“Show Me the Money” – Leigh Steinberg at UCLA

This past Tuesday, August 21^st, the UCLA Sports Business program happily welcomed back widely renowned Super-Agent, Leigh Steinberg. The inspiration for one of the top grossing sports movies of all-time, “Jerry Maguire,” discussed his experiences as an undergraduate at UCLA and Law School at UC Berkeley up and through his amazing career. In short, Mr. Steinberg is a legend and is widely considered the most successful sports agent in history. Briefly, Steinberg spoke of the accomplishments he has had over the years, which included representing 62 1^st round NFL draft picks, 8 1^st overall NFL draft picks, and having 9 former clients inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At one point Steinberg represented half of the starting quarterbacks in the NFL – all at the same time!!

 

Stepping away from sports and into a broader view, Steinberg emphasized the importance of two qualities to ensure a successful life: treasuring relationships, especially with family, and also having the willingness and desire to make a positive social impact within one’s own community. Steinberg discussed how it is these traits among others that he looks for in potential clients before he even decides to make a recruitment pitch to them. Other qualities Steinberg mentioned that he looks for in an athlete profile are intelligence, family-driven, money-conscious, and having the desire for a career following professional sports.

While speaking to the class, Steinberg could not stress enough the importance he believed of athletes to financially plan and develop a plan for life after professional sports. Steinberg also emphasized the importance of athletes developing their own brand so that it will benefit them long-term. Steinberg dived in to how one’s brand is built upon overall recognition and positive impression by the public, or Q-factor, which can help athletes land endorsements.

Steinberg left us with some words of advice on how to break into the sports industry, which included thinking outside the box, understanding the psychology of people you interact with, and by introducing the idea of having a personal inventory. By talking about the importance of asking oneself what is important to you in regards to short-term economics, long-term security, family, autonomy, making social impact and such, Steinberg emphasized the issue of cognitive dissonance where the human psyche is overwhelmed with multiple desires and thoughts. However, Steinberg stressed that by asking oneself such questions and developing an understanding of what is truly most important, such cognitive dissonance can be avoided.

Post Written by UCLA Sports Business Student, John Watson

LA Kings President, Luc Robitaille on the Business of NHL Hockey

On Thursday, Aug.16, we had the good fortune of having hockey royalty visit our Sports Business class at UCLA. Luc Robitaille currently serves as the President of the two-time Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings, but he also carved out a true Hall of Fame career as the highest scoring left-winger in NHL history.

During his presentation, he explained the challenges behind the transition of playing professional hockey to the understanding, participation and work that is required for the business aspect of the game. As a player, Luc explains that there are many sacrifices one must make; which include but aren’t limited to sport outings and donating back to the community.

In terms of the business aspect, there are many factors that play into the team and the organization of Hockey being successful. Luc mentions that in order to have a successful organization, some of the key factors that play into the success is the experience the consumer receives, being able to be versatile with how they connect with consumers, and ultimately making sure that the brand has an establishment that targets the success of the Hockey organization, holistically. One key point that Luc mentioned that was a highlight of the conversation we had was, “You don’t know what it takes to win, until you win.” Throughout the conversation the class had with Luc, he continually referenced the key factors that aided in the success of his organization.

I noted while listening to Luc was the unique way he navigates his organization; taking into account the consumers feelings and experience, and the players social aspect. In terms of Luc’s position, understanding when it is best to intervene and when he should step back.

As a student learning more about sports and what goes on behind the player and the game, Luc provided quality details about the experience of working the field of sports and what it takes for a sporting team to be successful.

Post Written by UCLA Student, Alexis Wells

NFLPA Chief, DeMaurice Smith talks CBA, Concussions, Anthem Protests at UCLA

After hours of laborious discussion and debate, we, the Sports Business students of UCLA  solved the problem of Collective Bargaining, Concussions and even the so-called Anthem Protests in the NFL on the very sunny day of August 9th, 2018. In reality perhaps all we did on this day was further muddle these already controversial issues, but we were able to engage in a lively discussion with the Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), DeMaurice Smith. Mr. Smith was an energetic and unfiltered speaker to say the least; and what he couldn’t tell us outright he made very clear with his unabashed winks and facial expressions.

