CAA's Tom Condon Named Most Influential Sports Agent

Condon Tops List Of Most Influential Sports Agent

CAA Sports' July '06 acquisition of SFX, the subsequent merging of the two practices, and the success CAA agents TOM CONDON and BEN DOGRA have achieved since then, "has created the most dominant athlete representation practice in the NFL and arguably the greatest array of sports talent in any one field at any one agency," according to SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Liz Mullen, who ranks Condon No. 1 and Dogra No. 6 on the list of "The 20 Most Influential Sports Agents." Condon and Dogra together represent 130 active players, "thought to be the most of any NFL agency." But it is the "quality of the players they represent that appears to be unprecedented." The player list includes: "four of the last five overall No. 1 picks in the NFL draft; four of the last five league MVPs; the last two Super Bowl MVPs; seventeen players selected for this year's Pro Bowl; and one-quarter of the starting [QBs] in the NFL." Former Cowboys VP/Player Personnel GIL BRANDT: "There has never been anything like it ... for quality and depth." Former Reebok, adidas and Nike exec SONNY VACCARO said CAA Football's numbers are "staggering." Mullen notes some "point to the fact that CAA does not represent some of its most marketable football stars for marketing," including Colts QB PEYTON MANNING, Giants QB ELI MANNING, Chargers RB LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (repped by IMG) and Vikings RB ADRIAN PETERSON (repped by 10 Sports' BILL HENKEL). But CAA "has, in the last two years, negotiated major endorsements for clients, including Powerade, Nike and EA Sports deals for [Chargers LB] SHAWNE MERRIMAN; Nike, Gillette and Subway deals for [Browns QB] BRADY QUINN; and a slew of deals for [Cowboys QB] TONY ROMO." CAA also "is completing a deal with Starter that could pay Romo as much as $10[M]." The chart below lists the top 20 most influential sports agents (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/18 issue). To view a list of agents sports execs said they most like dealing with, see today's Back of the Book.

ANK	AGENT	POSITION
1	Tom Condon	CAA Sports Co-Head, Football
2	Arn Tellem	WMG Management President
3	Scott Boras	Scott Boras Corp. President
4	Drew Rosenhaus	Rosenhaus Sports President
5	Phil de Picciotto	Octagon President, Athletes & Personalities
6	Ben Dogra	CAA Sports Co-Head, Football
7	Mark Steinberg	IMG Golf Global Managing Dir
8	Mark Bartelstein	Priority Sports & Entertainment CEO
9	Peter Carlisle	Octagon Managing Dir, Olympics & Action Sports
10	Sandy Montag	IMG Senior Corporate VP
11	Seth Levinson	ACES Inc. President
12	Pat Brisson	CAA Sports Co-Head, Hockey
13	Donnie Meehan	Newport Sports Management President & Founder
14	Joel Segal	BEST Football President
15	Casey Close	CAA Sports Head Of Baseball
16	Bill Duffy	BDA Sports President
17	Jill Smoller	The William Morris Agency Sports Head
18	Eugene Parker	Maximum Sports Management President
19	Danny Lozano	Beverly Hills Sports Council Partner
20	Maverick Carter	LRMR Innovative Marketing & Branding CEO