You have heard of Brandon Jennings.  He had problems attaining the requisite scores to go to a D1 school and decided to play his first year out of high school overseas.  His struggles were documented, but he was still a lottery pick of the Milwaukee Bucks.  There were many doubters.  He has shut them up thus far.  Through five games, Jennings is leading the Bucks in points-per-game (18.4), assists-per-game (4.4), and minutes-per-game (31.6).  Doubters have become believers, and it has made the NCAA nervous that young players will read up on the Brandon Jennings Experiment, deciding to play overseas for a year, pocket that money, and then hopefully be a lottery pick in a future draft.  Not so fast..

While Brandon Jennings may have “cheated the system”, there are those that believe he will be a rare exception.  They look at someone like Jeremy Tyler, who has not yet tested his luck in the NBA or its draft, but has been struggling mightily overseas in Israel.  Tyler left the states a year younger than when Jennings left; he left before he completed his senior year of high school.  His coach in Haifa is not too fond of him thus far, calling him lazy, out of shape, naïve, and immature. I find it interesting that after only two games, Pete Thamel of the New York Times can already confidently say,

The Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings skipped college and had rocky moments while playing last season in Rome. But they were nothing compared with Tyler’s.

What does this tell us?  Not much, yet.  Tyler still has a lot of time to prove himself overseas.  And let us not forget how much criticism Jennings received before becoming a solid player in the NBA.  It seems like some of our memories are very short.  I think it is way too early to call Tyler a bust.  However, if Tyler is unable to thrive in Israel and does not pan out in the NBA, then perhaps Jennings will be looked at as a fluke success story, and Tyler’s story may dissuade others from following his path.

One thing that is certain is that there are a lot of important people paying particular attention to how Tyler fairs in the long run.  Those entities include advisors like Sonny Vaccaro, agencies like Wasserman Media Group, executives within the NCAA, David Stern, shoe companies, and many others.  Personally, I hope that Tyler wakes up and gets his mind right, because as an agent, I love having more options for potential clients.  If a future Jennings or Tyler came to me asking for guidance on what to do, I’d like to have confidence that playing overseas instead of NCAA basketball will not kill his future.

The NCAA’s agenda in certain situations involving schools and athletes is certainly questionable.

Grassroots basketball enthusiast Sonny Vaccaro made some interesting points recently in an interview with Henry Abbot here.

On the topic of Derrick Rose and the wins vacated from Memphis, it is possible the NCAA came down hard on the Tigers because the school is not a traditional powerhouse Bowl Championship Series school. Vaccaro feels that some other schools in the BCS generally are let off easy because of the revenue the schools generate for the giant entertainment conglomerate that has become the NCAA.

The specific case of Reggie Bush is cited, pointing out that while Memphis was quickly penalized, the University of Southern California has yet to be sentenced for the school’s actions from 2006 with Bush, which Vaccaro finds “interesting.”

Vaccaro then goes on to make a huge point against the NBA’s age limit rule. The reason for the supposed beneficial rule is to force talented young athletes to go to college and become more well-rounded individuals. But in many cases, the main justification coaches give to recruits on reasons to come to the school is because the coach can get them to the NBA.

Would Tyreke Evans, DeMar DeRozan, or Jrue Holiday have needed any help getting to the NBA if there was no rule? Doubtful. Brandon Jennings definitely did not and still managed to be a lottery pick.

So why are many coaches using the lure of the NBA to recruit players when the supposed reason for the age rule is the lure of college? It’s probably because college doesn’t seem as sexy when you are earning absolutely nothing. But having these NBA-ready talent forced to go to college makes a lot of money for the NCAA.

Does the NCAA really want these kids to get an education? The association can’t believe that most of these players will be staying for more than one, or even two, years. Free labor, though, for the collegiate entertainment industry is very beneficial for the NCAA.

Rose isn’t the first and won’t be the last player the NCAA has used to dictate how it wants business conducted.

First up: Samuel Michael Keller v. Electronic Arts, Inc., NCAA, Collegiate Licensing Company.  The complaint was filed on May 5, 2009 in the United States District Court, Northern District of California.

