A sports agent procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete.

In return, the sports agent generally receives between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, though these figures vary. An NFL agent is not allowed to receive more than 3% of his client's playing contract, and an NBA agent is not permitted to receive more than 4% of his client's playing contract.^[1]

Role[link]

A sports agent helps market athletes or products associated with that athlete to promote an athlete's career. Agents are responsible for communications with team owners, managers, coaches, and other individuals. Primarily, agents are used to broker and negotiate contracts for their clients. Also, they are responsible for making recommendations in regards to the athlete's options. In addition to finding income sources, agents often handle public relations matters for their clients. In some large sports agencies, such as IMG, Creative Artists Agency, and Octagon, agents deal with all aspects of a client's finances, from investment to filing taxes.

Sports agents may be relied upon by their clients for guidance in all business aspects, and sometimes even more broadly. For example, hockey agents start recruiting clients as young as 15, allowing the agent to guide the athlete's career before the NHL draft, which happens usually at 18 years of age.

Due to the length and complexity of contracts, many sports agents are lawyers or have a background in contract law. Agents are expected to be knowledgeable about finance, business management, and financial and risk analysis, as well as sports. It is important for a sports agent to follow trends in sports. Other skills an agent must possess are excellent communication and negotiation skills. Agents must be highly motivated, willing to work long hours, and have the ability to multitask. It is very common for agents to be in negotiations on behalf of several clients at one time.^[2]

Some agents are part of large companies, and some are on their own.^[3] The number of clients an individual agent can handle and how many clients his or her employing agency can handle in total are interdependent variables.

Before the 1990s, most soccer players did not use agents. In some cases, they used their fathers as agents. Due to most parents' naivete about the football business, these young footballers were often given less-than-stellar contracts by football clubs, which yielded lower salaries than they thought they deserved.^[4] In Sweden, there were only three licensed agents in 1995.^[5] As of 2002, there were 33. According to FIFA, there were 5,187 licensed association football agents world-wide, with 600 agents in Italy alone.^[6] Since 2001, agents have not been licensed by FIFA. Instead, agents are now licensed directly by each association.

Media depictions[link]

The popularity of television shows such as Entourage, which stars a talent agent named Ari Gold, and Arliss, have helped glamorize the profession.^[7] Prior to that, movies such as Jerry Maguire, Two for the Money, and Any Given Sunday depicted sports agents. In England, ITV's Footballers' Wives put a new spin on sports agents by casting a no-holds-barred female agent Hazel Bailey.

Due to the popularity of these works, there has been increase of attention in the profession. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's son decided to become a football agent.^[8]

Notable sports agents[link]

American football[link]

Football agent Drew Rosenhaus

• Tom Condon: co-head of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Football. Clients include Peyton Manning and Tony Romo.
• James "Bus" Cook: Clients include Brett Favre, Jay Cutler, and Calvin Johnson.
• Ben Dogra: co-head of CAA Football. Clients include Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, and Joseph Addai.
• Jason Fletcher: former player turned agent. Clients include Antonio Cromartie, Jamar Fletcher, Clinton Portis, and Fabian Washington.
• Bob LaMonte: founder and president of Professional Sports Representation. Clients include Mike Holmgren, Brad Childress, and Josh McDaniels.
• Eugene E. Parker: negotiated the highest signing bonuses in NFL history for Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders. Real-life inspiration for flamboyant character "Rod Tidwell" in the film Jerry Maguire.
• John "JR" Rickert: Clients include Joshua Cribbs, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Kevin Burnett, and Mike Patterson.
• Drew Rosenhaus: Clients include Plaxico Burress and Trae Adidas Day.
• Joel Segal: president of BEST Football. Clients include Reggie Bush, Santonio Holmes, and Chris Johnson.
• Leigh Steinberg: Clients include Troy Aikman and Ben Roethlisberger. Real-life inspiration for fictional sports agent Jerry Maguire in the film of the same name (he has a cameo appearance in the movie).^[9]

