The creation of Roc Nation Sports has brought increased attention to the sports agency industry. And rightfully so. Attaching Jay-Z’s name to a sports agency is bold; athletes will be intrigued and competing agents will be concerned (whether they wish to admit it on the record or not).
I have been covering Jay-Z’s efforts on FORBES, writing about his initial break into sports agency with the signing of Robinson Cano and partnering with Creative Artists Agency, but also honing in on the potential problems regarding Jay-Z’s involvement in recruiting players to his agency without proper players’ association certification in place. First, the focus was on his involvement in assisting in the recruitment of New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz to CAA. More recently, attention has been shifted to Roc Nation’s hiring of NFLPA certified Contract Advisor Kim Miale, and New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith’s selection of Miale as his new football agent.
As I wrote on May 22,
Jay-Z is not currently a certified Contract Advisor with the NFLPA. The NFLPA regulations governing Contract Advisors state that Contract Advisors will be subject to sanctions if they (1) use, (2) associate with, (3) employ or (4) enter into a business relationship with any non-NFLPA certified individual in the recruitment of prospective player-clients.
Smith said that Jay-Z’ played “not that big of a role” in making a decision concerning representation. Will the size of the role matter to the NFLPA, or is it enough that Jay-Z played any role at all?
According to a report published on SportsBusiness Daily, the NFLPA will be reaching out to “get a better understanding” of Jay-Z’s relationship with Geno Smith and whether that relationship had any role in the quarterback selecting Miale as his representative. The answer appears to be rather obvious . Did Miale, a Contract Advisor with no experience negotiating active NFL player contracts, have any chance of signing Geno Smith without Jay-Z’s assistance?
the question remains – will the NFLPA do anything about it if the Association finds that Jay-Z was involved in the recruitment of Geno Smith to Roc Nation Sports? Getting a better understanding of a situation is one thing. Disciplining a Contract Advisor for wrongdoing is another. Jay-Z is not currently certified with the NFLPA, thus the Association has no jurisdiction to punish him. However, it could take punitive action against Miale should it determine that Miale used, associated with or entered into a business relationship with Jay-Z in the recruitment of Geno Smith.
8 replies on “Will NFLPA Discipline Kim Miale After It Gets Better Understanding Of Jay-Z’s Role In Recruiting Geno Smith?”
Darren, has really been hammering this poor agent. I did some research on her.
He should do the same. This agent may not have written many contracts yet but that should change. Every agent has been in her spot at the beginning. Let’s see what kind of deal she gets for Geno. I’m sure that she followed the rules. Hope he doesn’t expect any interviews in the future. Why not ask the Jets whom they are dealing with? Oh that’s right, why be a real reporter and find out when one can run with speculation! Good job!
You’re sure that she followed the rules? I’m not concerned about future interviews. She hasn’t responded to my multiple calls or emails.
You’re sure she didn’t? Would you respond to someone that wrote and article that negative about you? I think NOT! I’m sure that the parties involved are doing whatever is necessary to satisfy the NFLPA. Personal attacks do justice to neither party. I’m sure that you could have found plenty of info that would show she is more than capable to do the job. I did with little effort. Maybe that would not have been as interesting to you?
I made multiple requests prior to writing my first article. It’s unfortunate that you perceive my articles as personal attacks. Simply stating the truth – she has negotiated 0 active NFL contacts.
What info do you have that shows she is “more than capable to do the job”? Be specific and post links please.
Maybe you should look at the article again? How many contracts did Tom Congdon write when he started? Maybe Roc Nation had their own marketing ideas about how to announce what they were doing? They seem to be successful at what they do. I don’t have a crystal ball but that would make sense to me. Maybe you took the noncontact personally? As a reporter that will happen from time to time.
Nope. No retaliation on my end.
guess we wait for the next page.