A sports agent discusses building billion-dollar careers for athletes. He shares his journey, overcoming personal struggles, and the inspiration behind a famous movie character based on him. We learn about empowering women in sports and the evolution of the sports industry into a lucrative business.
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Quick takeaways
Leigh Steinberg started as a sports agent by chance, emphasizing the importance of listening skills and understanding clients' values.
The sports industry has evolved with increased revenue opportunities and early player representation, focusing on athletes' personal brands and community impact.
Deep dives
Lee Steinberg's Journey as a Sports Agent
Lee Steinberg stumbled into the world of sports agent by representing the first overall pick in the 1975 NFL Draft, Steve Bartkowski. He emphasizes the importance of listening skills, establishing trust, and understanding his clients' values and aspirations. Steinberg shares his strategy of recruiting athletes based on their personal qualities and background, focusing on role modeling, community impact, and long-term success.
Evolving Sports Industry Dynamics and Player Representation
The sports industry has undergone significant changes, with skyrocketing revenues from television contracts and expanded opportunities for athletes to build personal brands and engage in endorsement deals. Steinberg highlights the shift towards early player representation due to name, image, and likeness opportunities, emphasizing the role of agents in guiding athletes towards success beyond their playing careers.
Empowering Athletes and Impacting Communities
Steinberg stresses the importance of sports stars giving back to their communities and embracing second careers beyond sports. He recounts successful stories of players like Warren Moon, who overcame challenges and racism to achieve excellence on and off the field. Steinberg's focus on developing athletes as role models and philanthropists underscores his commitment to creating positive societal impacts through sports.
Lawyer Leigh Steinberg had no big dream to become a sports agent. He was a huge sports fan, but the job was not something he was aspiring to – more something that he stumbled across.
Today, he's built up a career representing more than 300 professional athletes across a range of disciplines: from big money-making sports like football and basketball, to Olympic gymnastics; building sporting careers worth billions of dollars.
His influence in sport is so influential that he's often credited as the real-life inspiration for the sports agent in the film Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise.
We speak to Leigh Steinberg about how he started his career as an agent, how he builds a brand around a sports star, and how he's succeeded in such a competitive environment - overcoming some personal struggles along the way. And - how he responds when members of the public approach him with the famous phrase, "Show me the money".
(Picture: Leigh Steinberg. Credit: Getty Images)
Presenter: Roger Hearing
Producers: Matt Lines and Hannah Mullane
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