The other day, I was negotiating with a General Manager of a Winter Ball team that is interested in signing one of my clients to play for him.  He originally offered my client $1,000 less than I was hoping for, but included a shared apartment.  The stated offer is not a figure to complain about, but is less than what I would expect the client to be paid based on what the team paid its players last year.  My goal is to get him some extra cash, even if it is $1,000 more per month.  While it may not seem like a large increase, to a minor league player, an extra $1,000 a month quite a jump.

As we were talking on the phone, I remembered an article that I recently read titled, Minor League Baseball: Investing In The Future, which is a fantastic piece that should be read in its entirety by all baseball players and people who wish to represent them.

Minor League players are lucky to earn not much more than $10,000 per season; Winter Ball can be a nice bonus for strong in-season performance.  More importantly, it helps players fine-tune their skills in the off-season.  But back to the money, Winter Ball cash is likely even more important to a player drafted in a later round who did not have great leverage when negotiating his first contract.  That player might not have much of a signing bonus to rely on as he makes his way through his organization’s farm system.  The bonus babies do not have the same concern over a thousand dollars in a Winter Ball contract.

It is something that is not highly documented, but players within each team’s farm system come from different socioeconomic backgrounds and receive different signing bonuses after being drafted.  The latter part of that statement affects not only what kind of economic situation a player might be dealing with, but it also changes the type of attention and number of chaces that the player will have to perform, even though he might be going through a slump or two in his career.  It is the politics of baseball, and it is the reason why I spend my time seeking even the slightest increase in salary for a later-round client, just so that he might be able to live just a little bit more comfortably throughout the year.

What Money Means To Minor Leaguers from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Michael McCann is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Vermont, and he is one of the most respected Sports Law Scholars in the country.  He was also a panelist at the 2009 UF Sports Law Symposium and has confirmed that he will be coming back for the 2010 Symposium.  In McCann’s latest law review note, he looked at whether Judge Sotomayor deserves the criticism she has received as of late, concerning her proclivity to craft opinions based on policy and a progressive agenda other than adherence to actual law.  Based on looking at a couple of sports-related cases, he posits that based on Judge Sotomayor’s stance in those two issues had nothing to do with compassion, and in fact, if anything, she was devoid of compassion.  McCann looks at the following cases in his note:

1. Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee
2. Clarett v. NFL

Download McCann’s essay here: Judge Sonia Sotomayor and the Relationship between Leagues and Players: Insightsand Implications.

Judge Sotomayor Through The Lens Of Sports from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

As India prepares to pick up the pieces from the horrific attacks in Mumbai last week, the world sends their collective thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims and a hope that an end to such senseless acts of violence will one day run its course.  10 men, each carrying 7 bullet magazines containing 30 rounds with an additional loose 400 rounds strapped into an AK-47 produced enough carnage on November 26, 2008 to earn the dubbing “India’s 9/11” while striking fear into the hearts of the second most populated country on the planet.  Hundreds of civilians are confirmed dead, hundreds more injured and India now finds itself in an escalating situation which just fans the flame of the already tense relationship with Pakistan.  But as the dust settles and a nation moves forward, the United States can sympathize with India and even offer the unenviable notion that on this particular instance, we know what they’re going through.

We’ve been there, India.  We cried.  We searched for meaning.  We supported one another.  And in the end, the United States got through it as one.  But in the days since the Mumbai attacks, the rightful question which is most likely on the mind of every Indian is:  “How?”

In the weeks following the September 11th attacks, all major sporting events were canceled or postponed to pay respect for those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center and The Pentagon.  People from all walks of life put aside their differences and came together to mourn the tragedy in a sense of nationalistic pride that had not been felt since World War II.  Out of respect for the victims, the nation struggled to regain a sense of normalcy without showing any signs of disrespect to the fallen.

That normalcy came through sports.

