the draft is finished)
a. Agents can represent free agents
b. Agents decide player options
c. Gms can make offers to free agents

Phase 4 regular season play (October-March)
a. GMs face off head-to-head in 18-week regular season
b. Agents face off in Rotisserie-style play

Phase 5 Playoffs (for GMs only April)
a. GMs face off in NBA playoffs

It seems like a great opportunity and chance to sharpen your skills. Every potential NBPA agent on this site should definitely be considering joining this as an agent, or even as a GM (trying to think and negotiate like a GM might give you some more insight on where you might be able to get GMs to be more flexible.)

Any unanswered questions? Want to learn more and sign up? Click this link to go to the homepage and check out what it’s all about.

Practice Makes Perfect from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules