Baseball

• The White Sox were the only team to not have a single player file for salary arbitration [Details For the 142 Players That Filed for Salary Arbitration in MLB for 2012].
• It is certainly fun to watch as these players settle prior to scheduled arbitration hearings [Arbitration Filing Numbers].
• Sad to see what has happened to the Puerto Rican Baseball League [Puerto Rico Traces Baseball’s Slide to the Draft].
• Who is going to be next? [Fausto Carmona arrested in Dominican Republic for using false identity]

Olympics

• A former subject on this site, and ranked pretty high on this list [Sports Marketing with Evan Morgenstein of PMG Sports].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (1/20/2012) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Last weekend in Memphis, Tennessee was a great success.  We put together a tremendous Professional Sports Counseling Panel at the University of Memphis and received fantastic feedback from athletes, parents, agents, and administrators with regards to Memphis’ first Agent Day.  I have to really thank my partner Jason Belzer; he is the reason that Collegiate Sports Advisors is going to be a successful venture.  Lots of big deals being brokered in the NBA and MLB.  Any readers spend some time in Dallas during the Baseball Winter Meetings?  Here are some stories I missed over the past week:

Football

• A few good questions for athletes and their parents to ask agents [Inside the player-agent interviews].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (12/9/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Hey Kobe Bryant.  Here is your official, public invitation to come ball at my local Jewish Community Center (JCC).  You know, in case you get tired of the one in Irvine, California.  I am heading to Memphis, Tennessee tonight to host the University of Memphis’ first Agent Day with Jason Belzer tomorrow.  We will also be organizing the school’s first Professional Sports Counseling Panel.  University of Memphis is a client of start-up Collegiate Sports Advisors, which I strongly suggest you pass on to your colleagues at various university athletic departments.  With so much talk about all the things that universities could be doing to better inform and protect their student-athletes, out-of-house Collegiate Sports Advisors is an excellent choice for schools to take a step in the right direction.  Okay, I’m off my soapbox.  Here are some stories I missed from the past week:

College Sports

• About that need for Professional Sports Counseling Panels.. [Time for Transformative Change in Intercollegiate Athletics].
• Class action Complaint alleges that the NCAA has engaged in a long-established pattern of negligence [College Athletes Move Concussions Into the Courtroom].

Baseball

• I provide an in-depth look into how and when MLB players compensate their representatives (unfortunately it is behind a pay wall) [Darren Heitner on MLB Player-Agent Comp].
• The new collective bargaining agreement supposedly reduces the number of rounds in the Rule 4 Draft from 50 to 40 [CBA Links: Michael Weiner, Draft].
• I have a feeling this fight is not yet over [Checking In With Albert Pujols’s Agent, Who Threatened To Sue Us Before He Knew What We Were Going To Write].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (12/2/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Let’s start things off simple. It is great news that the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the MLB owners and the MLBPA was agreed upon, and that baseball will continue without a gap for at least five more years. After the NBA and NFL lockouts, this is no small accomplishment. However, the good news coming from the CBA doesn’t extend far beyond the fact that it will prevent a labor dispute.

The owners have been blinded by their short-sightedness to save money in the short term, and the players are simply relishing in the fact that the minimum salary will increase by about 16% to 480,000, with a few other small free agency advantages as well. However, the people most hurt by the new CBA were the ones with no representation at the table, the amateurs.

I’m not complaining for the Strasburg’s and Harper’s of the world that will now be making a few million dollars less than before. I am talking about the majority of high school prospects that aren’t selected in the first few rounds. Due to the new slotting system with a soft cap, teams would be nonsensical to spend more than the 5% grace zone, having to pay a 75% luxury tax as well as forfeit a future first round pick, with even greater penalties if they spend more. Thus, all discussion must continue on the assumption that teams follow the new slotting system.

