MASTRY Ventures and General Catalyst, each a venture capital firm, have jointly acquired a majority interest in Southern California-based sports agency Athletes First. Brian Murphy will remain the CEO of the agency and run day-to-day operations. The venture capital firms hope to create new platforms for Athletes First to find new opportunities and establish enhanced […]
Author: 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.
You may recall a December 2022 article on this website that discussed the lawsuit filed by sports agent David Falk’s agency F.A.M.E. LLC against former NBA player Evan Turner and his corporate entity EmTurn LLC, where FAME claimed that it provided services to Turner throughout his career and that Turner, along with his company, failed […]
National law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP (commonly known as Gordon Rees) and two of its former partners, Alonzo Llorens and C. Anthony Mulrain, are being sued by veteran basketball agents Aaron Goodwin and Eric Goodwin. The Complaint, which seeks damages in excess of $92 million, was filed on January 11 in New York. […]
On July 30, 2021, sports agent Ben Dogra initiated a lawsuit against renowned lawyer Rusty Hardin and his law firm, Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP. Since then, the defendants have turned themselves into counter-claimants, suing Dogra in return. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, with a […]
What are your rights if you wish to become licensed by a players’ association and the union rejects your application? Sometimes there is hope. Other times, not so much. I had the honor of representing Cleodis Floyd in an arbitration matter against the NFL Players Association roughly a decade ago after the NFLPA denied Floyd’s […]
Every so often, I log in to Neil Stratton’s Inside The League website to check in on the latest news and rumors in the football business. Today, I decided to do just that and I was surprised by a new “phenomenon” that Stratton says is “concerning” with regard to signing NFL prospects. Stratton says that […]
Sports agent David Falk’s agency F.A.M.E. LLC, which conducts business as Falk Associates Management Enterprises and FAME, has initiated a lawsuit against former NBA player Evan Turner as well as his owned corporate entity EmTurn LLC. The Complaint filed in the Superior Court of Delaware includes causes of action for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, […]
Providence Equity is in as an investor and Redbird Capital as well as Madrone Capital are cashing out. Brendan Coffey at Sportico had the coverage yesterday, and it was supposedly a big buyout. Per Coffey, RedBird was believed to have purchased a 30% to 40% stake in Wasserman in 2020, and Madrone, the family office […]
Damarius Bilbo, along with Evolution Sports LLC (formerly Revolution Sports Agency LLC), has been sued in a Georgia federal court. The Complaint says that they failed to make the required payments on a massive amount of debt and then rejected signing a settlement agreement that would have peacefully resolved the matter. The action was initiated […]
Excel Sports Management is launching a Coaching and Executives division and has acquired football coaching and sports broadcasting representation agency Harlan Sports Management to provide it some staff support and clientele right away. Over twenty head football coaches at the NFL and NCAA level, as well as front office executives, are now Excel clients. The […]