According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, “Hootie and The Blowfish” front man and country singer Darius Rucker is now a partner at a company called MGC Sports, an agency representing golfers, football players and coaches.
Rucker was approached by Alan Bullington, who merged his sports agency, One Degree Management, with MGC, a law firm to create MGC Sports.
After deciding to curtail his concert tours from 100 to around 30 per year, Rucker was looking for a new challenge. A lifelong sports fan, especially of the South Carolina Gamecocks (his alma mater), he thought the agency business was where he would venture.
“If I didn’t see Jay Z crushing it in the business like he is, I probably wouldn’t have done it, but I think I have a lot to offer,” Rucker said.
With the agency representing golfers and football players, it will be interesting to see where Rucker fits in the recruiting process. His notoriety could certainly be used as a recruiting tool, however, since he is not certified by the NLFPA (yet) he cannot technically recruit potential clients. According to Rovell, he will only be able to meet with a prospective client in an office on the subject of marketing.
On the other hand, with golfers Rucker can do whatever he sees fit to recruit and sign clients as the guidelines for player representation are not as strict. In order to become a golf agent, a player with a Tour card must call the PGA office and declare you as his or her agent. MGC’s current golf client roster includes Ben Crane, Troy Merritt, Steve Stricker and other golfers on the Champions Tour, PGA Tour, Web.com Tour, and PGA Tour Canada.
“The sports agent business is definitely a cutthroat business, ” Rucker said. “I think I have a lot to offer, coming from my upbringing to where I got to. We’re not going to be that firm that offers $100,000 marketing guarantees as loans, but I think we’re going to get the right kids.”
Recruiting college football clients may not be as familiar with Rucker from his “Hootie” days, which he started while at South Carolina in 1986, but rather might be more familiar with his country music career, which he started in 2008.
Rucker is not the first musician to venture into the sports agency business as Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports has signed big-time clients in football, baseball and basketball. Rapper Lil’ Wayne started his own sports agency, Young Money Sports, but has been on the opposite end on the spectrum in terms of success thus far.