Australian football[link]

• Ricky Nixon: former player, who was the AFL's first full-time player manager^[10]

Baseball[link]

• Barry Axelrod: Clients included Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Rick Sutcliffe, and executive Kevin Towers.
• Scott Boras: Clients include Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder.
• Casey Close: Clients include Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard.
• Greg Genske: Successor in sports agency formerly run by Jeff Moorad (baseball) and Leigh Steinberg (football).
• Randy Hendricks: Partnered with his brother, Allan; they sold their firm to SFX (now Live Nation), and bought it back again.
• Joe Kehoskie: Small agency; frequently quoted by media regarding Cuban defectors and baseball in Latin America.
• Bo McKinnis: Clients include David Price.
• Matt Sosnick: Clients include Dontrelle Willis. Sosnick is subject of the book License to Deal by Jerry Crasnick.^[11]
• Arn Tellem: Clients have included Albert Belle, Mike Mussina, and Chase Utley. Also a basketball agent (see below).
• Joe Urbon: Clients include Jason Bay and Grady Sizemore.

Basketball[link]

• Jeff Austin is head of Octagon's Basketball division, and was ranked 11th in the "12 Best Sport Agents in the World" in 2010 according to Business Insider^[12]. His clients include David Robinson, Moses Malone, Kirk Hinrich, Stephen Curry, and Jimmer Fredette.
• Mark Bartelstein (see also Priority Sports and Entertainment): Basketball and football agent. Clients have included Kurt Warner and Gordon Hayward.^[13]
• Bill Duffy: Clients include Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings, Greg Oden, Yao Ming, Baron Davis, and Steve Nash.
• David Falk: Outdated agent. Clients have included Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, and Dikembe Mutombo. In the 1990s he was generally considered the most influential player agent in the NBA,^[14][15] but is now semi-retired.
• Dan Fegan: Noted for creating several nuances in the most recently expired NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. Clients include John Wall, Dwight Howard, and Ricky Rubio.
• Aaron Goodwin: Terminated by LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford. Goodwin now represents Candace Parker.
• Roger Montgomery: Managed Desmond Mason, Maurice Evans, and Jeremy Lin.^[16]
• Rob Pelinka: Former basketball player at the University of Michigan. Clients include Kobe Bryant and Carlos Boozer.
• Leon Rose: Agent of LeBron James.
• Arn Tellem: Clients include Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal, Pau Gasol, and Joe Johnson. His clients' total salaries in 2007–08 season added up to more than $210 million.^[17]

Cricket[link]

• Neil Fairbrother: Former England cricket player, now Director of Cricket at International Sports Management. Clients include: Andrew Flintoff, Marcus Trescothick, Steve Harmison, and Graham Onions.

Alex Robinson: son of former England & Nottinghamshire batsmen, Tim Robinson, is Managing Director of Target Sports Management who deal with a number of cricketers on the professional circuit

European basketball[link]

• Craig McKenzie: American basketball agent. Worked for Eugene E. Parker on Deion Sanders. Clients included three-sport athlete Charlie Ward, Marcus Brown, JR Bremer, and Mire Chatman.^[18]

Association football[link]

• Jorge Mendes: Portuguese agent. Founder of GestiFute. Clients include Falcao, Anderson, Quaresma, Deco, Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo, and José Mourinho.
• Paul Stretford: English agent. Clients include Wayne Rooney. Set up Triple S Sports Entertainment Group in 2009 after leaving Proactive Sports, which he originally established.
• Pini Zahavi: Israeli agent. Handled deals involving the transfers of Tevez, Yakubu, and Rio Ferdinand.
• Peter Morrison: English agent and former player, now working for James Grant Sports Management. Credited with deals for Michael Johnson, Stephen Ireland, Ali Al Habsi, and Cameron Stewart.
• Milan Calasan: Montenegrin agent. His agency (Mondialvas) represented Christian Karembeu, manager Arsène Wenger, and Nikola Žigić.
• Charles Duddy: Scottish agent. CEO of Premier Sports Management Int Clients include(d) Charlie Adam, Andy Wesbter, Alan McGregor, Johnny Russell, James Forrest.

• Claes Elefalk: Swedish agent. Clients include Freddie Ljungberg, Pontus Farnerud, and Nils-Eric Johansson, plus several NHL ice hockey players.
• Roger Ljung: Former Swedish International player, owns his own agency (Roger Ljung Promotion AB). Represented Freddie Ljungberg until 2006. Clients include Marcus Allbäck, Daniel Andersson, Patrik Andersson, Erik Edman, Andreas Isaksson, Kim Källström, Marcus Lantz, and Teddy Lučić.
• Martin Dahlin: Former Swedish international player; works for Roger Ljung Promotion AB
• Dan Segal: US agent. Clients include Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, Tim Howard, and Bobby Convey.^[19]
• Peppino Tirri: Italian agent. Clients include Wesley Sneijder, Luis Figo, Esteban Cambiasso, Rivaldo, and Antonio Cassano.
• Andrea D'Amico: Italian agent.
• Lyle Yorks: US agent for James Grant Sports Management. Clients include Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Jozy Altidore, and Ryan Nelsen.

Golf[link]

• Mark Steinberg: Clients include Tiger Woods; former head of golf division at IMG.^[20]
• Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler: Former European Tour golfer. Clients include golfers Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, and Christina Kim.^[21] Rory McIlroy was a client of Chandler until October 2011, when he left for Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management.^[22]

Ice hockey[link]

• Ritch Winter: over 70 clients.
• Gilles Lupien: former NHL defenceman; current Canadian ice hockey agent. Clients include Roberto Luongo.
• Don Meehan: president of Newport Sports Management. Over 100 clients in the NHL, including Jarome Iginla and Chris Pronger.
• Tatiana Ovechkina, two-time basketball gold medalist, is her son Alexander Ovechkin's agent. She brokered a 13-year, $124 million contract.^[23]
• Allan Walsh in 2004 merged his hockey representation with Octagon Hockey. His clients include Marc-Andre Fleury, Patrik Elias, Martin Havlat, and Milan Michalek.^[24]

Olympics[link]

• Peter Carlisle: Clients include Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, Apolo Anton Ohno, Seth Wescott, and Chris Klug.^[25]

Notable former sports agents[link]

• Colleen Howe (deceased): ice hockey, late president of Power Play International and Power Play Publications managing hockey careers and business interests of her husband Gordie Howe and their sons Marty and Mark Howe.^[26]
• Camilo Marin (deceased): Cuban-born horse racing agent. Clients included Laffit Pincay, Jr., Braulio Baeza, Jorge Velasquez, and Manuel Ycaza.
• Mark McCormack (deceased): American golf agent, and principal originator of modern sports agency industry.^{[citation needed]} First client was Arnold Palmer. Founded IMG (originally "International Management Group").
• Jeff Moorad: Former baseball agent and former partner of Leigh Steinberg, now baseball executive and part-owner of San Diego Padres.
• Charles C. Pyle (deceased): American football; clients included Red Grange and Wildcat Wilson; founder of first American Football League (1926).
• Gary Wichard (deceased): American football, three dozen clients, the inspiration for the movie Jerry Maguire.
• Marvin Demoff: Clients included former Miami Dolphins Quarterback Dan Marino.

Sports agency groups[link]

There have been some efforts to transform the sports agency business from an individual, entrepreneurial business, to more of a corporate structure. These experiments met with varying degrees of longevity and success.