The discussion was guided by Professor Mark Francis’ equally unfiltered line of questioning. Mr. Smith dove deep into the ins-and-outs of the most recent NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, allowing for any and all questions the class had. He continually emphasized that the NFLPA supported players first, not the game of football; and while they weren’t looking for a fight with the NFL and its owners, “they were always ready for war.”  bMr.Smith broke down the age old relationship between management and labor; drawing back from his corporate and legal days, he postulated that while the dynamic of management being more concerned about their profit rather than that of their labor force would never change, it did not always have to be toxic relationship. Establishing and facilitating that mutually beneficial relationship seemed to be the goal of Smith’s ideal NFLPA.

“NFL Management/Ownership, like management of standard industry, do not like to deal with the group dynamic of the NFLPA simply because unionized groups force change.” Director Smith was optimistic of the strength that the NFLPA possessed as a unified front. He went on to open up about the issues that the NFLPA looked to tackle in the immediate future, including: the number of games played, player benefits and safety, cap/cash accounting, and stadium investments by players.

As the clock began to wind down Professor Francis steered the conversation into dangerous waters;  “Now DeMaurice, I have to ask you about just a tiny little issue we’ve been hearing some whispers about…”

“Let me, guess, the National Anthem?”

It was a humorous introduction to a situation that has proven to be everything but. The class saw the wheels of his mind turning overtime as Mr. Smith took an uncharacteristically long pause to form his answer. The one he gave somewhat took the class by surprise, “I’m not sure what the exact solution is, but I do know that both sides can only come to a resolution if we can talk about this issue with level-heads.” For perhaps the first time all class, fiery Director Smith chose his words carefully as we continued to discuss the social and economic implications of player’s ability to take a knee on the field doing the National Anthem. In no way was he backing down from the topic, but as a primary player in the on-going battle he had to watch what he said publicly.

During the final down of our discussion and before the time with Mr. Smith came to an end, he left us with perhaps the closest thing to a solution that our eclectic collection of students had heard on the issue, “For both parities we have to put ourselves in the other’s shoes. Let’s not pretend we live in the bubble of the football stadium, we have to address the outside world.” In the sphere of a simple game guided by simple rules, maybe that’s all we really can do, take off our “fan hats”, leave the stadium all-together, and address these complicated issues in the real world.

Post Submitted by Jonathan Kidd, UCLA

Dan Moriarty Teaches UCLA Sports Biz Students to ‘Own The Room’

Monday afternoon brought an exciting change of pace to the UCLA Sports Biz class.  Mr. Dan Moriarty, lead coach at industry leading communications firm, “Own The Room,” visited the class to discuss the importance of delivery in public speaking.  Mr. Moriarty’s background includes broadcast journalism – where he interviewed Hall of Fame athletes including Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe, as well as US Presidential candidate, John Kerry.  He has also appeared on hit television series Full House, 90210, Who’s the Boss? , and was the host of NHL Cool Shots for several years on behalf of the National Hockey League. In other words, Dan is well qualified to teach a group of aspiring business leaders how to engage an audience.

7 percent.  38 percent.  55 percent.  These numbers represent the proportions of a lecture an audience will remember.  That is, 7 percent is the actual content; 38 percent is your tone, and 55 percent is your body language.  As Mr. Moriarty explained, the content of a speech is king, but audiences will not remember your content if it does not stand out.  Your delivery of that content – through tone and in your body language – is HOW people will remember the content.  His point was that we, as the speaker, must strategically plan how we deliver the important content.  What do we want the audience to remember?  What point are we trying to get across?  And finally, how are we going to make it resonate?

The UCLA Anderson Center for Managing the Enterprise in Media, Entertainment, and Sports would like to express its gratitude to Mr. Moriarty for sharing his expertise on Monday, July 23^rd.  This sort of exposure and instruction is just one example of the competitive edge the UCLA Sports Biz students are given.  Students do not get this kind of ‘real-life’ practical education just anywhere.

 

Nolan Partners’ Graham Boone Visits UCLA Sports Biz

Wednesday made for an exciting and eventful day at the UCLA Anderson Center for Managing the Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports.  Not only did the students have the opportunity to attend the biggest awards show in sports, the ESPY Awards, but they also had the privilege of learning from yet another accomplished sports business professional.  The afternoon started off with Graham Boone, accomplished Associate for  Nolan Partners who are the world’s largest executive search firm in Sports & Entertainment.  After working as a player agent for 10 years in the NBA, primarily for Tandem Sports and Entertainment – where he represented players including Tim Duncan, Jeremy Lin, and Ray Allen, among others – Mr. Boone transitioned to the executive recruiting side of the industry.  At Nolan Partners, Boone and his colleagues work with their clients in the sports and entertainment industry to find executives for business leadership roles at their respective companies.  Because Nolan is based in London, they are widely regarded as soccer experts; however, Mr. Boone’s experience in basketball has helped broaden the company’s network.

Mr. Boone admitted that he has risen rather quickly largely due to his ability to develop relationship capital with the right people.  And that was his point: in business, the best way to climb the ladder or generate opportunities is by knowing – and proving your worth to – the right people.  He encouraged students to find an experienced business professional in our sports industry to become their mentor.  He said to ask questions like: how did you get your start in the industry?  What should I be focusing on as a young professional?  Where do you see the future of the industry?  These questions will not only warrant great advice from seasoned professionals, but it will also allow us young aspiring professionals to develop key relationships with the ‘right’ people, as Mr. Boone said.

On behalf of the students at the UCLA Anderson Center for Managing the Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports, I would like to thank Mr. Boone for taking the time out of his demanding schedule; his expertise is respected, and his advice is appreciated.

Note: Post authored by University of Victoria graduate, Whitney Hamilton

GM of ‘The Greatest Stadium in the World,’ Joe Furin, Visits UCLA

On Monday, July 16, the General Manager of the LA Coliseum, Mr. Joe Furin, visited the Sports Business class at the UCLA Anderson Center for Managing the Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports (MEMES).  Mr. Furin discussed the Coliseum’s ownership structure, renovations, and – most excitingly – the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympic Games.  Interestingly, the LA Coliseum is a national and state historic site that was built in 1923 in memory of all members of the American Armed Forces who fought in World War I.  It has hosted two Summer Olympic Games, and is undergoing major construction to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2028 LA Summer Olympics.  This will make the Coliseum the only stadium in the world to host three Olympic games.

The Coliseum hosts both the USC Trojans football team and the LA Rams, albeit temporarily, while the Rams build their new stadium.  USC, however, maintains first scheduling rights due to their assumption of management of the stadium in Inglewood. Mr. Furin explained how this makes scheduling events outside of football games – concerts, for example – rather challenging, but said that because it is temporary it is manageable.  In terms of challenges around prepping the stadium for back-to-back games in season, Furin just simply shrugged, saying “that’s part of the business.  That’s what we do.”  The stadium is currently undergoing $300 Million worth of renovations, with updates to seats, wifi connectivity, and the addition of luxury suites.  Not only will these updates make the Coliseum a much more comfortable event space, it will also help drive revenue for the teams and the stadium itself.  Mr. Furin explained that luxury suites are the way of the future, and alone will provide revenue capable of covering the stadium renovations in no time.

There is a take-away theme coming from each of our incredible guest speakers: get involved.  That is, get out there, network, and start building relationships while getting valuable experience in the industry.  Mr. Furin’s advice to us was no different.

Note: Post authored by Whitney Hamilton, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

 

Stories From “The Big Chair,” with Former LA Dodgers GM, Ned Colletti

With a reputation for success and an inspiring story of hard work, former LA Dodgers GM and Author of the recently released, “The Big Chair,” Ned Colletti serves as a distinguished role model.  

Sports executive Ned Colletti, took the time out of his heavy schedule to speak with students enrolled in the Sports Business program at the UCLA Anderson Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports this past week.  Having negotiated over $2B in player contracts over the years, Colletti spoke about the main principles of negotiation as the underlying them of his presentation. In doing so, Colletti shared his stories of building his career from what were very humble beginnings growing up in Chicago, to leading one of the world’s leading sports brands in the Los Angeles Dodgers. He credits it all to his hard work and strong initiative to build something of himself.

Among his inspiring stories and advice the sports executive shared with the class, a key element that truly embodied his initiative was his ‘first one in last one out’ mentality.  Along with this, he drove the point home that being a boss does not necessarily mean that you must be managing everyone at every moment, but rather have your employees do what they are best and trust their work ethic.

