Evan Kaplan has worked at the MLB Players Association for 23 years, but for the past six months, he’s been navigating the union’s business arm in the midst of the pandemic.
Kaplan was quietly named managing director of MLB Players Inc. in April. He replaced Tim Slavin, who was MLBPI president, but left that month to become managing partner and chief legal officer of OneTeam Partners, the new partnership between the MLBPA, NFL Players Association and RedBird Capital Partners.
Evan Kaplan has worked at the MLBPA since 1997.MLB Players Inc.
Kaplan took the reins of the union’s business unit just as Opening Day was suspended and then as business was rocked by games starting without fans in the stands because of COVID-19.
“So we lost the stadium channel, which, on the players’ side, is the primary channel for apparel and hard goods,” Kaplan said. On the bright side, he said, online businesses have been picking up some of the slack. He pointed to BreakingT, which received heavy exposure throughout the playoffs when many players, including on the champion Los Angeles Dodgers, wore the company’s apparel.
“People are ordering more products online than ever before,” Kaplan said. “Our direct-to-consumer licensees are surviving. They took some hits for a while when the game wasn’t being played with the late start, but they have come back quicker.”
The MLBPA created MLB Players Inc. in 2019, similar to NFL Players Inc. and NBA Players Inc., to handle business beyond just core licensing.
Kaplan has been working at the MLBPA since July 1997, first as a licensing assistant, and then holding multiple other positions before being named head of the business unit in April. MLBPI rolled out a new logo last week introducing its official brand.
“We are just trying to amplify who we are,” Kaplan said. “We represent players. We want people to know who we represent and what we are about. We are all about the players and we are actively promoting it the way we haven’t before.”
OneTeam is focused on further commercializing player name, image and likeness rights, including group licensing, player marketing and venture capital. From a management of rights standpoint, MLBPI still manages everything but video game rights (handled by OneTeam) for baseball players, including trading cards, apparel and sponsorships, among other things, Kaplan said. OneTeam continues to prospect on new deals, but works with MLBPI to finalize terms.
Kaplan pointed to trading cards, which have seen a sudden, and to many a surprising, rise in popularity, as another shining light on the horizon for MLBPI. “We are seeing increases through every channel,” Kaplan said. “I talk to these hobby stores and they say the business is the best it’s ever been.”
■ JUNGREIS REPPING TWO NBA FREE AGENTS: NBA agent Brian Jungreis is representing two free agents, guards Fred VanVleet and Malik Beasley, both of whom are expected to draw interest in free agency later this week.
VanVleet, who last played for the Toronto Raptors and was a key player in that team’s 2019 championship win, is an unrestricted free agent and was ranked No. 3 by Hoops Hype on its list of free agents. Beasley, who last played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is a restricted free agent and is ranked No. 29 by Hoops Hype.
Jungreis, who was certified by the National Basketball Players Association in 2018, left You First Sports this summer. This year, free agent negotiations begin on Saturday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m. ET and players can sign contracts with teams beginning at 12:01 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 22.
■ FIELDS REPPING MORRIS TWINS: Chafie Fields, a Wasserman NFL agent who represents many top football players, has signed his first NBA player clients — twins Marcus and Markieff Morris, both forwards and unrestricted free agents.
Marcus last played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Markieff last played for the Lakers. Fields, who joined Wasserman last year, was recently certified by the NBPA to represent NBA players.
“I have always wanted to be a sports agent, not a football agent, not a basketball agent, but a sports agent,” Fields said. “So now with the support of Wasserman and the resources of Wasserman, the timing was right for me to spread my wings.”
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
