Negotiations in Athlete Management

It seems like everyday when you turn on the TV and watch ESPN, you see some sort of contract dispute or negotiation taking place. Normally, the contract negotiations take place between athlete and athletic organization. In contract negotiations, a manager or management team with an attorney on staff will negotiate on behalf of the athlete. Recently, I interviewed Evan Hurst, a sports attorney from Elevan, LLC, who specializes in making sure his athletes receive a gain from negotiations.

Two BCS Conferences Reel in Huge, New TV Deals

In the world of college football, it seems like this offseason has brought in huge tv contracts for two of the conferences in the BCS. The Big 12 conference and the PAC 10 have signed huge, new TV. In April, the Big 12 conference signed a new deal with Fox Network to the tune of $90 million annually over 13 years. The deal is more than four times more than the 20 million annually that the Big 12 brings in now. A minimum of forty games, including all Big 12 home games will now be televised according to commissioner Dan Beebe. The conference’s 13-year deal, which is worth $1.17 billion, will take effect at the start of the 2012-2013 school year. This TV contract ensures that the conference will have enough money to go around and will help to stabilize it for the long-term and that is crucial with the idea of having four super conference tossed about. With the landscape of college football conferences shifting, the Big 12 has already taken a hit with two defections. Long time members Nebraska, which joined the Big Ten Conference, and Colorado, which joined the PAC 10, have reduced the Big 12 down to ten. Also, rumors of Texas A&M and Missouri leaving the conference had the Big 12 questioning it’s future, until the new TV deal came to the rescue.  

Under Armour: Improving upon First Year Billion Dollar Revenue from 2010

Under Armour, the cutting-edge sports apparel and accessories company, posted their first billion-dollar revenue year in 2010 and look to improve even further in 2011. The company reported results from the first quarter of 2011 a net revenue increase of 36% from the same quarter in 2010. The net revenues were $312.7 million in 2011 compared to $229.4 million in 2010.  Net income increased from $7.2 million in the first quarter of 2010 to $12.1 million for the first quarter of 2011. Under Armour had forecasted 2011 net revenues in the area of $1.33 billion to $1.35 billion, which represented a growth of 25 to 27% from 2010. Based on the results from the first quarter of 2011, Under Armour now anticipates 2011 net revenues somewhere around the $1.37 billion to $1.39 billion ranges, which would be a 29 to 31% growth over 2010.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a non-profit organization. They focus on being a positive influence in the lives of children by establishing one-on-one relationships between a child and caring, responsible adult. The impact Big Brothers Big Sisters has been detrimental in the success of these children. Compared to children not in the BBBS program, little brothers and little sisters are (BBBS, 6):

Kids Sports Network

Growing up from a broken home I know that it’s very hard as a kid looking for direction to take in life. Most think that kids don’t have any worries because all they’re concerned with is playing video games or playing with their friends. My parents went through a rocky divorce around the time I was five years old and if I didn’t have sports to help me vent my frustration and provide a sort of mentorship for me, I may have had a different path in life. I’m looking at starting a non-profit organization for kids from broken homes that utilizes sports to help them cope with the stress that they’re under and other problems in life. The premise of the organization is to not only use sports as an outlet for pent up emotions, but to provide mentorship and direction for those children that may have none. I would like to help kids from the ages of 4-13 because these are great years to build this foundation for children to handle the problems they will face going through adolescence. I will go on to talk about an organization that works along the same lines to improve the quality of sports not associated with schools for children.

Social Media Impact

Last week during the Q and A portion after the documentary one of the interviewers had asked Tim Tebow, What impacts do you believe social media has had on brand marketing for athletes and what have you done to take advantage of this? Tebow responded by telling the story of Jay Cutler during this year’s NFC Championship Game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. In the game, Chicago’s offense had played an abysmal first half that would leave them trailing by 14 points.  With 30 seconds before halftime, Jay Cutler had left the game to go to the locker room. When Chicago had returned to the field for the second half, their starting quarterback was seen riding a stationery bike, which gave some indication that he had a problem with his knee from the first half. Cutler played in the first offensive series of the second half, only to come out of the game and never return.  This would cause an uproar among current and former players.  They began to question Cutler’s dedication to the team and his intestinal fortitude. So Tebow’s story was on the negative impact social media can have, but he also believes that it has a positive impact.

            Being a devout Christian, Tebow believes that social media is a great platform from which to reach out and influence fans. It gives him the opportunity to interact with his fanbase and be a positive role model for others.  Tebow said that he started to take full advantage of social media last August and that he plans to use it to its fullest extent in the future. For athletes and celebrities alike, using social media can have its pros and cons, but whoever uses it needs to be aware of the consequences of using it.

Tim Tebow - Everything in Between

Today I had the pleasure of viewing a wonderful documentary on Tim Tebow and the days leading up to the 2010 NFL Draft. The film was directed by Chase Heavener, a Full Sail University grad, and he did an excellent job of telling Tebow’s story. During the hour-long viewing, the documentary covered major in events in Tebow’s life such as the 2010 Under Armour Senior bowl, finding an agent, the controversial Super Bowl Ad, the NFL combine, and the NFL Draft. Heavener did a great job of keeping the audience “glued” to the screen as he presented a comprehensive and behind-the-scenes look of what Tebow experienced.