The first plan of business for
Aaron Rodgers’ new marketing agency will be to focus on getting the Green Bay Packers quarterback just one major endorsement deal.
“We are not going to go out and saturate the market or saturate Aaron,” said Mark Steinberg, Excel Sports Management partner and Rodgers’ new off-the-field agent. “It’s going to be, in the short term, one big national, global-type deal and let that settle and let that simmer and see where we go from there. We are not going to go out and do three or four big national deals in the first six months. That is not conducive to Aaron’s time and schedule.”
Excel Sports Management signed Rodgers as a client in August, and Steinberg, who may be best known as the agent for Tiger Woods, will be leading his representation. Rodgers was formerly represented by Jeter Sports Management for marketing. On the field, Rodgers is represented by David Dunn, chairman and CEO of Athletes First.
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Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (above) loves golf, one reason Excel Sports Management chose Mark Steinberg (below) to rep him.
Photos by: GETTY IMAGES (2)
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Rodgers has endorsements deals with State Farm, for whom he has appeared in a series of national TV spots; Ford; and Prevea Health, a Green Bay-based health care provider. “He has been with Nike and that is in discussion,” Steinberg said, but he declined to comment further on Rodgers’ shoe deal.
Rodgers is the latest NFL quarterback client for Excel Sports Management, which was founded in 2002 by
prominent NBA agent
Jeff Schwartz. The firm also represents the Denver Broncos’
Peyton Manning and his brother
Eli Manning of the New York Giants; the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan and Tennessee Titans rookie
Marcus Mariota for off-the-field endeavors. The Manning brothers and their father,
Archie, as well as Ryan and Mariota, are clients of
Alan Zucker, who joined Excel as a full partner in 2014.
Steinberg, whose other clients include PGA Tour players Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland, joined Excel in 2011, as did MLB agent Casey Close.
Steinberg made clear last week that although he is the lead agent for Rodgers, all four Excel partners will be involved in representing him.
It is not clear why Rodgers left Jeter Sports Management, and Steinberg had no comment on that, but he said that signing the quarterback was a team effort.
“He was interviewing multiple people,” Steinberg said. “We got wind of that. We got in front of him for our interview and presentation and fortunately he chose us.”
Steinberg did not say where the interview took place or what other agencies presented to Rodgers, but said that both Zucker and Close were with him at the presentation. “Jeff was literally on a plane, out of the country, when we made the presentation, but had Jeff been here, of course [he would have attended the presentation],” Steinberg said. “When we are talking to a talent like Aaron Rodgers, we are going to have the partnership meet with him.”
Rodgers is a big golf fan and player, and has competed in PGA Tour pro-ams, one of the reasons the partners decided that Steinberg, and not Zucker, would take the lead in the presentation to sign him.
“We are one company, and that is the beauty that Jeff and myself and Casey and Alan are trying to create here — which is no silos and a cohesive group at Excel Sports,” Steinberg said. All four partners decided Steinberg would take the lead, and he and Rodgers hit it off, he said.
This is not the first non-golf client in Steinberg’s career. At one time Steinberg ran IMG’s NBA player representation practice, and he represented Vince Carter early in his career. Steinberg and Zucker co-represented NASCAR driver Danica Patrick together at IMG, and Zucker brought her to Excel as a client in 2014.
“Alan and I have worked hand in hand on a number of different accounts, so it is not as offbeat as you think it might be,” Steinberg said.
“Sometimes you like to diversify,” he said. “It’s healthy to diversify, from Alan doing different things other than football, from me doing things other than just golf.”
Rodgers has a lot of categories open for endorsements, but the main issue is how much time he has to spend on any corporate partnership, when his focus is on being the best quarterback in the NFL, Steinberg said.
Usually the selling season for NFL players has ended before the start of the regular season, but Steinberg said that is not the case for Rodgers. “Arguably, for one of the top players in the league, I don’t think there really is an on or off selling season,” Steinberg said.
> SHINE SEEKS DEALS FOR NEW MLSER: Shine Entertainment negotiated striker Giovani dos Santos’ reported $34 million deal with the LA Galaxy and is now looking for endorsement deals for the Mexican star, who has been attracting big crowds.
Dos Santos, a member of the Mexican national team that won the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics, signed a 4 1/2-year deal worth a reported $34 million with the Galaxy in July.
Dario Brignole, Shine Entertainment founder and CEO and dos Santos’ agent, would not comment on the financial terms of the deal, but said it made the 26-year-old striker one of the highest-paid players in MLS.
“LA was looking for a young Mexican or Latin player to tap into the huge Mexican population and also second-generation Latino population, and Giovani was a perfect fit to tap into this audience of soccer fans,” Brignole said.
Dos Santos’ only endorsement deal now is with Nike.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
