Next Question!

What would a Sports Agent blog be without discussion on the current (whether it’s good for the business of sports or not) poster-boy of the Sports Agent world, Drew Rosenhaus?

In his last Press Conference (notice that we actually have not seen him in a while), he barely answered any questions from the press straight-forward, and instead relied on answering 90% of the questions with “Next question.” I cannot count T.O.‘s birthday bash as a true Press Conference, even if Rosenhaus used his flashy Rosenhaus Sports backdrop.

The question is, as a Sports Agent, is it your job to provide a lot of press when negotiating a contract, or should contract negotiations be left behind the scenes? When Rosenhaus garnered great contracts for his clients in the past, the public would hear about it after the fact, and the increased money allotted in the contracts allowed Rosenhaus Sports to obtain over 90 NFL players (the most in football…BY FAR!). But he just lost one…Javon Walker…who also had his contract re-negotiations placed in the spotlight.

So let’s look at Scott Boras, who is the baseball version of Drew Rosenhaus, without the need to be seen on ESPN talking on his phone to clients while in the shower (sexy body, Drew). Scott Boras is known for getting every single penny that he thinks his client deserves or he will hold his client from signing with a team right out of the draft. But teams understand the risk of drafting a Scott Boras client, and yet, baseball players continue to flock to Boras, and teams continue to draft the players that he represents. Johnny Damon was not being offered enough money by Boston this off-season and Damon’s first choice would have been to stay in Boston if the money would have been there. Many people feel that Boston has been extremely cheap this offseason, especially with Damon, but Boras did not make any statements against the team, never paraded his client on ESPN, and eventually signed a great deal for Damon with the New York Yankees.

Damon In New York

Does getting your client in the spotlight during a contract negotiation help? I’d say arguably, no, but then again, I am sure there are people who disagree. If in a stalemate, there may not be much else to resort to, but it is important to remember that while the Press can be your best friend, it can also become your worst enemy. It seems like Drew Rosenhaus has learned his lesson as of late, and is staying away from the enemy that may slowly cripple his career. My suggestion = do not follow his path, make your own.

[tags]Drew Rosenhaus, Rosenhaus, contracts, contract negotiation, T.O., Javon Walker, Scott Boras, Damon[/tags]