Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up

I missed a lot of news from Sunday-Wednesday (being trapped in a poker room in Biloxi, Mississippi…losing my ass), and it took a while for me to catch up with all of that on top of reading yesterday’s important sports agent news.  Thus, I bring to you a Friday wrap-up, of the biggest sports agent related stories of the week:

• The NBA set the 2007-08 season’s salary cap at $55,630,000.  If a team’s payroll goes above $67,865,000, that team will be subject to a $1 tax for every dollar above that figure.  The minimum team salary is set at $41,723,000 (75% of the salary cap).  The league’s mid-level exception is set at $5,356,000 [NBA Sets Salary Cap for 2007-08 at $55.63M].  For a list of team cap space: [Team Salary Cap Hits].
• There is a rumor floating around (started by Sports Business Radio) that Aaron Goodwin is trying to get Durant to sign a shoe deal with adidas instead of Nike, because they are offering Durant more money [Goodwin – Durant Agreement – Update].  But it is more than just getting a bigger piece of the pie for Goodwin.  Apparently (and the truth of this has been argued by many sources), Goodwin will only receive a percentage of the deal if it exceeds $40 million, and only adidas is offering that kind of money.  Durant seems to want to sign with Nike for a cut in pay…this could get interesting.
• Will Orlando Magic fans be wishing that the Rashard Lewis deal was never made a few years down the road? [That Rashard Lewis deal ain’t looking so great now]
• If you have the option, why not land your baseball client with one of America’s favorite teams? [The New York Yankees May Be Slumping on the Field, But They Are Still America’s Favorite Baseball Team]
• Mark Buehrle signed a 4-year, $56 million deal with the Chicago White Sox right before the All-Star break.  Comparing him to other pitchers (which is what an agent should do in negotiations), it seems like Buehrle may have missed out on a bigger payday [Buehrle Must REALLY Love Chicago].
• Robert Birge, CMO worldwide of IMG, sat down with Barry Janoff of Brandweek to talk about sports and entertainment marketing [Q+A: IMG Revolutionizes Sports Marketing (Again) in TiVo Era].
• Is there good money to be made by representing strongman competitors? [The Business Of Strongman Competitions]
• Nascar driver, Jamie McMurray, drank a coke after winning the Pepsi 400.  It also looks like Will Leitch caught wind of my post about LeBron James not supporting Darfur [In Brand We Trust].
• Oh, and remember Marc Cornstein’s tirade?  Well, he can relax now.  Darko just signed a 3-year deal with the Grizzlies for (reportedly) $21 million [Milicic, Grizzlies agree on three-year deal].

-Darren Heitner