The Gersh Agency, a veteran Hollywood talent firm that entered the sports business with a splash less than two years ago by acquiring the firm of NFL agents Steve Feldman and Josh Luchs, has quietly let those agents go, an agency spokeswoman said.
The football business did not meet Gersh’s financial expectations, she said.
But a Gersh executive who also left the company to form a new business with Luchs and Feldman said the Hollywood agency didn’t give the football division enough of a chance and said the decision was pressured by the potential for economic hardship brought on by the writers strike.
“I think they made a hasty decision under financial duress,” said Hugh Dodson, who resigned as Gersh’s COO and CFO last year.
Meanwhile, the two agents who were the cornerstones of Gersh’s foray into sports have both come under the scrutiny of the NFL Players Association’s agent disciplinary committee in recent months. Luchs began a one-year suspension from representing NFL players late last month, and Feldman is facing a two-year NFLPA-imposed suspension, pending an appeal.
Both agents officially left the Gersh Agency on Jan. 1.
“The Gersh Agency advised Feldman and Luchs in October they would not be renewing their deal,” said Lynda Dorf, a Gersh spokeswoman. Although the NFLPA disciplinary matters played a part in the decision, “it really boiled down to economics,” the spokeswoman said. “The football wasn’t meeting its financial expectations.”
Luchs and Feldman did not return phone calls.
But Dodson, who recently became an NFLPA-certified agent, said that he, Luchs and Feldman are forming a new company. The three are “launching a new entity that will fulfill the vision I had when I was at the Gersh Agency,” Dodson said. “Our plans are to diversify and add other sports like basketball, baseball, coaches and marketing.”
Dodson, who worked at Gersh for eight years, Gersh originally had a three-year deal with Feldman and Luchs and that in the first year the football division exceeded revenue projections by 30 percent.
But in 2007, there was a projected revenue shortfall in the football division and Gersh sought to renegotiate the deal with Luchs and Feldman, Dodson said. Gersh officials had no knowledge that either agent faced a potential suspension when they reopened their deals, he said.
Dorf said Gersh intends to continue to operate its sports division. The agency acquired the practice of baseball agents Joe Longo and Matt Walker last year and has moved into the area of representing mixed martial arts athletes.
The firm represents about a dozen MLB players as well as mixed martial arts star Randy Couture.
Luchs and Feldman represent about 21 NFL players, including New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. They also represent, with Dodson, several prospects for the NFL draft.
Luchs began his one-year suspension Jan. 28, after NFLPA arbitrator Roger Kaplan upheld the discipline imposed on him by the union’s Committee on Agent Regulation and Discipline. Luchs was alleged to have received payment from a player made payable to Luchs’ former employer, NFL agent Gary Wichard.
The committee voted to suspend Feldman for two years for allegedly initiating contact about representation with two NFL players under contract to two other agents. Feldman continues to be certified to represent NFL players until an NFLPA arbitrator rules on that case. The hearing is set for March 5.