Electronic Arts has created a long line of profitable games under the EA Sports umbrella.  For its games based on professional sports, it can use players’ names and their likeness by bargaining with the players’ association.  For instance, if EA Sports wants to put player names on Madden 2010, the NFLPA can assign those rights to Electronic Arts (for roughly $35 million per year, according to the lawsuit).  EA pays the NFLPA a fee, and all is said and done.  So, can’t Electronic Arts make a similar deal with the NCAA to use college athletes’ likenesses on games like NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, and NCAA March Madness?  Keller is arguing that such a deal is illegal.

The claim being made is that NCAA bylaws (Bylaw 12.5), contracts, and licensing agreements (between Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company) prohibit outside entities from using NCAA players’ names, pictures, and likenesses; however, the NCAA and Collegiate Licensing Company are doing absolutely nothing to deter Electronic Arts from using those names and likenesses.  In fact, Keller argues that the NCAA encourages the violation of its own bylaws, contracts, and licensing agreements, because in the end, the NCAA benefits from increased royalties.  In defense of EA, players do not have names attached when a consumer purchases the original game.  However, Keller claims that EA does not do enough to prevent gamers from uploading new rosters that include player names.  This sounds like a claim of vicarious liability that I believe will be hard for Keller to prevail on.

Keller wants to make it a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all NCAA athletes who have had their names and likenesses used without permission.  If your height or weight is not the same (or very close to the same) on the game as it is in real life, then sorry, but you’re left out of the suit.

Is EA’s replication of an athlete’s jersey number, height, weight, build, skin tone, hair color, hair style, and accessories (like wristband, headband, facemask, and/or visor) a replication of that player’s likeness?  That’s for the court to decide.  When you hit the sticks for a rivalry match between the Gators and Seminoles, can you easily tell that the starting Quarterback for the Gators is Tim Tebow based on his image alone?  Or are you only confirmed of that based on your prior knowledge that he is the QB for the National Champions?

Players’ names are left off of jerseys on purpose in an effort to avoid this type of litigation.  The NCAA and CLC may point to that and show just how many gamers go through the process of downloading the rosters so that the names are then revealed.  I do not believe that EA is contributorily liable for the actions of the consumers who download the rosters, because I cannot see how EA encourages the downloading of those rosters by any specific act.  However, perhaps EA is found to be vicariously liable.  It’s hard to say that EA does not have constructive knowledge that its consumers are actively downloading rosters.  But does EA directly or indirectly benefit from the action?  I would say that people are going to buy the games whether or not they can download the rosters.

The amount in controversy exceeds $5,000,000.  One would think that maybe the NCAA, CLC, and EA would take interest in this case.

Case #2: Edward C. O’Bannon, Jr. v. NCAA and Collegiate Licensing Company. The complaint was filed on July 21, 2009 in the United States District Court, Northern District of California.

The NCAA and CLC might take interest in this one too.  Electronic Arts breaths a sigh of relief…unless Keller’s suit is joined to O’Bannon’s.

Edward C. O’Bannon, Jr., also known as Ed O’Bannon, also does not like not getting paid when his likeness is used.  Like Keller, he has decided to file suit in Federal Court, and made it a class-action suit on behalf of all of his collegiate athlete brethren.  O’Bannon has a lot more fish to fry than Keller, though.  Not only is he upset with the NCAA for allowing the usage of his likeness on video games, but also on DVDs, TV, photos, memorabilia, and advertising in general.

O’Bannon is not only claiming that current student athletes have a right to royalty payments when their likeness is assigned or used by the NCAA.  He is also claimimg that former players control the right to use their likeness and former likeness, and that the NCAA should be prohibited from earning profits on players’ likenesses once they leave campus.  Additionally, O’Bannon claims that athletes transfer their name/likeness rights to the NCAA upon accepting a scholarship because they have absolutely no choice and are never told to attain outside legal advice before making the transfer.

O’Bannon believes that the NCAA has restrained trade in an effort to exploit former collegiate athletes and reap profits without making any type of royalty payment to those athletes.  This lawsuit has a little Antitrust zing that the Keller complaint seems to lack.

A little FYI – the Collegiate Licensing Company is a subdivision of IMG.  IMG is a conglomerate with a large sports representation practice in golf and tennis.

Another FYI – O’Bannon has some big guns on his side: Attorneys with solid track records in popular cases and Sonny Vaccaro.

