I am back in New York, which is starting to feel like a second home based on how much I have been traveling up here as of late. Today I will be giving the Keynote Speech at New York Law School’s 5th Annual Sports Law Symposium. The focus will be on growth areas in the world of sports agency; I will discuss traditional corporate structure and why the smart agent will be successfully adapting to necessary changes. I will be returning to Miami on Sunday. Don’t forget — you can now pre-order my forthcoming book titled, How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know. This week on FORBES: (1) 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend Kicks Off With Campaign Highlighting Players’ Sneakers; (2) Why John Wall May Provide Brands Best Value Of All NBA Players; (3) Can U.S. Hockey Win A Face-Off Against Poor Winter Olympics Ratings?; (4) NBC Universal Disputes Report Of Poor Winter Olympics Ratings; (5) NASCAR Extends Partnership With Parent Company Of OREO, RITZ And Nilla Wafers; and (6) Hakeem Nicks Retains Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports And Creative Artists Agency. And as always, the weekly wrap-up:
Baseball
- Insightful read especially for those not well-versed on tax matters [How Arizona Saves MLB Players Millions in Taxes].
- This just disgusts me [The Phillies ratted out a draftee to the NCAA for negotiating with an agent].
- Another sad case of an athlete losing his money [Five-time MLB all-star sues UBS, ex-rep for $7.6M].
- On to the next one near the end of his career [Manny Ramirez Joins Miami Sports Management].
- Right before the two sides were going to fly to Florida for the hearing [Indians, Justin Masterson avoid arbitration with a one-year deal].
- The trend started with A-Rod [Another Bite At The Apple: Opt-Out Clauses In MLB].
Football
- My first contribution to Stack Magazine [10 Guys Who Aced the NFL Combine and Made Millions].
- Sports Agent Blog’s Mark Burns with his first piece on Sporting News [Michael Sam’s marketing power is real—just not until draft day].