The new CBA rules state that any bonus of more than $100k provided to players drafted outside the top 10 rounds, will have that amount go against the team’s Signing Bonus Pool. These high school prospects, as well as the ones drafted in rounds 6-10 that will most likely only be offered less than $200k, are put into a very difficult situation. Unlike college basketball and football, even the top recruits are only offered partial collegiate scholarships, forcing the families to make up the remaining tuition. For many families, coming up with that tens of thousands of dollars for the next three years or four years is not an option; they are rather left with the decision to take that small signing bonus or attend a community college.

While $100-200k may sound like a goldmine to an 18 year old, this allure of instant money may only worsen the situation. However, the opportunity cost for accepting that money must be noted. That 18 year old will now be spending the next however many years making less than $2,000 a month. And what happens when the baseball dream dies as it does for 95% of all draftees? They are left with no college education, no real world skill set, and very little to fall back on. For families that cannot afford to pay for their child’s college education, the MLB is merely setting them up for a life of poverty.

There was an easy solution to this. Allow the teams to guarantee future college tuition to the draftees they choose, while not having it go against their Signing Bonus Pool. Honestly, who would this hurt? The owners would only have to provide those educations to the draftees as they choose. The leverage and signability effect by including future tuition is minimal and clearly outweighed. But rather, with no one at the table negotiating on behalf of the amateurs (the future of the game) they merely get overlooked and ignored. What do the current high school baseball players have to say about this? And their parents? Unfortunately, it does not matter.

The New MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement’s Negative Effect On High School Draftees from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

When I was contacted over the weekend by Brian Walton of TheCardinalNation.com and Scout.com with about six questions related to the baseball agent profession, I had no idea just why he was asking me those specific questions.  Now, after Walton published his piece titled, Dan Lozano and Albert Pujols’ 2004 Contract, it all makes sense.

Walton’s piece stemmed from an accusation embedded within the Deadspin story about Pujols’ agent Dan Lozano, which has attracted the eyes of everybody in the sports agent industry.  The accusation was that Lozano’s unfortunate financial situation led him to negotiate an unfavorable, below-market value contract for Pujols in 2004.  Walton’s article digs deep to try to determine whether that was actually the case.  Based on his findings, it appears that even if Lozano was truly interested in making a quick buck to save himself from financial straits, he certainly did not display such through his negotiation of Pujols’ contract.

Go ahead and read Walton’s article, because he does a fantastic job of looking into the 2004 Pujols deal, and he provides some nice space for my contributions.

Looking Back At Albert Pujols’ 2004 Contract from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Baseball

• “I am embarrassed for the people who are behind this. I want to make sure that people hear that.” [Pujols sticking with Lozano as his agent].
• Can’t wait to see the policy governing the use of Social Media [Summary of MLBPA-MLB Labor Agreement]
• It may be difficult for teams to justify drafting two-sport stars [CBA Reactions: Marlins, Twins, Amateur Draft

Basketball

• Bartelstein says what we all know – it’s not fun to not be getting paid [NBA lockout costs Chicago agent, but he says it’s worth it
• Key question: Is the disclaimer of interest enough to end the non-statutory labor exemption and lower the antitrust shield? [NBA Lockout: The NBA’s Nuclear Winter — Where Do We Go From Here?
• Maurice Clarett’s counsel could be involved [Extended NBA lockout could lead to legal challenges of draft eligibility rule

NCAA

• It would be nice if states then decide to drop their registration systems.. [NCAA nears revamp of sports agent oversight to include runners, eyes national registration
• More pub for Arkansas [UAAA Summit reinvigorates agent oversight

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (11/25/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

In less than a month, Minor League Baseball will host its annual Winter Meetings.  This year, the four day event will be held at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas.  As always, not all activities are open to the general public.  The PBEO Job Fair and the Baseball Trade Show tend to be the main attractions for the majority of attendees.  This is the 18th year that the Job Fair is occurring, and it appears to be an excellent venue for those looking to break into the baseball industry.  Roughly 300 companies will be in attendance at the Baseball Trade Show, including manufacturers and distributors of apparel, caps, gift items, on-field suppliers, and player equipment.