• Creative Artists Agency: "CAA" – acquired various pieces of the sports agency business of SFX (see below), starting with football.
• IMG – International Management Group – corporate agency established by entrepreneur Mark McCormack, originally with a specialization in golf and tennis. After the death of McCormack the company was acquired by private equity group Forstmann Little.
• International Sports Management – British sports agency run by former European Tour golfer Andrew "Chubby" Chandler.^[27]
• Octagon Worldwide – Full-service sports agency and event marketing group, traded with advertising and marketing companies in the Interpublic Group.
• Priority Sports and Entertainment- Agency representing the most NBA players, run by Mark Bartelstein.
• Rosenhaus Sports- sports agency run by Drew Rosenhaus.
• Sports Management Worldwide – (SMWW) – global sports agency founded by Dr. Lynn Lashbrook.
• Wasserman Media Group: acquired Arn Tellem's basketball agency from SFX, and usually represents the most players in NBA lottery draft each year.
• James Grant Sports Management – global football, rugby and sports media agency, with offices in London, Manchester, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Guadalajara.

Formerly active agencies[link]

Some sports agency firms were once prominent, but are now gone or reorganized:

• Assante Corporation – Canadian public company that acquired the Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn agency, then acquired other agencies including Dan Fegan & Associates and Maximum Sports Management in an unsuccessful effort to build multi-sport corporate agency.^[28]
• SFX Entertainment (now Live Nation, a publicly traded company) – in 1998 SFX agreed to pay up to $150 million in cash, stock, and bonuses for F.A.M.E., the sports agency run by David Falk, the agent for basketball players Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing. SFX also acquired two other major sports agencies, Arn Tellem's agency (Tellem & Associates) and the baseball-oriented firm run by Randy Hendricks and Allan Hendricks.^[29] SFX would later reverse course, and sell off the pieces of its large sports agency business.
• Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn ("SMD") – a multi-sport agency sold in October 1999 for reported $120 million to Canadian financial firm. Defections of principals, and litigation, followed. Originally led by entrepreneurial agents Leigh Steinberg and Jeff Moorad.^[30]

See also[link]

• Entertainment Law
• Talent agent: discussion of the agents that represent entertainment talent and may also participate in sports agency.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Business of Sports Agents, by Kenneth L. Shropshire, Timothy Davis, 2008, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-0-8122-4084-9
• License to Deal: A Season on the Run with a Maverick Baseball Agent, by Jerry Crasnick, 2005, Rodale Books, ISBN 978-1-59486-024-9
• An Athlete's Guide to Agents: 5th Edition, by Bob Ruxin with Darren Heitner, 2009, Jones and Bartlett, ISBN 978-0-7637-7611-4
• How To Be A Sports Agent, by Mel Stein, 2008, High Stakes Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84344-045-1

[edit] References

1. ^ Finke, Nikki. "TOLDJA! ICM Management Buyout Complete". http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/toldja-icm-management-buyout-complete/. Retrieved 27 May 2012. 

Leigh William Steinberg (b. March 27, 1949 in Los Angeles, California) is an American sports agent and sports lawyer. His client list has included Steve Bartkowski, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Kordell Stewart, Jeff George, Ben Roethlisberger, Myron Rolle, Matt Leinart, Mark Brunell, Ricky Williams, Howie Long, Eric Karros, Dusty Baker, Lennox Lewis, Oscar de la Hoya and John Starks.

Steinberg is often credited as the real life inspiration of the sports agent from the film Jerry Maguire.^[1]

Background[link]

Steinberg was born and raised in Los Angeles by his parents, a teacher and a librarian, who pushed public service along with ambition.^[2] He attended Hamilton High School, and was elected student body president and voted most likely to succeed.^[3] He attended the University of California, Los Angeles for one year before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. Upon his arrival at Berkeley, Steinberg became a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.^[4] Steinberg eventually formed his own student government political party, called Unity. His moderate politics at the protest-prone Berkeley at the height of the Vietnam War drew such a following that he was elected President of the Associated Students of the University of California, the university's student government, but was forced to resign early in his term for cheating on an exam.^[5][6] He earned a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley in 1970.

He subsequently attended Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law where he was intending to become a public defender when he met his first client, Cal quarterback Steve Bartkowski while working as a dorm adviser, and subsequently was asked to represent the future number one pick. Steinberg was admitted to the California State Bar in 1974 after earning his J.D. from Boalt in 1973.