Overall, the class of eager students was delighted to hear the answers to all of their questions that Mr. Colletti answered. This is the 4th consecutive year Mr. Colletti has spoken to our Sports Business students at UCLA and as always, we are truly grateful for his friendship to our program.

Note: This post is authored by Mollie “MJ”Lewander, from the University of Miami

 

Super-Agent, Leigh Steinberg Visits UCLA

Arguably one of the most successful people in the sports agent and business world, Super-Agent, Leigh Steinberg lived up beyond expectations when he came to speak to UCLA’s Business of Sports program this week.   

Leigh Steinberg on the set of Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr.

 

The ever talented and hardworking ‘prodigy’ some may say, was both insightful and compelling as he described his pivoting path through the sports work to become the success story he is today.  Hi-lights of his career include:

• 65 1st round NFL draft picks
• 8 1st overall NFL draft picks
• 9 clients inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame including Troy Aitkman, Warren Moon, Bruce Smith, Howie Long, Steve Young, Thurman Thomas, Derrick Thomas, Kevin Greene and Kenny Easley
• Also represented Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Eric Karros & John Starks
• Current roster hi-lighted by QB Patrick Mahommes (KC), QB, Paxton Lynch (Denver)

From personal anecdotes about helping Cuba Gooding Junior prepare for his role in Jerry Maguire, a film based on Steinberg himself, to teaching the engaged students the paths of navigating an athlete away from cognitive dissonance and forward to sell them as a brand to a desired team and potential endorsement opportunities.

The respected speaker extended his stay with UCLA’s aspiring students who hope to work in the sports industry one day to answer any and all questions they had throughout his lecture, and even was willing to debate some hot button topics such as sports gambling recently becoming legal as well as whether or not college athletes should be paid.

 

 

Wasserman’s Ted Yeschin Speaks at UCLA

Endless questions and even more interesting answers and personal anecdotes came from Day 2 featuring Wasserman VP of Athlete Marketing, Ted Yeschin.  

 Ted Yeschin set the bar high for the ongoing series of distinguished guest speakers coming from all corners of the sports industry to speak to UCLA students enrolled in the Sports Business program hosted by the Anderson School of Management Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports.  His confident and comical personality allowed for students to ask the Vice President of Talent Marketing from the highly respected Wasserman group anything. 

Yeschin was able to entertain the room of college students who are hopeful to gain experience in the sports business world with his motivating tales of putting in grueling hours of sales work early in his career with the LA Avengers to his hilariously candid tales about some of our favorite sports superstars including the likes of Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Landon Donovan and Red Bull. His laid-back approach and storytelling ability kept students asking questions far past the allotted time.

 It is safe to say that while this is not Yeschin’s first time speaking with MEMES program. Students were able to learn imperative networking skills from the distinguished sports businessman.  Yeschin and Wasserman have a long and storied connection to UCLA and we are always appreciative of their contributions to our Sports Business program.

Authored by MJ “Mollie” Lewander of the University of Miami

2018 UCLA Sports Business Program Kickoff

The fun begins on Monday, June 25, 2018, as this year’s Sports Business program gets underway in Westwood. Motivated students from around the world will converge at the UCLA Anderson Center for Media, Entertainment and Sports for an immersion into the exciting world of professional sports business.  As in previous years, students will be challenged with a immersive of sports business curriculum while simultaneously engaging in extensive capstone intern projects with numerous esteemed sports organizations including the LA Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, LA Coliseum and 10 Fold Entertainment. Students will also be attending the 2018 ESPY Awards at the famed Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Speakers during this year’s program include the following leaders of the sports business industry:

Ted Yeschin	VP Talent Marketing	Wasserman
Leigh Steinberg	CEO	Steinberg Sports & Entertainment
Ned Colletti	Former GM	LA Dodgers
Aileen McManamon	President/Owner	5T Sports
Lenny Goh	Director of Business Development	Tradable Bits
Brad Edwards	COO	PAC Pro Football
Joe Furin	General Manager	LA Coliseum
Chad Biagini	Managing Director North America	Nolan Partners
Dan Moriarty	Communications Specialist	Own the Room
Roberta Perry	VP Marketing & Business Development	Edwards Technologies
Jared Darensbourgh	Regional Director	Panasonic
Neil Viscerto	VP Corporate Partnerships	Los Angeles Angels