December 5, 2011:

• Bob Freitas Business Seminar (8:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.)
• PBEO Job Fair (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
• Opening Session (11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)
• Awards Luncheon (12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.)
• Last time for MLB clubs to outright a player prior to the Rule 5 Draft (5:00 p.m.)
• Opening Night at the Baseball Trade Show (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.)

December 7, 2011:

• PBEO Job Fair (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
• Baseball Trade Show (10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
• Presidential Election (4:00 p.m. – 5 p.m.)
• Gala (7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.)
• Last day for a player who declared for free agency to accept an arbitration offer from his former club (midnight deadline)

December 8, 2011:

• Closing Session (3:00 p.m. – 4 p.m.)
• Banquet (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.)
• Major League Rule 5 Draft.

110th Annual Baseball Winter Meetings In Dallas, Texas from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Football

• Titled, The Players All-Star Classic [New College Football All-Star Game comes to Little Rock].
• Agent that was a subject of ESPN’s “The Dotted Line” comes out with a mobile app [ETL's Play on Sunday].
• Great for integrating mobile app and social game licensing [NFL Players, Inc. Partners with Playmark to Launch New Licensing Platform].
• As long as the owners believe in the UFL product.. [UFL says it will return in 2012].
• Big day today for Blake as he appears before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions [An inside look at case against former UNC assistant John Blake].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (10/28/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I am honored to be named to SportsPro Media’s inaugural 10 NEXT class, which recognizes “ten stars of the sports business industry under the age of 30 that have achieved a level of success that is truly rare at such a young age.”  How about those St. Louis Cardinals?  I am having a good time watching them, as I followed many of the current players while they made their way through the Minors.  I remember thinking to myself only a couple of years ago that Allen Craig’s bat was just too good to keep out of Major League Baseball.  But it looks like the Texas Rangers have officially made this a series as they head back to Arlington, Texas.  There is lots of talk about this weeks Dolphins game, but mostly because Tim Tebow is the starting quarterback for the competing team.  Reminder – If you are not yet following me on Twitter, go give it a try.  I swear that I can be interesting at times.  Here are some stories I missed over the past week:

Football

• Al Irby calls the Jaguars a “sorry organization” [Agent accuses Jaguars of shirking bill by cutting David Garrard].
• An NFL agent provides the harsh reality of just how difficult and expensive it is to compete in his sport ["So You Wanna Be a Sports Agent…"].
• In part 2, Greg Linton answers some reader questions [SO YOU WANT TO BE AN AGENT?].
• Strong sign that the end of the UFL is near? [UFL exec sues for more than $100,000 in unpaid wages]

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (10/21/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The following is the Abstract from the article:

This article argues that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) Regulations Governing Player Agents (as Amended Effective October 1, 2010) are well intentioned, but unenforceable and not in the best interests of MLB players.  Part I of this article discusses the evolution of MLBPA Regulations Governing Player Agents.  Part II discusses the justification for establishing new Regulations in 2010.  Part III examines the new provisions written into the 2010 Regulations.  Part IV explains why many new provisions will be largely unenforceable by the MLBPA.  Part V discusses whether the 2010 Regulations are in the best interests of MLB players.  Part VI proposes a new set of provisions for the MLBPA to consider for future amended Regulations, how they should be enforced, and why they are more aligned with MLB players’ interests.

And this is the final paragraph:

We have no doubt in our minds that the MLBPA had good intentions when it drafted the 2010 Regulations, and we certainly believe that the MLBPA considered the best interest of the Players it has a duty of protecting. However, the Regulations themselves must strike a balance between expanding, to encompass all actors “representing” and “recruiting” Players, and ensuring that it has enough manpower to enforce the Regulations it promulgates. A piecemeal solution that does not cover all bases is no solution at all, and is not in the best interest of baseball.

A Discussion Of The October 2010 MLBPA Regulations Governing Player Agents from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules