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Another
SMWW Student Now Working For Professional
Team
Sports Revenue
Management graduate Ryan Polito was recently hired to work in
Major League Soccer. Polito had enrolled in the Sports Revenue
Management Course in hopes of fulfilling his dream of working
for a professional sports team.
Polito did an
outstanding final project in the course and was subsequently
hired by the Dallas Burn of the MLS. SMWW has strong
relationships in the MLS and feels that this trend can
continue in the future.
Polito recently
expressed his gratitude to Professor Tom Leip and SMWW
President Dr. Lashbrook.
"I am proud to let both
of you know that I have accepted the job offer from the Dallas
Burn of Major League Soccer. I want to thank both of you for
everything you have done for me" said Polito. "Through the SRM
class and all of our personal interaction, I have learned a
great deal. All of your help and guidance has allowed me
to pursue a career for which I have a great passion. I
cannot thank the two of you enough for everything over the
past three months."
To
Learn More About The SMWW Sports Revenue Management Course
Please Click Here
Other Courses Offered by
SMWW:
Baseball
GM & Scouting
Sports
Broadcasting
High
School Athletic Director
Athlete
Management
Call
Today:
877-SMWW-NOW
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From The Desk Of Dr.
Lashbrook
BCS BUSTERS:
The Perfect Storm Surrounding The Controversy
It is no
secret there's a storm of controversy surrounding the BCS and
its ineptness to deal with a playoff system. If there are
successful playoffs all over the world in sports at all
levels, why then should college football be exempt from this
success?
The BCS is
utterly indefensible. Week after week, Fresno State, Boise
State, Utah, and Louisville are providing the hurricanes to
this system by competing with the so-called BCS teams and
winning the battle on the field. Adding to the storm are more
concerns from ABC about the dilution of the concept with an
added fifth game to accommodate the BCS busters which will
further reduce the already Embattled BCS championship on
paper.
University
presidents have levied charges stating that too
much class time would be missed if there were a playoff
system. All of this could be solved by online education.
Since every Division I football player has access to a laptop
computer student athletes would be able to participate in
online courses even while traveling. As SMWW has proven
time and again, online education works without the traditional
classroom.
In my 30 plus
years of serving in higher education on many campuses, I have
witnessed the empowerment of students when they believe in a
cause. It's my opinion that students overwhelmingly want a
playoff system, and would be willing to create a grass roots
campaign on their campus to initiate with their student
government a resolution demanding the presidents pursue and
support a true college football playoff system.
Many
universities require some student fees to support the athletic
departments. SMWW believes a grass roots effort in
support of a playoff system would make the student the stake
holders in the campaign. Students would gain leverage simply
by voting to halt their funding to athletic
departments.
I am
convinced that any movement towards a college playoff system
will have to be spurred by courageous students who will speak
up and voice their frustration with the status quo. College
tuition and fees are rising, and students are beginning to ask
where and how the money is being spent.
A perfect
storm is a perfect time to come together for the cause. The
time is now.
Watch
for our new website:
www.BCSbusters.com
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Top Five
Reasons You Should Take A Course With Sports Management
Worldwide:
1) Working in sports
is the next best thing to being on the
field
2) Watching the 2005 NFL Draft on April 23th will be
much more interesting when you represent an athlete
3) You
would love to have a job in sports, but don't know where to
start
4) It takes only 2-4 hours a week...and you spend
more than that watching ESPN
5) Getting 3 college credits
for a course this fun seems to be too good to be true
To
Learn More About Sports Management Worldwide's Course, Click
Here
Call
Today:
877-SMWW-NOW | |
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Sports
Management Worldwide Announces The Hiring Of Sports Agent
Sally Sullivan
Sullivan comes to
Sports Management Worldwide with an extensive background in
sports as a competitor (tennis and running); a coach
(tennis) and as a sports agent/attorney. Sullivan will be
assisting Dr. Lashbrook with the SMWW weekly audio chats and
helping agent advisors in recruiting clients. Her list of
clients is extensive having represented:
Tennis Players:
Venus and Serena Williams
Football
Player: Lincoln Kennedy
ABL/WNBA players:
Jennifer Azzi, Katy Steding, Lynette Woodard, etc.
Baseball Players: Minor league with Dodgers and
Baltimore Orioles.Olympic Athletes: Three day trial and
skiing.
In addition Sally
has been an online professor having taught business law and
law in the field of medicine for Kaplan.She is presently
returning home to Portland, where she attended law school
having lived in Florida and Texas for the past eight years.
If
you are interested in becoming a sports agent, click
here | |
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New
Law Tightens Rules For Agents; SMWW Is Already Doing
It
On September 23
President Bush signed a law creating tougher penalties for
unethical sports agents, stiffening the consequences for those
agents who lure student-athletes into contracts that
compromise their amateur standings and damage the reputations
of their schools.
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN),
the chief author of the bill, told the Associated Press that
while the NCAA has rules and some states have standards for
agents, they haven't kept unethical agents from "aggressively
pursuing these kids anyway, possibly ruining a chance to
compete on the college level and get a degree."
Rep. Tom Osborne (R-NE),
a former head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, co-authored
the legislation and says he's seen sports agents illegally use
cash and gifts to recruit student athletes.
Here are specifics of
the new law:
--- Agents are barred
from recruiting student-athletes by giving false or misleading
information or providing anything of value to the athlete or
his family before entering into a contract.
--- Agents must put pen
to paper and disclose in writing that the athlete may lose
NCAA eligibility after signing an agency contract.
--- The athlete and
agent are required to notify the school's athletic director
that the athlete has signed a contract so the school does not
allow a now-ineligible athlete to play.
--- Violators would face
civil actions by the Federal Trade Commission and state
attorneys general. Fines of up to $11,000 a day could be
levied for each offense.
While this is just
business as usual for SMWW, because we not only teach our
students to work directly with the compliance officer, but we
require all of our agent advisors to operate in total
compliance of institutional, state, NCAA, and federal
regulations, we do believe this law will help give university
compliance officers a stronger backing in their efforts to
monitor agent activities in the recruiting process while
student athletes are
participating.
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NHL
Strike Sends Ripples All The Way To The
Minors
The following is a commentary offered
by SMWW Hockey Director Jeff Ward.
Here's a trick question: have
the owners locked out the players causing the current labor
dispute? The common answer is yes. But what you may not know
is that not all of the players are locked out. In fact, not
even half of them are.
Approximately 65 percent of the
NHL players were permitted to play in the minor leagues,
leaving 35 percent locked out with no place to go. So what
we're really talking about is the NHL lockout of 35 percent of
the NHL Players.
While 65 percent of the players
are happily employed in the minors, it all comes at the
expense of the struggling minor league players trying to make
a name. More importantly, the 65 percent are now members of
the minor league hockey union, the Professional Hockey Players
Association (PHPA), and not the NHLPA. So guess who no longer
has voting rights in the NHLPA? That's right, the players in
the minors.
The
NHLPA is left with the upper tier of players, who have a very
different read on this dispute than the lower tier, which no
longer has official representation.
This is important because many
of these issues revolve around
compensation and related
cost certainty for owners. Generally speaking, the 35 percent
are better established older players who aren't living check
to check. But the 65 percent need to keep playing so as to
develop their skills and make a living.
Unfortunately, all of this
means we're probably looking at a long
lockout, but I'm
not sure just how long it will be. I've heard through the
grapevine that as of last June, the real goal of getting a
deal was January. But with all this movement in the minors,
some say the deadline may now be the following
January.
SMWW stands to gain more job
applicants as the minor leagues begin scooping up these
NHLers, squeezing out the guy trying to prove himself. Anytime
there's a job reduction and a talent pool surge, we will have
fewer at bats to place a player in professional
hockey.
Things have gotten messy and will continue to do
so. Oddly enough, there hasn't been much media attention. The
big joke is that the World Series of Poker drew four times as
many TV viewers as the World Cup of Hockey.
For the love of the game, I
hope this gets settled quickly. I'm too
familiar with the
momentum that hockey had 10 years ago (thanks Wayne!), which
now seems to have evaporated. I'm confident that once the
dispute is resolved, hockey will be back. Right now, we just
need to get past this historic
time.
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The Wave of the Future: More Agents
Representing Fewer Clients
Watch Us Make
It Happen!
The mission of SMWW has
always been to make sure that no athlete gets left behind. We
believe agents are obliged to pay 100 percent attention to all
aspects of their clients' careers. Athletes should expect
nothing less from their representation.
The September 27 edition
of Business Week Online has an article featuring Detroit-based
sports agent brothers Kevin and Carl Poston, partners of
Professional Sports Planning Inc. (PSP). Reporter Mark Hyman
writes about the confrontational style the brothers bring to
their profession and how it sometimes works against them,
leaving some of their clients unsigned and out of training
camp.
The Postons would like
nothing more than to destroy the NFL's feudal salary system.
PSP represents linemen, linebackers and players who
traditionally make smaller salaries than quarterbacks and
other skill position players. Earlier this year the Postons
were annoyed when Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Peyton
Manning inked a seven-year $98 million contract with a $34.5
million signing bonus. They say they want "fair market value"
for players with less visibility.
While they managed to
get Cleveland Brown's rookie tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. a
six-year $40 million deal with a $16.5 million signing bonus
-- a much better deal than the three players selected before
Winslow, the sixth pick in the draft -- the Postons' take no
prisoners style has sometimes backfired on them. The NFL
Player's Association says St. Louis Rams offensive tackle
Orlando Pace has dropped the Postons, who are said to have
demanded $71 million from the Rams, leading to a standoff. PSP
also failed to negotiate record contracts for Oakland Raiders
defensive back Charles Woodson and San Francisco 49ers
linebacker Julian Peterson., holding both players back from
preseason training camps. NFL sources say the firm was asking
for "Manning money."
