Categories
Agent Spotlights MLB Players Sports Agents

Scotty Doesn’t Know?

I highly doubt that Scott Boras does not know the power that he wields in the Sports Agent business. Carlos Lee has been the most recent addition to Boras’s arsenal of Major League Baseball clients after Lee decided to leave his agent, Adam Katz [Power play? Carlos Lee picks Boras as new agent]. In July, Boras gained Barry Zito of the Oakland A’s from major agent Arn Tellem.

These facts provide an interesting foray into the post made by Rick Karcher at the Sports Law Blog today [Hollywood Talent Firm Consolidates Sports Agent Biz]. With consolidation in the old Sports Agent world creating powerhouses such as SFX, Octagon, and IMG, Scott Boras was still able to dominate America’s pasttime throughout all of the mergers and buyouts. It seems that he is able to continue to maintain his dominance in the industry even as the tide has changed recently. Major consolidation has turned into massive consolidation as Hollywood talent agencies have begun to enter the Sports Agent world and acquire big names from the old consolidated big players (ex: IMG). These new companies have been highlighted in this blog: CAA, WMG, etc.

The Sports Law Blog goes on to discuss issues such as disputes between agents and the companies that hire them, agents taking clients after leaving, increased potential for conflicts of interest, etc. I encourage you to read the post.

In addition, I feel that it is extremely noteworthy that Boras continues to battle against the major conglomerates and still do an amazing job amassing a large/MVP lineup of clients. He was able to fight off IMG, SFX, and Octagon, and proves that CAA and WMG will not hold him back from acquiring clients such as Carlos Lee and Barry Zito. Who will be the next big name to fall into Boras’s spreadsheet?

Update: Interestingly enough, Carlos Lee has just decided that Scott Boras is not the right person to represent him in upcoming contract negotiations [Reversal of fortune? Lee changes mind on Boras].  Adam Katz and Tom Reich (his original agents) will remain as his negotiators in the future.  Boras still did take a client away from another firm with the addition of Carlos Guillen this week, though.
[tags]carlos lee, barry zito, scott boras, sports agent, sports agents, caa, wmg, arn tellem, sfx, img, octagon[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.