Shoe and Media Wars: Goodwin Sports, Brian Berger, and the Kevin Durant Shoe Deal
By all accounts, Kevin Durant was the prize of this year’s agent bidding war. As his on court talents and marketing potential placed his income generating potential on the level of current NBA Stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Henry Abbott of TrueHoop did a great job of covering the initial Durant chase. He mentioned that big time agents Bill Duffy, Arn Tellem, Lon Babby, and Leon Rose/William Wesley were on the Durant chase. However, one agent he had missing from the post was Goodwin Sports Management’s Aaron Goodwin. Just like with his recruitment of LeBron James, Goodwin seemed to be going un-noticed in his pursuit to sign Kevin Durant as a client. And just like with LeBron James he surprised many by securing Kevin Durant as a client.
Goodwin is mainly associated with negotiating unprecedented endorsement deals for LeBron James during the Summer of 2003. However, the guy has been in the sports agent business (at one time or another) representing the likes of Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Paul Pierce, Dwight Howard, and Chris Webber.
His success is quite unique in that he is an independent agent without the backing of a large conglomerate such as Williams and Connoley (Lon Babby), Wasserman Media Group (Arn Tellem), or CAA (Leon Rose). He also hasn’t had to rely on a guy like William Wesley to acquire all of his clients the way one agent has (cough…Leon Rose). So the fact that Goodwin is able to secure top clients the way he has without the resources that others are working with should be commended.
If you list the top five most sought after clients of the last five NBA drafts, you’ll noticed that Aaron Goodwin’s name dominates at the top. He had James in 2003, Dwight Howard in 2004, and Durant in this year’s draft. And what he’s done with those clients has been nothing short of spectacular.
Before separating from LeBron James, Goodwin was able to secure him an unprecedented $90 million shoe deal as well as $30 million dollars worth of other endorsement opportunities. With Dwight Howard, he just completed a six year, $36 Million dollar endorsement deal for Dwight Howard and Adidas. And now he just wrapped up a series of endorsement deals for his newest blue chip client, Kevin Durant.
On the way to completing Durant’s shoe deal, there have been many stories discussing the potential deal. Sites such as Sports Business Radio, TrueHoop and CNBC have been following Goodwin’s quest to secure a shoe deal for Durant very closely. Over the last month, Brian Berger of Sports Business Radio has drawn particular interest with his commentary on the Durant shoe deal negotiations. He’s been highly critical of the way in which Goodwin handled the negotiations between Nike and Adidas. Berger felt that Goodwin should have had a shoe deal done before the draft because shoe companies try to do a lot of initial promotion during and immediately following the draft. To me this commentary is invalid, since the primary task of a sports agent is to secure the best deal possible for his/her client. If Goodwin didn’t feel that the deals were where they needed to be, who is Brian Berger to criticize a hold up of the deal?
Berger continued his criticism of Goodwin by stating that the only reason a Durant deal wasn’t signed before the draft was that Kevin Durant wanted to sign with Nike while Goodwin wanted to sign with Adidas. Berger reported that Goodwin’s incentive for wanting to sign with Adidas was an alleged secret deal that Goodwin and the Durant camp had which would only pay Goodwin if he secured a shoe deal over the $40 Million mark. According to Berger, Adidas was offering $40 million while Nike was offering $30 million, so Goodwin was reluctant to have Goodwin sign with Nike.
Yesterday a Kevin Durant shoe deal with Nike was announced. The rumored terms of the deal completely make Berger’s beef against Goodwin seem ridiculous. Neither Nike or Goodwin Sports have publicly announced the terms of the contract, but sources are reporting the deal between to be in the $50 million range (CNBC says $50M, the Seattle Times says $60M). Upon this announcement, Brian Berger did not issue an apology to Aaron Goodwin for his negative and seemingly false claims against him. All he did was update his earlier post with this statement:
“UPDATE: Aaron Goodwin is on record for the first time about Durant's deal with Nike....first reported by Sports Business Radio on Monday. Goodwin says Nike will pay Durant $60M over 7 years. He also says Durant turned down adidas' offer of $70M over 7 years. My sources tell me Durant's contract with Nike is closer to $40M than $60M, so I think the numbers in the Seattle Times story are inflated. Regardless, it seems as if Mr. Goodwin earned himself a commission on Durant's shoe deal. Goodwin would not have received a commission if Durant's shoe deal had been valued at less than $40M.”
