Roc Nation Sports (RNS) has added former New York Jets director of football operations, Ari Nissim and NBA agent, Joe Branch to its team. Nissim has been hired as the director of strategy and analytics. Nissim was certified by the NFL Players Association this year to represent players in contract negotiations with teams, although this will not be his primary job at RNS he brings an expertise in salary caps and negotiations that will help the agency prepare for contract negotiations. Nissim will start by helping with NFL clients which consist of Dez Bryant and Geno Smith but will also serve as a resource for agents in other sports.
Michael Yormark, RNS president and chief of branding strategy said “Ari’s role will be to support our agents and put together a blueprint for our future negotiations.”
Branch was named managing director of basketball at RNS and comes from Landmark Sports Group, owned by Kobe Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka and prior to that worked at Nike and the NBA. Branch will help Roc Nation Sports build its basketball roster which already includes superstars Kevin Durant and Skylar Diggins. Yormark said that Branch is not bringing any clients with him. Branch had co-represented Miami Heat rookie guard Shabazz Napier with Pelinka before making the move to Roc Nation Sports. Spokesman, Ron Berkowitz of RNS said the company is not looking to hire people based on client lists. “Our goal is to find the right people who fit with us,” he said.