USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale profiles MLB agent CASEY CLOSE and notes he and his company, Excel Sports Management, this year negotiated $700M in contracts, the "largest total during a single offseason in baseball history." Close in "just applying the standard 4% fees alone" netted $28M for his company "in a three-month span." There were "seven contracts this offseason worth at least" $100M, and Excel "negotiated four of them," including Dodgers P CLAYTON KERSHAW's seven-year, $215M deal. Other nine-figure deals included those with Yankees P MASAHIRO TANAKA, Braves 1B FREDDIE FREEMAN and Reds P HOMER BAILEY. Yankees SS DEREK JETER has "been represented by Close since he was 18." Dodgers P ZACK GREINKE, another of Close's clients, said, "He has better ethics than most. There are other very good agents out there, but they are very slimy" (USA TODAY, 3/18).
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| M.I.A. is being pursued in arbitration by the NFL for her Super Bowl performance |
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Eriq Gardner noted the NFL has been "secretly pursuing" rapper M.I.A. in arbitration since Super Bowl XLVI, when she "extended her middle finger" during the halftime performance. M.I.A. "wasn't paid for the event," but the NFL spent the first two years of arbitration demanding $1.5M for "allegedly breaching her performance contract and tarnishing its goodwill and reputation." The NFL now has "added an additional claim," seeking $15.1M more "in 'restitution' as the alleged value of public exposure she received by appearing for an approximately two minute segment during MADONNA's performance" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 3/17).
DANCING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK: Univ. of Florida men's basketball coach BILLY DONOVAN was named SEC Coach of the Year and "earns $25,000 for the coaching award and another $50,000 for the top-ranked Gators finishing in the top 10" in the final AP poll. Donovan already has "earned $50,000 for winning the SEC regular-season title, $25,000 for the SEC tournament and $37,500 for making the NCAA tournament." The NCAA bonus would "increase to $75,000 for advancing to the Sweet 16, $100,000 for making the Final Four and $150,000 for winning the national championship" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/18).
SECRET'S OUT: Former FIFA VP JACK WARNER and his family were paid almost $2M from "a Qatari firm linked to the country's successful bid" for the '22 World Cup. Warner appears to have been paid $1.2M by a company "controlled by a former Qatari football official shortly after the decision to award the country the tournament." Documents show that "payments totaling almost" $750,000 were made to Warner's sons and a "further $400,000 was paid to one of his employees." The FBI is "now investigating" Warner and his "alleged links to the Qatari bid." His eldest son has been "helping the inquiry as a cooperating witness" (London TELEGRAPH, 3/18).
NAMES: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge KEVIN GROSS yesterday "signed a final decree ending the Dodgers' time in his court." Former Dodgers Owner FRANK MCCOURT "took the team into bankruptcy on June 27, 2011, after [MLB Commissioner] BUD SELIG rejected a proposed television contract that would have served as McCourt's financial lifeline" (LATIMES.com, 3/17)....Late Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Exec Dir & CEO BETTY JAYNES will posthumously receive the ’14 Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award on April 7 (WBCA)….The Tennessee Golf Association in conjunction with its centennial anniversary has published “TITANS OF THE TGA: FIFTY PEOPLE WHO HELPED SHAPE THE TENNESSEE GOLF ASSOCIATION’S FIRST HUNDRED YEARS” (TENNESSEAN.com, 3/17).
IN MEMORY: Former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pirates beat writer CHARLEY FEENEY died yesterday at the age of 89 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 3/18).