I have a few issues with this update by Berger. First, even if there was a promise in place (which CNBC’s Darren Rovell says is untrue) and Durant really did want to sign with Nike, didn’t Goodwin still make a better deal for Durant by holding out and getting more money from the company he wanted to sign with. I mean, if Berger is to be believed, last week, Nike was only offering $30 million for Durant’s services. If they are now paying him in the $50 million range, I’d say holding out was the right call by Aaron Goodwin.
Next, what’s the point of attacking Goodwin in the middle of negotiations? Berger says he has solid sources that told him all that he was reporting. If you have an understanding of the media, you know that people in a position of power often use the media to help get things they want to happen accomplished. For instance, GM’s often plant trade scenarios in the media to distract attention away from what they are really trying to get accomplished. In this case, Berger might have been used as a pawn.
Lastly, in his update he states that Goodwin said the deal was in the $60M range, when no where in the Seattle Times article do I see a quote from Goodwin disclosing the amount of the contract. That's just bad reporting on his part and it makes it seem as if Goodwin is trying to inflate the numbers of the actual deal when several outlets (including CNBC) are reporting that the deal is way in excess of $40M.
Beyond the update, I also have a problem with Berger’s lack of balance and logic in his criticism of Goodwin. Berger praised BDA Sports for the manner in which they were able to get their client Greg Oden signed before the draft. However, he didn’t mention that BDA sports only landed Oden a deal that is going to be around $1 million per season. Oden is a big man, and traditionally big men make less money than wing players, but there is still precedent for charismatic big men securing large shoe deals (See Shaq’s shoe deals throughout his career and Dwight Howard’s recently signed 6 year, $36 Million dollar shoe deal…signed by Aaron Goodwin I might add). How can you praise someone for their marketing savvy when (based on the history of deals for charismatic big men) they’ve fallen short of securing the right amount of cash for Oden’s marketing potential? Yeah, they got their deal done before the draft, but I think holding out for more money would have probably been the better business proposition for Greg Oden.
Lastly, I’d like to refute Bergers claim that Aaron Goodwin doesn’t bring in the kind of marketing dollars that places like BDA Sports, Wasserman Media and Priority Sports do.
Those places might have more clients than Goodwin Sports, but per client, the quality and value or the endorsement deals that Goodwin Sports has acquired for its clients over the last five years certainly surpasses that of each of those agencies. Between Dwight Howard’s $36 Million Shoe Deal, LeBron James $120M in endorsements, and the deals they’ve recently secured for Durant, I’d say Goodwin Sports is doing just fine in the marketing department. And this is without having the marketing staff that the other big agencies have. If anything, Goodwin Sports should be praised for its ability to secure top dollar endorsement contracts without the resources of some of the larger firms. I’m sure Mr. Berger would probably write this off by saying that most of Goodwin’s clients are “answer the phone” clients. Meaning all an agent has to do is answer the phone to secure a deal for his client. Yes, having a highly sought after client does ensure that you will secure endorsement deals for him. However, it doesn’t ensure the amounts that you will secure for them.
As documented on many sites, Goodwin magnificently handled the LeBron James shoe deal negotiations. When negotiations began, many in the media figured that the deal would only be worth $30M-$50M. Yet, Goodwin was able to secure a record breaking $90 Million deal. With Dwight Howard, Goodwin was able to secure big time shoe money for a big man. As mentioned above, that’s pretty unprecedented in this guard dominated shoe market. Lastly, Goodwin disproved most (including Berger) and secured a deal for Kevin Durant with Nike over the $40 Million plateau. Having the phone ring is one thing, but securing record setting deals for your client is another.
LeBron James is also an answer the phone client, but look at the endorsement deals he’s signed since he’s parted ways with Aaron Goodwin. They haven’t even totaled $1M. Believe me, if LeBron was still in Goodwin’s stable, he would have already signed lucrative restaurant, cellular phone, and car endorsement deals. Even look the way of BDA Sports has handled some of their clients marketing shoe deals. Carmelo Anthony came out of school with the marketing potential of Kevin Durant, yet he only signed a deal for $18M over six years. As well, they only were able secure a $1M per year deal for Greg Oden when he’s likely the most marketable big man since Shaquille O’neal. Those guys are both “answer the phone clients” yet their agent wasn’t able to secure deals that met their potential.
Again, getting the phone to ring is one thing, but securing record setting deals for your client is another. And outside of Henry Thomas and his team at CSMG Sports (they have handled Dwyane Wade’s endorsement deals flawlessly), there is no NBA agency that can even compare to what Goodwin Sports has done on the marketing side of things over the last five years. For independent/boutique agency to have that sort of success should be commended, not knocked the way it has been by Berger.
I guess my main beef with Berger is the fact that he has worked in the business and knows how difficult it is to close deals. It was very unfair of him to come out in middle of negotiations and to be so blindly critical of Aaron Goodwin. Especially when Goodwin seems to have done a spectacular job in handling his clients deals in the past. It seems someone might owe the Goodwin Sports staff an apology.
Goodwin is mainly associated with negotiating unprecedented endorsement deals for LeBron James during the Summer of 2003. However, the guy has been in the sports agent business (at one time or another) representing the likes of Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Paul Pierce, Dwight Howard, and Chris Webber.
His success is quite unique in that he is an independent agent without the backing of a large conglomerate such as Williams and Connoley (Lon Babby), Wasserman Media Group (Arn Tellem), or CAA (Leon Rose). He also hasn’t had to rely on a guy like William Wesley to acquire all of his clients the way one agent has (cough…Leon Rose). So the fact that Goodwin is able to secure top clients the way he has without the resources that others are working with should be commended.
If you list the top five most sought after clients of the last five NBA drafts, you’ll noticed that Aaron Goodwin’s name dominates at the top. He had James in 2003, Dwight Howard in 2004, and Durant in this year’s draft. And what he’s done with those clients has been nothing short of spectacular.
Before separating from LeBron James, Goodwin was able to secure him an unprecedented $90 million shoe deal as well as $30 million dollars worth of other endorsement opportunities. With Dwight Howard, he just completed a six year, $36 Million dollar endorsement deal for Dwight Howard and Adidas. And now he just wrapped up a series of endorsement deals for his newest blue chip client, Kevin Durant.
On the way to completing Durant’s shoe deal, there have been many stories discussing the potential deal. Sites such as Sports Business Radio, TrueHoop and CNBC have been following Goodwin’s quest to secure a shoe deal for Durant very closely. Over the last month, Brian Berger of Sports Business Radio has drawn particular interest with his commentary on the Durant shoe deal negotiations. He’s been highly critical of the way in which Goodwin handled the negotiations between Nike and Adidas. Berger felt that Goodwin should have had a shoe deal done before the draft because shoe companies try to do a lot of initial promotion during and immediately following the draft. To me this commentary is invalid, since the primary task of a sports agent is to secure the best deal possible for his/her client. If Goodwin didn’t feel that the deals were where they needed to be, who is Brian Berger to criticize a hold up of the deal?
Berger continued his criticism of Goodwin by stating that the only reason a Durant deal wasn’t signed before the draft was that Kevin Durant wanted to sign with Nike while Goodwin wanted to sign with Adidas. Berger reported that Goodwin’s incentive for wanting to sign with Adidas was an alleged secret deal that Goodwin and the Durant camp had which would only pay Goodwin if he secured a shoe deal over the $40 Million mark. According to Berger, Adidas was offering $40 million while Nike was offering $30 million, so Goodwin was reluctant to have Goodwin sign with Nike.
Yesterday a Kevin Durant shoe deal with Nike was announced. The rumored terms of the deal completely make Berger’s beef against Goodwin seem ridiculous. Neither Nike or Goodwin Sports have publicly announced the terms of the contract, but sources are reporting the deal between to be in the $50 million range (CNBC says $50M, the Seattle Times says $60M). Upon this announcement, Brian Berger did not issue an apology to Aaron Goodwin for his negative and seemingly false claims against him. All he did was update his earlier post with this statement:
“UPDATE: Aaron Goodwin is on record for the first time about Durant's deal with Nike....first reported by Sports Business Radio on Monday. Goodwin says Nike will pay Durant $60M over 7 years. He also says Durant turned down adidas' offer of $70M over 7 years. My sources tell me Durant's contract with Nike is closer to $40M than $60M, so I think the numbers in the Seattle Times story are inflated. Regardless, it seems as if Mr. Goodwin earned himself a commission on Durant's shoe deal. Goodwin would not have received a commission if Durant's shoe deal had been valued at less than $40M.”
I have a few issues with this update by Berger. First, even if there was a promise in place (which CNBC’s Darren Rovell says is untrue) and Durant really did want to sign with Nike, didn’t Goodwin still make a better deal for Durant by holding out and getting more money from the company he wanted to sign with. I mean, if Berger is to be believed, last week, Nike was only offering $30 million for Durant’s services. If they are now paying him in the $50 million range, I’d say holding out was the right call by Aaron Goodwin.
Next, what’s the point of attacking Goodwin in the middle of negotiations? Berger says he has solid sources that told him all that he was reporting. If you have an understanding of the media, you know that people in a position of power often use the media to help get things they want to happen accomplished. For instance, GM’s often plant trade scenarios in the media to distract attention away from what they are really trying to get accomplished. In this case, Berger might have been used as a pawn.
Lastly, in his update he states that Goodwin said the deal was in the $60M range, when no where in the Seattle Times article do I see a quote from Goodwin disclosing the amount of the contract. That's just bad reporting on his part and it makes it seem as if Goodwin is trying to inflate the numbers of the actual deal when several outlets (including CNBC) are reporting that the deal is way in excess of $40M.
Beyond the update, I also have a problem with Berger’s lack of balance and logic in his criticism of Goodwin. Berger praised BDA Sports for the manner in which they were able to get their client Greg Oden signed before the draft. However, he didn’t mention that BDA sports only landed Oden a deal that is going to be around $1 million per season. Oden is a big man, and traditionally big men make less money than wing players, but there is still precedent for charismatic big men securing large shoe deals (See Shaq’s shoe deals throughout his career and Dwight Howard’s recently signed 6 year, $36 Million dollar shoe deal…signed by Aaron Goodwin I might add). How can you praise someone for their marketing savvy when (based on the history of deals for charismatic big men) they’ve fallen short of securing the right amount of cash for Oden’s marketing potential? Yeah, they got their deal done before the draft, but I think holding out for more money would have probably been the better business proposition for Greg Oden.
Lastly, I’d like to refute Bergers claim that Aaron Goodwin doesn’t bring in the kind of marketing dollars that places like BDA Sports, Wasserman Media and Priority Sports do.
Those places might have more clients than Goodwin Sports, but per client, the quality and value or the endorsement deals that Goodwin Sports has acquired for its clients over the last five years certainly surpasses that of each of those agencies. Between Dwight Howard’s $36 Million Shoe Deal, LeBron James $120M in endorsements, and the deals they’ve recently secured for Durant, I’d say Goodwin Sports is doing just fine in the marketing department. And this is without having the marketing staff that the other big agencies have. If anything, Goodwin Sports should be praised for its ability to secure top dollar endorsement contracts without the resources of some of the larger firms. I’m sure Mr. Berger would probably write this off by saying that most of Goodwin’s clients are “answer the phone” clients. Meaning all an agent has to do is answer the phone to secure a deal for his client. Yes, having a highly sought after client does ensure that you will secure endorsement deals for him. However, it doesn’t ensure the amounts that you will secure for them.
As documented on many sites, Goodwin magnificently handled the LeBron James shoe deal negotiations. When negotiations began, many in the media figured that the deal would only be worth $30M-$50M. Yet, Goodwin was able to secure a record breaking $90 Million deal. With Dwight Howard, Goodwin was able to secure big time shoe money for a big man. As mentioned above, that’s pretty unprecedented in this guard dominated shoe market. Lastly, Goodwin disproved most (including Berger) and secured a deal for Kevin Durant with Nike over the $40 Million plateau. Having the phone ring is one thing, but securing record setting deals for your client is another.
LeBron James is also an answer the phone client, but look at the endorsement deals he’s signed since he’s parted ways with Aaron Goodwin. They haven’t even totaled $1M. Believe me, if LeBron was still in Goodwin’s stable, he would have already signed lucrative restaurant, cellular phone, and car endorsement deals. Even look the way of BDA Sports has handled some of their clients marketing shoe deals. Carmelo Anthony came out of school with the marketing potential of Kevin Durant, yet he only signed a deal for $18M over six years. As well, they only were able secure a $1M per year deal for Greg Oden when he’s likely the most marketable big man since Shaquille O’neal. Those guys are both “answer the phone clients” yet their agent wasn’t able to secure deals that met their potential.
Again, getting the phone to ring is one thing, but securing record setting deals for your client is another. And outside of Henry Thomas and his team at CSMG Sports (they have handled Dwyane Wade’s endorsement deals flawlessly), there is no NBA agency that can even compare to what Goodwin Sports has done on the marketing side of things over the last five years. For independent/boutique agency to have that sort of success should be commended, not knocked the way it has been by Berger.
I guess my main beef with Berger is the fact that he has worked in the business and knows how difficult it is to close deals. It was very unfair of him to come out in middle of negotiations and to be so blindly critical of Aaron Goodwin. Especially when Goodwin seems to have done a spectacular job in handling his clients deals in the past. It seems someone might owe the Goodwin Sports staff an apology.
1 comments:
$ = dollars
$36 Million dollars = 36 Million dollars dollars
Use one or the other, but not both.
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