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Will The Yankees Success Hurt Agents?

Since the beginning of the Steinbrenner era, the Yankees have been notorious for purchasing high-priced and sometimes overvalued free-agents.  George Steinbrenner’s willingness to spend an exorbitant amount of money on his team has made Sports Agents eager to have their clients signed by the New York Yankees (for recent story, see: Johnny Damon).

But when the media, fans, and Mr. Steinbrenner himself, become aware that a fantasy team may not earn a World Series Championship, may the average salary of a Sports Agent go down along with the New York Yankees payroll?  If the Yankees figure out that money alone does not buy championships, will other teams follow the Yankees in cutting costs?

In 2005, the Sports Law Blog looked at the influence of payrolls when it comes to success in Major League Baseball.  The result: a high payroll does not equal success, but that a team should spend between $60 million and $80 million to have a shot at making the playoffs.  Once a team makes the playoffs, throw all numbers out the door; any team can win it all.

The Sports Law Blog has decided to run the same study again this year.  The most interesting point that I found was that out of 12 teams that spent between $60 million and $89 million, 5 teams made the playoffs, wheres only 3 out of 10 teams that spent more than $89 million made the playoffs.

Their conclusion is that salary caps are not needed.  My conclusion is that baseball agents may be looking at lower commissions in the future as teams get smarter with the money that they spend.  Yes, the data should conclude that salary caps are not needed because market forces should automatically drive payrolls down due to anticipated results.  This in turn will cause a decrease in the average player salary, unless of course, teams below the $60 million benchmark decide to stop pocketing the money they receive from luxury taxes and spend it on the advancement of their teams.

It’s not particularly good for baseball agents when there are reports that the 2006 New York Yankees may be the Worst On the Field Return on Investment in Team Sports History.  Then again, it should be noted that the Yankees have had more wins than any other team over the past 10 years and have won 4 World Series [Yankee dollar falls again].

So maybe this is just an instance where people are getting heated in the moment, but one we will forget easily when the Yankees win another World Series in a couple of years.  Maybe Sports Agents will not feel the effect of the continued success of the low-budget Athletics for a while.  Still, it is something that future agents should look at and understand as commissions could go down if the Yankees do not achieve at levels that their fans, the media, and the management expects.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

3 replies on “Will The Yankees Success Hurt Agents?”

[…] Last week I wrote a post titled, Will The Yankees Success Hurt Agents?. The post received a lot of hits and I received a lot of personal e-mails to further discuss the matter. Within the article, I mentioned SBR’s note on how the Yankees’ team may be the worst Return on Investment in the history of team sports. Return on Investment should not mean as much in leagues controlled by a salary cap…right? […]

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