The Twenty20 Champions Cricket League, a Cricket tournament that was supposed to have it’s inaugural play on December 3, 2008, was postponed following the attacks and scheduled to a later date in 2009.  The highly anticipated tournament is comprised of 10 teams representing 5 countries: India, Pakistan, Australia, England and South Africa and slated to be a tremendous success.  Chairman Lalit Modi even inked a staggering $975 million broadcast and global commercial rights contract with ESPN Star Sports until 2017.  Though it may be incomprehensible at the moment to even think about staging a sporting event, India can learn from the United States as sports, particularly baseball, gave us an outlet from the atrocities, and paved the way for redemption and renewal.  It gave us hope that better days await.

There is no disputing that baseball, more than any other sport in the United States, is the most “American.”  Say what you will about the pace of the game, the inflated salaries or the steroid scandal, baseball is embedded deep in the soul of this country as it permeates the fabric of Americana.  After 9/11, attendance for MLB games skyrocketed as Americans craved something innocent after witnessing vileness at it’s most vile.  People grasped on to that last refuge of peace that was personified in baseball.

In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, the same will shine through in India.  When the Twenty20 Champions League resumes, their national pastime will once again bring an escape, solidarity, and (dare I say it), a sense of joy to a nation that is in a tremendous amount of pain right now.  Though those who perished will never be forgotten, they will be honored as time goes on and as their beloved Cricketeers represent them.  In the violent world in which we live, the parallel between sports and prosperity should never be forgotten.

However, that being said, when senseless, avoidable violence, hatred and guns clash within the world of sports, then something is very wrong.

I hope you’re reading, Plaxico.

Hope Will Rise… from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

A sports agent out of Asheville, NC is trying to win a vacant City Council seat.  His name is Brian Woods and apparently he manages several professional tennis players.  Hopefully, Woods wears his best Ari Gold power suit.  Good luck to Woods and any other sports agent with potential political ambitions.

Sports Agent With Political Ambitions from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

As I sit on the front porch of my house listening to the cheers of the high school football stadium that rests less then a hundred yards from my home, I cannot help but to feel a sense of nostalgia and longing for those blissful, care-free days.  Sitting in the stands with my friends, laughing and smiling while we cheer on our other friends as they smash the opponent all over the gridiron while simultaneously making plans for the post-game party.  It didn’t matter if we had won or lost, everyone was at those parties letting the pseudo-worries of high school melt away as we stared wide-eyed into future endeavors such as college, careers and inevitable success.

In the economic climate we find ourselves in now, it is easy to look back at what was and feel a sense of longing.  With corporate lay-offs on the rise, the unpredictability of a roller coaster stock market, and unemployment rates the highest they have been in 25 years, our generation is feeling the toll of an uncertain future that can certainly be defined as Depression-esque.  Add those happy thoughts to the already cut-throat nature of the Sport Business Industry and us 20-somethings find ourselves in quite the unenviable predicament.

But as Hyman Roth so eloquently stated in the immortal Godfather II:  “This is the business we’ve chosen…”

And as us “newbees” of the business duck and weave our way to the top, the grizzled veterans are also making preparations to combat this crisis as well as forge ahead to accustom themselves with the upcoming administration’s new policies.

It will take sometime to fully understand and appreciate the effect President-elect Obama’s mandates will have on the sporting industry, but we can certainly speculate.  As Lester Munson of ESPN reported, Obama’s tax increase will have a significant effect on team owners and players, slow the sale of professional teams and increase the power of the player unions.  The latter is a no-brainer since democrats are traditionally pro-union, but with the impending tax increase, will owners have to start paying their athletes more?  And if so, will they then go as far as to raise ticket and concession prices to cope with the rising expenses?  One thing is for sure, as we businessmen try to gauge the effect this administration will have on our future, our jobs and our wallets, it is the most important part of the sporting industry that is going to be lampooned the most…the fans.

But hey, I am not a pessimist.  I truly believe that if you work hard enough you will be able to achieve anything you would like.  Even in the hardest of times, that is the creed that America is founded upon.  A common ground is always found between politics and sports, that is the beauty of it.  And it is that promise of a new day that gives myself, and hopefully all you aspiring sports professionals, the hope to not give up that dream.

But like I said before, it is certainly easy to look back with longing…

Nostalgic Economics from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules