Entry 10

This was my last week up in Portland.  I went up twice.  On my last trip we sat down and debriefed the summer experience.  I was invited to come back next summer and to possibly work as a manager on the staff in the future.  Looking back, I learned a lot about the sports agent’s career.  Although it involves knowledge of contract law and the workings of the sport you are working with (MMA for me), I experienced first hand the importance of interpersonal relationships and the ability to negotiate.  Like many other jobs, who you are networking with is extremely important.  Jason House has connections to both Bellator and the UFC.  This makes Iridium an appealing sports agency for athletes who want to compete at the highest level.  I also noticed that in negotiations some athletes would be offered as “package deals” to encourage favorable terms in a contract.  For sponsorships, social media is HUGE.  Athletes are encouraged to have a social media presence and strategic posts in order to keep sponsors happy.  Overall, I am very satisfied with my internship.  I learned a lot and was able to experience a career in my chosen sport outside of being a competitor.

Entry 9

I haven't mentioned negotiation for sponsorships in my blog yet.  Unlike negotiating a performance contract, sponsorships elicit a different value system between client and potential sponsor.  I enjoy sponsorship negotiations because it has more room for creativity.  Sponsorships come in all forms: most are product in exchange for representation whereas some sponsors pay an athlete monthly to train.  The best matches are when an athletes fits the sponsor's target market.  For instance, UFC veteran fighter Mike Pierce is an avid spearfisherman and hunter.  One of the sponsorships recently signed for him was a company that outfits hunting and fishing trips.  He will be a great representative for that company because what it sells fits perfectly with one of his passions outside of the cage.
I found with sponsorships it is important to be open minded and flexible.  Sponsors are, after all, a business looking for profit.  In what ways can the athlete help the business sell a product?  Will the athlete use it and post "x" amount of times on social media (very common), participate in public signing events, wear a patch on fight shorts/banner, mention the company in interviews?  Sometimes athletes are given a percentage of sales they make of a product.  Iridium creates "sponsorship packets" for athletes.  Essentially, the packet gives a personal insight about the fighter and has a "what can I do for you [the business]" section as the main focus.  Marketability, once again, is a very important aspect of the fight business.  When choosing clients, Iridium takes this into consideration.  Fighters signed by our sports agency are all professional and reliable.

Entry 8

I did not go up this week.  I did reading from the following book: “How to Become a Sports Agent” by John Hernandez.  I also reached out to sponsors for some of the Iridium signed athletes via phone calls and e-mails.

Entry 7

“Life is one long negotiation.”

The more I participate in real-life negotiations, the more parallels I draw between one of the books we read for Negotiation class (Getting to Yes).  In fact, I found myself glancing back frequently at class notes and the book itself over the course of my internship.  Delving into the interests of each party re-emerges as the most critical aspect of the process.  A lot of these contracts (for the UFC/Bellator) are longer term (up to 1 year, sometimes more) and often involve a lot of money.  The promotions want to make sure they are getting an athlete that is not only talented but also marketable.  For the athlete, choosing a promotion is similar to choosing a job for their fighter "resume."  They need to make sure that the contract is not too long that it might prevent them from pursuing better opportunities.  Time is of the essence because a fighter's career is notoriously short compared to some sports (injuries, age, etc).  Some promotions sign good fighters for a certain amount of fights but do not put them on shows in a timely manner.  Then the fighter is inactive until the promotion chooses to fight him or her.  To protect the fighter it is important to get a clause in the contract regarding how long of a gap they can expect between fights.  Although sponsorship provides a large amount of a fighter's income, professional fighters need to fight often to maintain an income and satisfy the sponsorships that pay them a monthly fee to continue training and competing.

Entry 6

I only came up once this week.  We decided we would do the midterm evaluation that day as well.  Overall, my feedback was very positive.  The biggest criticism I had was that I am sometimes too timid when negotiating.  I also tend to give in too quickly rather than “sitting with the conflict.”  I remember I struggled with similar issues in class.  In one of the personality tests we took, my result was “conflict avoider.”  When negotiations get heated or a conflict escalates my instinct is to pull back and give in to the more aggressive person.  I need to work on maintaining a more confident demeanor and allow both parties to struggle with the problem before I interfere and try to smooth the issues out.

You can be firm and friendly. When someone says, “This is what I’m offering you,” you can answer back, “Where did that figure come from? Out of your head? Give me some standard; I can give in to some good standards if you tell me the market value, or the appraised value of that building, or the price of that stock. I’m not going to give in simply because you asked for more.”

You want to be unconditionally constructive. Even if the opponent is acting emotional, balance the emotion with reason. If they misunderstand you, try to understand them. Even if they’re not listening, consult them on matters that affect them. Even if they’re trying to deceive you, be trustworthy yourself. Even if they’re trying to coerce you, try to persuade them and be open to persuasion. And accept them as worthy of your consideration.

Entry 5

Most of this week was pretty standard work.  However, one incident stood out that fit perfectly with what I’ve studied during my year in CRES.  I finally had an opportunity to test my mediation skills.  A conflict occurred between a manager, two athletes, and a gym owner.  The conflict centered on both sides being skeptical about the other person’s motives.  Since the conflict involved the transfer of money raised for an amateur fighter’s travel, tempers were heated.  I volunteered to sit with the three people involved and followed a modified format of the mediation procedure we learned in our CRES classes.  The most important part of the process was the act of sitting all of the parties in the same room and allowing uninterrupted time.  A lot of the misunderstanding stemmed from miscommunication.   Although at the end all the sides left with lower tension between them, a sense of distrust still existed.  I wonder if there was more I could have done to help with that aspect.  My supervisor commented that I did well and I can’t except to solve every issue completely.

Entry 4

At this point in my internship, I am taking a more active role in negotiations (under supervision, of course).  One this week stuck out in my mind in particular because it reminded me of our Negotiation class where we discussed the importance of figuring out each party’s values.  This contract was for a Bellator fighter.  The fighter is a black belt in jiu jitsu and one detriment to fighting in Bellator is that he has been banned from any gi jiu jitsu competition (risk of injury).  However, jiu jitsu is very important to him and he misses competing.  His argument was that Bellator gives him a lot of time off between fights and he should be allowed to keep his skills sharp by competing in large tournaments.  He also mentioned that winning gold at the black belt level in these tournaments would look good for Bellator.  Bellator did not want to budge on this policy.  Under Jason’s guidance, we brought up a big issue Bellator has with this fighter: he tends to gain a lot of weight in the off season (he fights at 155; a few weeks after a fight he often weighs 200+ lbs).  When we presented Bellator with the idea that allowing this fighter to compete in jiu jitsu tournaments would help him keep his weight closer to competition level, they were willing to compromise.  This situation reminded me a lot of the scenarios in class and it was very neat to see it work out in real life!  Values are key to negotiation.