I suppose the big story of the week was NFL offensive lineman Richie Incognito firing his agency, Athletes First, via Twitter. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the first time he took to Twitter to terminate his relationship with the sports agency (soon thereafter rethinking that decision). Otherwise, the large sports agent-related story is the fact that former Louisville QB Lamar Jackson is choosing to enter the 2018 NFL Draft without one by his side. Some NFL players such as Richard Sherman applaud his decision; many in the biz think he’s doing the wrong thing by trying to save some money on agent fees.
This week on Forbes:
(1) Report: DraftKings Is Aggressively Shopping For Sports Betting Partnerships In New Jersey;
(2) Wasserman Hires Veteran NFL Agents Doug Hendrickson And CJ LaBoy;
(3) Leading Sports Data Company Defends MLB And NBA ‘Integrity Fee’ Demand;
(4) Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis Adds ExxonMobil Partnership;
(5) Why Lamar Jackson Should Reconsider Not Hiring An Agent
This week on Inc.:
(1) Watching Video Games Is Now Bigger Than Traditional Spectator Sporting Events;
(2) Skillz Mobile Esports Platform Sets New Run Rate of $200 Million;
(3) How the Chicago Bulls Are Making Digital Strategy a Priority for Growth;
(4) Sports Bet Discovery Startup Raises $3 Million Led by Early FanDuel Investor;
(5) Jay Glazer’s Key to Branching out Is Making Sure Each Avenue Builds the Others
And as always, the weekly wrap-up:
Basketball
- Miller could be forced to pay $1 million if criminally charged or found to have committed an NCAA violation [Regents to vote on contract amendment for UA coach Sean Miller].
- The sophomore hasn’t yet secured an agent [Auburn’s Mustapha Heron to enter draft, plans to hire agent].
- Trevon Duval follows Marvin Bagley III’s decision [Duke freshman Duval enters NBA draft, plans to hire agent].
- The freshman will leave early [JAREN JACKSON JR. DECLARES FOR NBA DRAFT, WILL SIGN WITH AGENT].
- Guess he’s done “testing the waters” [Spalding hiring agent, diving into NBA draft pool].
Football
- Sherman says it’s a great idea and that he’s sure Jackson has mentors who can guide him [Richard Sherman supports Lamar Jackson’s decision not to hire agent].
- William Gay’s agent Jerrold Colton tweeted the news [Agent: CB Gay to sign with Giants].