At least these cases won’t prevent the release of future versions for Bulls vs. Blazers or Tecmo Super Bowl.  Yeah…like the Bulls and Blazers will ever be in the Finals again, anyway!

On paper, Renardo Sidney looks like a star…The next big thing.  ESPNU has the McDonald’s All-American power forward from Fairfax High School ranked as the #7 player in the country.  A 2007 Sports Illustrated article even predicted Sidney to be the first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.  In the last few weeks, this high school phenom hit some roadblocks in his path to becoming an NBA powerhouse.  Recruited heavily by UCLA and USC, the 6′9”, 265 pound forward had verbally committed to accepting a scholarship to play for USC, but towards the end of April, both schools pulled out from recruiting Sidney.  After the two California schools backed out of the race, Sidney signed a letter of intent with Mississippi State, possibly the only other recruiter offering anything at that point.

Anonymous sources at both UCLA and USC told the L.A. Times that they did not want to take the risk of attracting NCAA scrutiny because of sketchy issues with his family and camp.  The family moved several times to upscale homes while Renardo was in high school, despite purportedly having a limited income.  Sonny Vaccaro, a name familiar in the basketball world, admitted to financing the family’s move to the Los Angeles area.  At the time, Sonny was still working for Reebok, but now is no longer with Reebok or in a favorable position with the Sidney family.  Renardo’s AAU team, which happens to be coached by Renardo Sr., also raised some questions.  The team was given some financial backing by Reebok and current Reebok rep Chris Rivers, but the overall financial situation of the team added to the list of concerns.  Perhaps the most troubling issue was the rumor that Renardo Sidney Sr. was expecting some compensation for his son’s services.

While most of the claims against the Sidney family have yet to be substantiated, they’ve caused a lot of problems for the young player.  The Sidneys hired Alabama-based sports attorney Donald Jackson to help them through these troubling times.  No stranger to dealing with athlete controversies, Jackson has denied the existence of any wrong doing or NCAA violation by Renardo or his father.  In fact, he claims that USC and UCLA didn’t stop recruiting Sidney, but that the high school star notified them first of his intent to sign with Mississippi State.  I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Jackson at a Sports Law conference several months ago, and he seemed like a pretty stand up guy.  My personal feelings aside, the veteran attorney has had years of experience in dealing with these sorts of controversies, and is well prepared to give due diligence to Sidney’s problems.  Mississippi State is also being extremely careful in dealing with the Sidney situation.  After the young hoops star committed to attending the university, the school retained sports attorney Mike Glazier who has aided several other schools during NCAA investigations.  Glazier currently leads the Collegiate Sports Practice Group at the Kansas office of law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, LLP.

Renardo will enroll at Mississippi State in July, just a few weeks after graduating high school.  Assuming he doesn’t run into any eligibility problems, this young man could make Mississippi State a contender in the SEC and possibly the NCAA tournament.  Will he be a one-and-done, or allow his skills to develop thoroughly under Coach Rick Stansbury? Either way, UCLA and USC might be missing out on a great opportunity if this controversy turns out to be nothing.  I watched Sidney’s Fairfax High School play on ESPN2 several months back and this kid is dynamite.  In an 86-47 victory over San Diego High School and Jeremy Tyler, Sidney put up 28 points and 10 rebounds.  He’s been compared to players like Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber.  If he plays his cards right he could become an NBA great in the future.

The video above is quite humorous.  The video under this text and before the links is not intended to give you a laugh, but still is pretty damn good in my book.  It has been a relaxing week.  I finished my last finals of my second year of law school, and had a lot of time to work on some new business ideas, have productive meetings with people in South Florida, and work on my tan a little bit!  On Tuesday, I head back up to Gainesville, and on Thursday, I will start taking a couple of Summer classes (Business Organizations and Analysis and Drafting of Intellectual Property Transactions).  Less than a month until the MLB Draft.  We are advising some great players who I hope will be selected high in the beginning of June.  Here is another video and some stories that I missed over the past week:

Baseball

• Information that heads of player personnel or baseball operations and sports agents should know [TRANSACTIONS 101].
• Wash D.C. hurting, Kansas City thriving [Baseball crowds are down, but not at every ballpark].

Football

• “It’s part of living the dream.” [Aussie getting his kicks with Miami Dolphins]
• Big 12 Coach of the Year, and Pepperdine Law graduate [Texas Tech Head Coach: Mike Leach, J.D.].

