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Jonathan Blue Answers A Few Questions

BEST logoJonathan Blue is Chairman and Managing Director of a little company called, Blue Equity, LLC.  It’s some small private equity firm in Louisville, Kentucky that basically dominates every industry from real estate to financial planning, and more recently, sports & entertainment.  I hope you noted my earlier sarcasm by now.  Blue is a true business man and has had a hands-on approach in the development of his sports division, titled, BEST.  Rasheed Wallace, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Reggie Bush, Marques Colston, Glenn Dorsey…need I continue?  All these guys, plus much more, consider BEST to be the best.

There is no doubt that being the head of BEST, and on an even larger scale, Blue Equity, is a 24 hour, 7 days a week job.  I once received a short email from Jonathan asking me to be hospitable to one of his employees, Donald Dell, on his visit to the University of Florida Levin College of Law.  Jonathan, if you are reading this, shoot me another email, and let’s do a better Q & A than this one.  Even though the Q & A was rather brief and discussed invigorating topics like horses and Louisville, there were some interesting points made by Blue.  Here are my grabs:

Q. Are there any sports that are in decline, that are so unattractive that you probably won’t get involved in?

A. Yes. I think we would have to take a very hard look at being involved in hockey. I don’t see us in that space at all unless for some reason an opportunity fell in our lap. We’ve seen a lot of things… like lacrosse, soccer … sports that supposedly are just on the cusp and going to be the next greatest thing. I personally am not sure if they’ll ever be where people think they’re going to get because I’ve been hearing that for many years.

Q. You said in an interview that there is no longer a line between sports and entertainment. Do you think maybe Muhammad Ali was the one who erased that line?

A. I don’t know if it was that far back. … What I really mean by that quote is so many of the ancillary things that go around on the outside of sports … are so entertainment-geared today. If you were to go to a sporting event 20 years or 30 years ago … you wouldn’t even recognize the event.

Think about baseball between the innings, think about basketball at halftime, what goes on — especially pro. There are so many different things that happen now, they make the game almost irrelevant to a fan — it’s really the fan experience.

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.

One reply on “Jonathan Blue Answers A Few Questions”

There is no doubt that being the head of BEST, and on an even larger scale, Blue Equity, is a 24 hour, 7 days a week job. I once received a short email from Jonathan asking me to be hospitable to one of his employees, Donald Dell, on his visit to the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Jonathan, if you are reading this, shoot me another email, and let’s do a better Q & A than this one.

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