| Leveraging
Talent It is no secret that
the $232 billion per year sports industry has been built on the back of the African
American athlete. In addition to fueling the enormous growth in the NFL, the NBA,
and MLB, the talent of the African American athlete is being leveraged by others
to fuel development in business areas ancillary to the game. Creative
Artists Agency, a Hollywood talent agency (“CAA”), is the latest firm
to leverage their relationship with the African American athlete for personal
gain. In recent months, CAA has acquired the practices of former IMG football
agent Tom Condon, and SFX football agent Ben Dogra, both of whom include a majority
of African Americans as their top clients. CAA is in talks with several top marketing
executives to run the firm’s new sports division. According to sources familiar
with CAA, the company is looking for executives who have contacts at major corporations
and executives at teams and leagues to take the agency beyond just representing
talent, but also in lucrative businesses such as corporate consulting and naming
rights. CAA would not be able to penetrate
the markets if it had not acquired the practices of Condon and Dogra, who together
represent 137 players, mostly African American including, but not limited to,
Shaun Alexander, Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, Mario Williams, and
LaDainian Tomlinson. In addition to receiving negotiation/marketing/public relations
fees, CAA will leverage the representation of those same African American players
to create other, more lucrative opportunities for itself in corporate consulting
and naming rights. The question I would ask
is whether CAA has used those same contacts at major corporations to create income/career
opportunities for their African American clients and at what level when compared
to the money CAA projects it will earn from its expansion into business areas
made possible principally because of its representation of the African American
athlete? Tune in next week for another more
inside information on the business side of sports. If
you have questions or require additional information, please contact Everett L.
Glenn, Esq. at eglenn@espsportslawpro.com
or call 562.619.8460.
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