Basketball

• An integral part of the Rockets almost called it quits [There's no quit in Aaron Brooks].
• “Amateurism lost its virginity a long time ago.” [Basketball adviser Vaccaro squares off against NBA, NCAA]
• A big reason why I cannot disagree with Sonny Vaccaro [Source: Floyd gave cash to Mayo handler].
• Jonathan Givony writes more in his book reviews than I do [Book Review- David Falk: “The Bald Truth”].

This Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up is proudly sponsored by:

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In every generation, one athlete makes a bold move, laces up a new pair of shoes never seen before, and does something that turns the footwear industry on its head.  In 1936, Adi Dassler came to the Berlin Games with a suitcase of track spikes and persuaded Jesse Owens to give them a try.  When Owens won 4 gold medals, he was catapulted to superstar status along with the adidas shoes he was wearing.

32 years later, when Tommie Smith took the 200M gold in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he stood on the podium with a clenched fist high above his head and a pair of Puma suede shoes at his feet.  Walt Frazier would also don Puma shoes that year, triggering a fan base a million strong to follow “Clyde’s” impeccable style.

On the heels of Michael Jordan, basketball-newcomer Nike soared past the competition in 1985 with the release of the Air Jordan line.  As we approach the silver anniversary of MJ’s grand entrance into the NBA, Nike still reigns supreme in the sporting goods industry.  History tells us that can change instantly when a star athlete bucks the norm to begin a different movement.  The next seismic shift in the shoe landscape could be on the horizon, or overseas to be more exact.

Brandon Jennings has been a trendsetter since he skipped out on college hoops to play professionally in Italy for his “purgatory year” between high school and the NBA.  On the business side of the game, Jennings signed a deal to be Under Armour’s first basketball endorser.  The Maryland-based company is betting millions that Jennings can be a catalyst for a new generation of shoes and are promoting Brandon with his very own website (wheninrome.underarmour.com) and the “Young Money” prototype kicks that have all the sneaker blogs buzzing.

The Under Armour of today parallels the pre-Jordan Nike in many ways.  Both built strong brands in other markets (Under Armour in performance apparel and football, Nike in running) before breaking into hoops.  To gain entry into the lucrative basketball shoe market, they signed young standout players on the cusp of entering the league.  Both Jordan and Jennings were innovators mentored by the sneaker guru himself, Sonny Vaccaro.  Will the similarities end there?  We won’t know for some time, but the battle over the feet of ballplayers and the thousand of kids that follow their steps is overdue for the next big shoe craze.  Maybe the next big shoe tagline will read, “Be Like Brandon.”

Book to Read:  Sneaker Wars by Barbara Smith (http://www.amazon.com/Sneaker-Wars-Brothers-Founded-Business/dp/0061246573)

Article to Read: The Last Don by Ric Bucher (http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no23vaccaro.html)

From UnderArmour’s press release:

The signing of Jennings comes on the heels of the brand’s recent announcement that it would outfit the University of Maryland mens’ and women’s basketball teams head-to-toe next year. Under Armour also sponsored the third annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 high school basketball showcase this past summer as well as the sponsorship of the Capital Classic last April.

“We are proud to welcome Brandon Jennings as the first Under Armour basketball athlete,” said Kevin Plank, Under Armour, Chairman and CEO. “He is an extremely talented and fearless player with the skill set to become a game-changer internationally. Brandon’s attitude and his dedication to hard-work make him the ideal athlete to represent the Under Armour brand.”

“I am extremely excited to be the first athlete selected to represent Under Armour Basketball,” said Jennings. I’ve always prided myself on being one step ahead of the pack and true to my beliefs like my journey to play professionally in Europe. I look forward to my role as a global ambassador for Under Armour basketball.”

“Brandon has the ability to perform at the highest levels and the personality to capture the imagination of the public,” said basketball advisor to Jennings, Sonny Vaccaro. He is without a doubt one of the most driven players that I have ever watched and by choosing to play in Europe as a high school player, he is doing what no other basketball player has ever done. This will go down in history as a landmark decision…. from Compton to Rome….Brandon Jennings did it first.”