Business[link]

For many years Steinberg and Jeff Moorad had a sports agency partnership (Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn or "SMD"). They sold that firm in October 1999 to Assante Sports Management Group, a Canadian financial-management firm, for a reported $120 million.^[7] Assante acquired several other sports agencies. In February 2002, David Dunn left SMD to open Athletes First, taking about 50 N.F.L. players with him and opening offices about a mile from Steinberg's in Newport Beach, Calif. Extensive litigation ensued involving Dunn and Assante.^[8] Steinberg later reacquired some pieces of the agency he had sold to Assante. Steinberg’s firm, Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, maintains offices in Newport Beach, California.

Steinberg is also a board member for DeskSite^[9].

Representation[link]

Steinberg made an appearance in the film Jerry Maguire^[10], and is often credited as the real life inspiration of the sports agents from that film.

Media appearances and book writing[link]

He has been featured on national television programs such as “60 Minutes,” “Larry King Live,” “The Today Show” and in magazines such as Business Week, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, People, Success, Forbes, Playboy and GQ.

Steinberg wrote a best-selling^[11] book with Michael D'Orso, "Winning with Integrity: Getting What You Want Without Selling Your Soul", published by Three Rivers Press in October 1999^[12].

Personal life[link]

He lives in Southern California and has three children.

Bankruptcy[link]

Steinberg describes his financial problems as having mounted since 2003, when he became involved with extensive litigation with Dunn and Assante^[13] (see above), escalating with his 2008 divorce settlement,^[14] and also exacerbated by problems with alcoholism.^[13][15] Steinberg was arrested for DUI in 1997^[16] and again in 2007,^[17] and for public intoxication in 2008,^[18] all in Newport Beach, California. In December 2011, it was reported that a bench warrant had been issued against Steinberg after he failed to appear at a scheduled hearing, concerning an unpaid judgement of $1.4 million, by far the largest of several debts he owes;^[14] however, in fact the bench warrant was authorized by a judge but never issued.^[13][15] On January 11, 2012 Steinberg filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.^[13][15]

Sobriety[link]

On March 24th, 2012 Steinberg’s friend and business partner, Richard Gillam, threw Steinberg a party at Gillam’s Shady Canyon home in Irvine, California to commemorate Steinberg’s second year of sobriety and to celebrate his 63rd birthday. Two-hundred (200) guests were in attendance, showing a broad range of support for Steinberg’s sobriety achievements.^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment Website
• Interview with Leigh Steinberg - NFL.com - February 12, 2011
• Interview with Leigh Steinberg - NFL Draft Bible - September 01, 2009
• Interview with Leigh Steinberg - Sports Agent Blog - April 2008
• Sports Illustrated: February 14, 2011 "What Was He Thinking?"

Jerry Maguire is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr and Renée Zellweger. It was written, co-produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe. The film released in North American theaters on December 13, 1996, distributed by Gracie Films and TriStar Pictures.

The film received mostly positive reviews and, on a $50 million budget, was a financial success, bringing in more than $270 million worldwide.

Plot[link]

Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a glossy 35-year-old sports agent working for Sports Management International (SMI). After suffering a nervous breakdown as a result of stress and a guilty conscience, he writes a mission statement about perceived dishonesty in the sports management business and how he believes that it should be operated. He distributes copies of it, entitled "The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business". His co-workers are touched by his honesty and greet him with applause, but the management sends Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr), Maguire's protégé, to fire him. Jerry and Sugar call all of Jerry's clients to try to convince them not to hire the services of the other. Jerry speaks to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), one of his clients who is disgruntled with his contract. Rod tests Jerry's resolve through a very long telephone conversation, which culminates in the famed "Show Me the Money!" scene. Meanwhile, Sugar secures most of Jerry's previous clients. Frank "Cush" Cushman (Jerry O'Connell), a superstar football prospect from Southern Methodist University expected to be #1 in the NFL Draft, also stays with Jerry after he makes a visit to the Cushman home. Leaving the office, Jerry announces he will start his own agency and asks if anyone is willing to join him, to which only 26-year-old single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger) agrees. The two had previously bumped into each other in the airport and Boyd had told Maguire personally how inspiring she found his "memo".

