Creative Artists Agency has signed ESPN broadcaster
Stephen A. Smith for exclusive representation in all areas, including broadcasting, endorsements, publishing and speaking.
A team of agents across CAA will represent Smith. He had been represented by
Headline Media for broadcasting and
WME-IMG for marketing work.
 |
Smith had been represented for broadcasting work by one firm and marketing by another.
Photo by: ESPN IMAGES
|
Smith is host of ESPN’s morning show “First Take” and appears on “SportsCenter,” “NBA Countdown,” “NFL Countdown” and “College GameDay.” He hosts the daily “Stephen A. Smith Show” on Sirius XM and occasionally guest stars on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” as “Brick,” a character who does surveillance work for a mobster.
WME-IMG signed Smith about a year ago for marketing, but sources said he left that agency a few months ago. He had been represented by New York-based Headline, which specializes in broadcasters across sports, news and entertainment, for the last few years.
> PLAYBOOK SIGNS “PUDGE” RODRIGUEZ FOR BROADCAST WORK: Playbook Inc. has signed former MLB catcher and 14-time All-Star Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, now a broadcaster, for exclusive broadcasting representation.
Reed Bergman, Playbook Inc. founder and CEO, will lead the team representing Rodriguez. He had not been exclusively represented for broadcasting.
Rodriguez, who retired from MLB in 2012, has been working as an analyst for Fox Sports Southwest for the last three years, but Bergman said he is in talks for Rodriguez to join a network in a national role.
“We are going through the ‘car wash,’ as they like to say,” Bergman said. “We are trying to find the best fit culturally and personality-wise where not just Pudge, but the networks, can win with what I believe is a transcendent talent.”
Bergman said that he is talking with all the networks as well as digital platforms that have a large presence covering MLB, and that the fact Rodriguez is bilingual opens up a lot of opportunities. Fox Sports, ESPN/ESPN Deportes, Turner Sports, Univision, MLB Network, MLB Advanced Media, Yahoo, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News are among the candidates.
Rodriguez retired in 2012 and is in his third year of working on Fox Sports Southwest, Bergman said. A hard worker on the field, he’s done the same becoming a broadcaster.
His first year at Fox Sports Southwest, he was scheduled to do 20 pregame and postgame shows and ended up doing 40. Last year he was asked to make 60 appearances and this year he has more than 80 appearances scheduled, Bergman said.
Playbook agents Gerry Matalon and Kristin Bredes LaFemina have been working with Rodriguez “to continue his growth as a broadcaster,” Bergman said. Playbook also is representing Rodriguez on a nonexclusive basis for marketing and endorsement work.
Rodriguez is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, and some baseball writers think he has a chance at making it on the first ballot.
Bergman said Playbook is talking to Fortune 500 companies about deals for Rodriguez. “He certainly belongs in the Hall of Fame and we would require all partners to activate around those activities,” he said.
> WASSERMAN SIGNS YOUNG SOCCER PLAYER MCKINNIE: Wasserman has signed top young American soccer midfielder Weston McKinnie and negotiated a deal for him to play with FC Schalke 04 of the German Bundesliga.
McKinnie is being represented by agents Richard Motzkin and Cory Gibbs.
McKinnie, 18, is the MVP of the U20 U.S. men’s soccer team and was much sought after by MLS team Dallas FC.
“In Weston’s case, he had two very good choices to turn professional — one with FC Dallas and one with Schalke 04,” Motzkin said. “While not an easy decision, Weston chose Schalke 04, given that he has spent part of his youth in Germany and he felt it was a tremendous opportunity.”
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