In October 2008, Under Armour will launch a special Brandon Jennings blog on www.underarmour.com. The blog will allow fans the opportunity to follow Brandon’s experiences in Rome and his pursuit of his athletic goals.

I’ll be adding that feed to my RSS reader!  This is very exciting news, and I am happy for Jennings and UnderArmour.  I believe that both entities will benefit tremendously from this relationship.  Two young entrepreneurs, one a basketball and another an equipment manufacturer are aligned in a partnership that should last for a while.

I wonder how much the deal between Jennings and UA is for.  Any thoughts?  The top of this year’s NBA Draft class did not get much more than $1 million.

I just got back from Chris Paul’s Winston-Salem Weekend.  I witnessed LeBron James sitting down cracking jokes for about three hours, hanging out with some of his best friends in the NBA.  If he goes overseas to play in Moscow, who will he be kicking it with?  Can money really buy more happiness when you are already making more than $20 million per year?  Would it be worth moving far away from all of your friends and family.  I don’t think so, which is why I have yet to buy all of the reports that LeBron and Kobe are looking at overseas options.  As a caveat, I do believe that they are listening to what is being overseas in an effort to gain leverage when discussing new deals with their teams and American endorsers.  Why not stay in the U.S. and use potential offers overseas to make a little bit more dough in the process?

Kobe will opt out of his contract next year, but do not jump to the conclusion that he will be going abroad.  He will entertain overseas options, but do not rush to get your panties in a bunch.  Entertaining offers does not mean anything.  Sonny Vaccaro believes that Kobe may be a trailblazer and be the first superstar to leave the NBA for $50+ million elsewhere.  Maybe it happens, but if I were a betting man, I would put my money on him staying in the states.

The latest news on Jennings came in this Wednesday when he quickly ended our discussions and decided to play for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the Italian league.  Jennings and his advisor, Sonny Vaccaro, signed a “three year multi-million” contract, with a clause that gives Jennings the option to leave after a year to enter the NBA Draft.  Vaccaro would not give an exact dollar amount yet.  Brandon has also hired an Italian lawyer to help advise him while he is in Rome.

According to Vaccaro, Brandon’s decision to play for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the Italian league was because Rome is a major “international city” where Jennings can get a lot of exposure and the head coach also speaks English to the players.  Vaccaro said the city has an American touch to it and welcomes Americans.  Virtus Roma has declared they will make Jennings face the feature of their team this season.  The “multi-million” dollar contract is high for a one year deal in the Italian league, but the young Jennings looks promising and will attract a lot of attention to Roma.

This ordeal is likely to cause many talented young high schoolers to follow in Jennings’ Nike footsteps and cause David Stern to change the idiotic “one-and-done” rule in the NBA. As for now, Michael Phelps better send Brandon Jennings the Rosetta Stone in Italian, so he can start boning up, FAST.

Sports Agents

• Formation Group is trying to take a page out of IMG, Octagon, and WMG’s book [New football trend: players to lend their wages back to clubs].
• Hawaii agents take notice! [Hawaii Athlete Agent Law Takes Effect July 1]

Baseball

• Interesting read on what has happened to some of the cast of Moneyball [Where Are They Now? Moneyball].

Basketball

• Was death of Len Bias an indictment of an entire system rife with hypocrisy, or merely a poor decision by a young man who should have known better?  Read this! [The Day Innocence Died - E-Ticket]
• Sonny Vaccaro vs. the NCAA.  My money is on Sonny (enjoy the rhyme?) [The New Republic Profiles Sonny Vaccaro].

Football

• When you win the Super Bowl, even the right-guards get paid a healthy salary [Snee signs $43.5M deal as Giants keep young offensive line together].
• Will a threatened action by Congress make the NFL and NFLPA start caring more about their retired players? [Congress invokes antitrust].
• Roger Goodell is not fond of Jake Long’s contract [Goodell on rookie pay: 'There's something wrong'].

Hockey

• NHL Salary Cap will be $56.7 million for the 2008-09 season. Teams must spend at least $40.7 million on their players, though [NHL salary cap set for 2008-09 season].

Golf

• Win a tournament, think your on top of the world, and move from a small agency to a behemoth [Anthony Kim lands with IMG].
• NY based model and talent agency, Wilhelmina, will market 7 of the finest LPGA golfers as the W7.  Check out one of the girls who make up the 7 below.