This is unfortunately
another example of the establishment continuing to do things
the old way, losing sight that they are dealing with human
beings, not price tags. If players are missing training camp
because their representation thinks holding out will bring
more dollars, then isn't it time to ask whose best interest
these agents have in mind? Are they thinking of the athletes,
who lose money every day they go unsigned, or themselves, who
stand to grab 3% of whatever deal they negotiate?
Our goal at SMWW is to
produce thousands of agent-advisors worldwide who are
dedicated to the entirety of a client's career. There are
currently too few agents representing too many athletes, and
the best interests of players often get lost amid the
squabbling between agents and front offices over numbers.
Negotiating for a player the best possible salary is just one
aspect. Agents also have an obligation to make sure each and
every athlete is signed on time and ready to report to
camp.
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Agent Neil
Cornrich investigated by NFLPA
The NFL Players Association's disciplinary committee is
investigating whether agent Neil Cornrich violated agent
regulations by working as an expert witness against the estate
of late Kansas City Chiefs player Derrick Thomas.
Thomas' mother, Edith Morgan, sued General Motors,
contending the Chevy Suburban he was driving when he was
fatally injured in January 2000 was defective, but a Jackson
County (Mo.) Circuit Court jury found in August that the
automaker was not at fault.
Cornrich did not testify at the trial, but he was paid
$1,000 an hour by General Motors to testify in a deposition
and provide reports and expert analysis of what Thomas'
earning capacity would have been had he lived. Cornrich's
information was used by General Motors attorneys who
cross-examined Thomas' agent, Leigh Steinberg, who testified
at the trial on behalf of the Thomas estate.
"It is an issue that the disciplinary committee will
look at," said Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFLPA.
"Simply from the perspective of an agent testifying against a
player, a deceased player, there are some issues there. It is
upsetting that he got paid $1,000 an hour to do it."
Sources said the union is particularly perturbed
because it has some evidence that Cornrich used his
NFLPA-certified agent password to get access to the union's
Web site and some of its proprietary research about older NFL
players. Thomas died at age 33.
Cornrich would not comment on whether he gave GM
information from the NFLPA Web site, but he said he did
nothing wrong.
"I am completely at a loss as to the inquiry by the
association into this matter," Cornrich said. "The player ...
was not even covered by the collective-bargaining agreement at
the time of the litigation."
He added that his role in the case was not a big factor
because his deposition was not read into testimony at
trial.
He said other agents routinely comment on the earnings
potential of current players and no agent regulation deals
with the issue of an agent testifying against the estate of a
dead player.
NFLPA officials were not immediately available for
response.
Agent regulations do prohibit agents from
"engaging in any other activity which creates an actual or
potential conflict of interest with the effective
representation of NFL players."
The NFLPA, earlier this year, fined an NFLPA-certified
agent for giving his union website password to a reporter.
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Tellem-SFX
Sports Talks Go Down To The Wire
Agent Arn Tellem's five-year
deal to oversee the basketball and baseball divisions of SFX
Sports expires on Thursday, and Tellem and the company had not
come to an agreement on an extension by press time for this
story, despite months of negotiations.
Tellem represents - or oversees
agents who represent - an astounding 16.6 percent of Major
League Baseball players and 18.2 percent of NBA players. He
supervises 12 baseball agents, representing 125 MLB players,
and seven basketball agents, representing 79 NBA players.
Athletes he personally represents include Jason Giambi, Hideki
Matsui, Barry Zito, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie
Miller.
SFX sources said they expected
Tellem to make a deal for a long-term extension shortly before
his contact expires. "We have every reason to believe that
Tellem will be with the company for years to come," said one
SFX source, who asked not to be named.
But some industry sources said
there is a chance that Tellem could strike out on his own or
agree to an extension of just one or two years. Tellem and an
SFX spokeswoman declined comment.
Tellem sold his company to SFX in
1999, during a wave of agent acquisitions by major firms
trying to create multisport athlete representation
powerhouses. At the time he sold, SFX Sports was run by
Tellem's rival basketball agent, David Falk.
But Falk stepped down as CEO of SFX
in 2001, and Tellem was named CEO of the basketball division.
In November 2003, baseball agents Alan and Randy Hendricks did
not renew their contract with SFX and Tellem became CEO of the
baseball division, replacing Randy Hendricks.
Some major sports agents who sold
their companies to larger firms in the late 1990s had trouble
adjusting to a corporate environment, but Tellem appears to
have thrived under that structure. SFX and the younger agents
Tellem supervises have dominated the NBA draft in recent
years.
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