Besides school related matters, I also did numerous tasks for Dynasty. I spent much of the week researching contacts for several sports equipment companies that Darren had given me so that we could potentially get some bats, gloves, etc. sent to our players. He also asked me to start working on finding baseball card deals for our players. There were several companies where I couldn’t find anything but a generic consumer email as a way to contact the company. I used the generic email. I am hoping to hear back from someone soon. Hopefully this information leads to our guys getting some great products to use during spring training and beyond. So far I have only heard back from one inquiry that I made regarding baseball cards. Panini America (formerly Donruss) responded to our inquiry that it only puts out one baseball product each year and it is in the fall. However, the women was familiar with our company and seemed to indicate that we may possibly get our guys come baseball cards this Fall.

I did manage to find a contact from a bat company on LinkedIn. Joining the different groups related to baseball, and sports in general, can be very valuable. It has led a contact with a bat company. The company has supplied 2 bats to our players so far. Hopefully this is the beginning of a good relationship with them. However, I am not stopping at this one bat company. There are a few other bat companies that I’ve been trying to contact, to no avail so far. If I do not hear a response back from the emails I sent this week, the next step is to call and try to talk to someone on the phone. In today’s email age, sometimes the best way to make a contact is actually via the telephone.

Other than trying to make equipment and baseball card contacts, I also did my daily updates on college players we are targeting. I emailed a few of the teams that these individuals play on to try to get them to update their statistics. Most schools update daily, but some of the smaller schools have not yet updated their scores and stats. In addition, I realized that two of the players on our watch list play relatively locally to my location in Harrisburg, Pa. One is actually playing an away game at my alma mater Lebanon Valley College in April. I am planning on at least getting to that game and perhaps more. The other individual is playing about an hour north of me near Williamsport, PA. When I indicated that I would be willing to see these guys and get some tape, Dynasty seemed happy for me to go meet the players. I have a new MinoFlip HD video camera that I want to try out and this would be the perfect opportunity.

One final note, yesterday marked the beginning of Spring Training games for most teams. Good luck to all our players as they begin a very promising baseball season for Dynasty. That about sums up my week. I am off to continue studying. Have a great weekend.

This week marked the beginning of college baseball for most teams I’ve been following. I was given a list of college players Dynasty wants to keep an eye on this season. I follow the players as their season progresses. I also get players added to the list from time to time as Dynasty receives information on these players. As I look at the list of stats so far, there are several players on the list that had a stellar opening week of the season. Hopefully they keep up the good work and will want to sign with Dynasty in the future.

My other major task this week was to find Pete Parise potential sponsors in St. Louis in the hopes that he lands on the Cardinals 25 man roster this season. Darren has started with a local company and my job was to add to the list of potential sponsors. Without the Internet, this task would be impossible, as I live about 1000 miles from St. Louis. I’ve found some potential companies and businesses; the only major concern is the economy and that they’d want to sponsor our guy.

A word of advice for current interns that are doing similar tasks: Don’t worry about finding sponsors related to the sport. For instance, if you are looking for a baseball sponsor, don’t worry about finding him a sponsor with a bat or glove manufacturer. Usually the agent, if he is established, has these contacts already. Focus your attention towards other sponsors such as local businesses or major brand names.

I’ve also been working on getting some information about a potential basketball client that was emailed to me this week. The individual is a college student who was writing on behalf of a college friend of his who wants to play overseas. He has recently left his third school in two years and does not want to sit out anymore. He would like to play immediately overseas. I took a look at his biographical as well as playing history. I also looked at his stats. There was not much to go on just from looking at this information. I am waiting on film to be sent to me from the individual so that Dynasty can further asses his worth as a client. This will give us a better look at whether this guy will be worth the investment. The only video that was found on the player on the Internet was a clip of him breaking a backboard. This intrigued me, but in no way determines what kind of player he is. Hopefully when the film comes in, it will show that he is worth it.

Either way, I am happy to be getting emails from individuals like this. If even one turns out to be a great client, it will improve my stock here at Dynasty. Client generation and contacts is a big part of this business. If I can show that I have enough contacts to generate worthy clients, it improves my chances of landing a job after graduation at Dynasty or an equally reputable company.

I get emails every now and then from people who read this weekly column asking my advice on getting into the industry. I want to stress that I am by no means “in” this industry yet. I was given the great opportunity to write for this blog and intern with Dynasty, but have not proven myself by any means. It takes time to establish yourself in this industry. I am in the process of learning so that one day I can say that I am “in” the industry. What I can suggest is that anyone who wants to learn this business should utilize resources such as LinkedIn and the many sports related groups that you can join via LinkedIn. Networking is huge in the business, and so far, I’ve found that these tools are great resources. I also recommend trying to obtain an internship of some sort with an agency, agent, team front office or sports marketing company. They are invaluable in building your worth in the industry.

First of all, I hope that everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season and that you are as excited about 2010 as I am. With 2009 in the rear view mirror, I have my hopes set that 2010 will be a big year both as a professional in the industry and as a fan. It is safe to assume that all of you reading this and visiting this site share these hopes with me; to advance your career in sports, and to be reminded every day why you wanted to be in sports in the first place by being a fan and following the roller coaster that is professional sports. I personally have held a variety of internships in my professional life while I have followed the UFC and the NFL in my personal life, and have had much to be thankful for in 2009, but also have much to be desired in the future.