Jerry travels to the NFL Draft with Cush and convinces Rod to come too, to meet representatives of other NFL teams. Though Rod at first feels neglected compared to the superstar Cush, Sugar contacts Matt Cushman (Beau Bridges), Cush's dad, while Jerry is in the lobby with Rod and re-signs Cush to SMI. Jerry is devastated and turns to his fiancée Avery (Kelly Preston) for support, but she rebukes him and he breaks up with her. He then turns to Dorothy, becoming closer to her young son, Ray, and eventually starts a relationship with her. However, Dorothy contemplates moving to San Diego as she has a secure job offer there. Jerry concentrates all his efforts on Rod, now his only client, who turns out to be very difficult to satisfy. Over the next several months, the two direct harsh criticism towards each other with Rod claiming that Jerry is not trying hard enough to get him a contract while Jerry claims that Rod is not proving himself worthy of the money for which he asks. Jerry marries Dorothy to help them both stay afloat financially and to keep her from moving away. He is emotionally and physically distant during the marriage, but is clearly invested in becoming a father to Ray. Although Dorothy is in love, she breaks up with him because she believes he does not love her.

Before the start of a Monday Night Football game between the Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, Sugar attempts to steal Rod, but is rebuked by Rod and Jerry. The two reconcile soon after. Rod plays well but appears to receive a serious injury when catching a touchdown. He recovers, however, and dances for the crowd, which cheers wildly. Afterwards, Jerry and Rod embrace in front of other athletes and sports agents and show how their relationship has progressed from a strictly business one to a close personal one, which was one of the points Jerry made in his mission statement. Jerry then flies back home to meet Dorothy. He walks in and, in front of her friends, says "Hello." He then speaks for several minutes, telling her that he loves her and wants her in his life, ending with the statement, "You complete me." Dorothy's reply is that Jerry, "You had me at hello". Rod later appears on Roy Firestone's sports show. Unbeknownst to him, Jerry has secured him an $11.2 million contract with the Cardinals that will allow him to finish his pro football career in Arizona. The visibly emotional Rod proceeds to thank everyone and extends warm gratitude to Jerry. Jerry speaks with several other pro athletes, some of whom have read his earlier mission statement and respect his work with Tidwell. The film ends with Jerry, Dorothy and Ray walking in the park and stumbling across a Little League baseball game. When the ball lands near them, Ray throws it back; a surprised Jerry then comments on his natural throwing ability (and possible future in sports), much to Dorothy's dismay.

Cast[link]

• Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire
• Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Rod Tidwell
• Renée Zellweger as Dorothy Boyd
• Kelly Preston as Avery Bishop
• Jerry O'Connell as Frank "Cush" Cushman
• Jay Mohr as Bob Sugar
• Regina King as Marcee Tidwell
• Bonnie Hunt as Laurel Boyd
• Jonathan Lipnicki as Ray Boyd
• Todd Louiso as Chad the Nanny
• Jeremy Suarez as Tyson Tidwell
• Aries Spears as Teepee Tidwell
• Mark Pellington as Bill Dooler
• Jared Jussim as Dicky Fox
• Ingrid Beer as Anne-Louise
• Glenn Frey as Dennis Wilburn
• Drake Bell as Jesse Remo
• Christina Cavanaugh as Mrs. Remo
• Toby Huss as Steve Remo
• Eric Stoltz as Ethan Valhere
• Lucy Liu and Ivana Milicevic as Former girlfriends
• Beau Bridges (uncredited) as Matt Cushman

Cameos Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr., former NFL quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe, Troy Aikman, and Warren Moon, German ice skater Katarina Witt, then-current Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer, and former Detroit Lions coach Wayne Fontes play themselves in the film.