On a personal level, I have really come to understand what it is like to be an aspiring member of the sports industry. 2009 marked the moment for me when the light bulb went off that I needed to be setting myself apart from the rest of the pack and that I needed to get creative with my professional image while developing my craft. I may have been late to the party, but I discovered websites such as Twitter and LinkedIn in 2009, sites that I would refer to more as modern day tools then just calling them websites. These sites have been very useful in my career development and I look forward to utilizing them in new ways in 2010 like I believe everyone else should do. It is also my hope for everyone that the job climate of the sports industry grows, allowing more opportunities for qualified individuals. 2009 saw great economic turmoil, and as a result, companies were forced to cut back and in some cases, downsize. These circumstances have been hard on everyone, but there is reason to be optimistic in 2010 because it is a new year with new opportunity. I believe that the road to success is kind of like sailing around the world; you may make great progress, but you can always keep going, you just need to want to. 2010 is when I would like to see all of us aspiring to make our mark in sports reach our destination.

As a fan, 2009 certainly had its ups and downs. It has been exciting for me to watch the UFC grow and many of the blogs I have written for this site are focused on how the entity will continue to expand in the future. Global expansion, major corporate sponsorships, and mainstream acceptance are a few of the things I am looking for in 2010 for the UFC and I am confident my expectations will be surpassed. As a fan of the NFL, I have been as equally disappointed in my Giants as I have been with the NFL’s stance on social media, the absence of the NFL Network in New York, and the lack of putting a new CBA into place. 2010 for the NFL means a Pro Bowl played in Florida, going abroad to Europe and the possibility of an uncapped year, none of which excites me. Still, the NFL provides story-lines and entertainment for all of us, and being an optimistic person, I hope that things will get worked out in time, because as a fan, I’m not going anywhere.

My resolution for 2010 is to make my mark on this industry. All of us, established or not, should be working as hard as we can to be our best and to stay passionate about our craft, and this site is a prime example of people who care about what they do and have set a good example for me in my professional life. So, all the best to everyone in 2010, lets make it a great year.

Please continue to post your comments and follow me on twitter @ZachLipari

As far as I know, the real “Jerry Maguire” is Leigh Steinberg.  But this all gets worse.  This agent recently contacted another agent in the industry, and when his offer was rejected, he sent this message:

Since you weren’t interested in merging with (agency name deleted) we have decided to merge with either Lagardere, KB Sports, Octagon, Or a few other choices we have to pick from.

This type of name dropping cannot be taken well by the agencies listed in the quote.  As a disclaimer, I have absolutely nothing against the agent making these comments on his LinkedIN page and through email.  In fact, I think the guy is a genuinely nice person.  But that said, this kind of conduct is unacceptable.

Now I realize that there may be a chance, however slight, that this agent was really offered to merge with these companies.  However, the fact that he sent the same message out to half a dozen agents and is advertising it on his LinkedIN makes me think otherwise.

My colleague Douglas Sanders with The Sports Link introduced me to the new service, which strives to make it easier for athletes to connect with their fans by providing “text only once, but update fans everywhere” convenience.  If an athlete sends a text message to MogoTXT, MogoTXT can automatically forward that message to the athlete’s fans on MogoTXT, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and all other websites.

Terrell Owens, Shane Battier, Chris “Beanie” Wells, Santonio Holmes, Jordan Farmar, and even Mr. Holdout, Michael Crabtree, are on board, along with many more athletes and rising journalists.  Some entities use the service more than others.  T.O. is updating the world on his life almost every second of the day…Beanie Wells, not so much.

In addition to providing ease and convenience to athletes, MogoTXT is able to aggregate the fans of an athlete that are located on several different websites into a single large audience to enable the athlete to achieve critical mass much faster for purposes of fan relations, marketing, advertising, etc.  The theory is that the service will empower athletes and their agents to strike better endorsement deals by enhancing athletes’ reach and providing marketing data.

MogoTXT can also facilitate revenue generation for athletes and their selected charities by working with athletes and their agents to feature desirable ads and clickable links to additional content and ads at the bottom of the athletes’ text messages before these messages are displayed on MogoTXT and also distributed to fans on all of the major social networks.

And for the Yao Mings and Kobe Bryants with huge international appeal, MogoTXT can also translate the messages into foreign languages on a near real-time basis.

Best of all, the service is free for its clients and their fans.

Blake Baratz

Recently, Baratz left Impact Sports to start up his own firm: The Institute for Athletes.  His clients at Impact Sports will remain co-represented by Baratz and his former employers, but Baratz should not have a tough time recruiting new clients to his “Institute”.  Jack Scharf has been hired by Impact Sports to fill the void left by Baratz’s departure. Scharf’s clients include Ryan Torain, Jerricho Cotchery, Marquis Cooper, and Marko Mitchell.

You can make jokes about the name of Baratz’s new entity, but I actually like it.   It coincides with the mission of his practice, which is to ensure that more NFL players are educated.  On his LinkedIn profile, Baratz notes that:

The most glaring area of need for improvement is simply education. 78% of all NFL players are either leaving the game broke, or broke within 3 years of their last NFL game.

I really like his approach.  At Dynasty, we stress family and innovation as our main selling points.  Baratz has chosen education as his.   It does not mean that we don’t educate our clients or that Baratz does not use innovative techniques to advance his players, but at least he has distinguished his agency from the mainstream agency that promotes the same package of services as the rest.  Baratz has also done a fantastic job surrounding himself with a lot of talent in his new start-up.  As reported by the StarTribune.com,

His brain trust includes Jeff Diamond, the former Vikings executive and Tennessee Titans president; actor Jaleel White, famous for the role of Steve Urkel on “Family Matters”; and a group of financial advisers, talent evaluators and former players.

Not sure what Jaleel White brings to the table other than a quality “Did I do that?” when things go wrong.  Bobby Engram, Will Allen, and Abdul Hodge, also sat in on meetings to help Baratz’s new firm get some legs to stand on.  Good luck to Baratz, another young agent who has a mission and will not let the cheerleaders on the sidelines prevent him from accomplishing his dreams.

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?].

The result = {Rules of PR no. 13} Sports and Social Media: A Case Study