Other NFL players that make cameos as themselves are Tim McDonald, Johnnie Morton, Rick Mirer, Rob Moore, Ki-Jana Carter, Herman Moore, Art Monk, Kerry Collins, and Dean Biasucci.

Sportscasters Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Roy Firestone, Mike Tirico, and Dan Dierdorf also make cameos.

Former NBA basketball player Brent Barry is featured in the film as an athlete who wouldn't sign an autograph for a young boy.

Actresses portraying ex-girlfriends of Maguire include Alison Armitage, Emily Procter, and Stacey Williams. Reagan Gomez-Preston also had a minor role in the film as part of the Tidwell family.

Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell makes a brief appearance in the film as a copier store clerk.

Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay makes a cameo as Jerry Maguire's boss.

Reception[link]

Critical response[link]

The film received critical acclaim, with a 85% positive reviews on the film-critics aggregate Rotten Tomatoes. Its critical consensus states: "Anchored by dazzling performances from Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Renée Zellweger, as well as Cameron Crowe's tender direction, Jerry Maguire meshes romance and sports with panache."^[2] Cuba Gooding, Jr. won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Rod Tidwell, the Arizona Cardinals football player who sticks with Maguire. Cruise was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the movie marked Renée Zellwegger's breakout role. The film itself was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and crew members on the film were nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing awards.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3/4 stars, writing that there "are so many subplots that Jerry Maguire seems too full" and also commented that the film "starts out looking cynical and quickly becomes a heartwarmer." He concluded that the film "is often a delight" and "is about transformation: About two men who learn how to value something more important than money, and about two women who always knew."^[3] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote "An exceptionally tasty contempo comedic romance, 'Jerry Maguire' runs an unusual pattern on its way to scoring an unexpected number of emotional, social and entertaining points. Smartly written and boasting a sensational cast, Cameron Crowe's shrewdly observed third feature also gives Tom Cruise one of his very best roles..."^[4]

Box office[link]

The film debuted at number one.^[5] It earned $17,084,296 its opening weekend, and eventually grossed $153,952,592 in North American box office and approximately $119,600,000 overseas for a $273,552,592 worldwide total, on a budget of $50 million.^[1]

Legacy[link]

Jerry Maguire spawned several popular quotations, including "Show me the money!" (shouted repeatedly in a phone exchange between Rod Tidwell and Jerry Maguire), "You complete me", "Help me help you", and "You had me at 'hello'" (said by Renée Zellweger's Dorothy Boyd after a lengthy romantic plea by Jerry Maguire), and "Kwan", a word used by Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s Tidwell meaning love, respect, community, and money, also spelled "quan" and "quawn", to illustrate the difference between himself and other football players: "Other football players may have the coin, but they won't have the 'Quan'". These lines are largely attributed to Cameron Crowe, director and screenwriter of the film. Zellweger said of filming the famous "hello" line, "Cameron had me say it a few different ways. It's so funny, because when I read it, I didn't get it—I thought it was a typo somehow. I kept looking at it. It was the one thing in the script that I was looking at going, 'Is that right? Can that be right? How is that right?' I thought, 'Is there a better way to say that? Am I not getting it? I just don't know how to do it.'"^[6] A video blog "Everything Is Terrible!" is running a campaign to salvage remaining VHS copies of the movie.

Accolades[link]

In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Jerry Maguire was acknowledged as the tenth best film in the sports genre.^[7][8] It was also voted by AFI as #100 on its list of 100 Passions.^[9] The quotes "Show me the money!" and "You had me at 'hello'" were also ranked by AFI on its list of 100 Movie Quotes, ranked #25 and #52 respectively.^[10]

Academy Awards

• Best Actor (Cruise, nominated)
• Best Editing (Hutshing, nominated)
• Best Picture (nominated)
• Best Screenplay – Original (Crowe, nominated)
• Best Supporting Actor (Gooding Jr., won)

Chicago Film Critics Association

• Best Supporting Actor (Gooding Jr., won)

Directors Guild of America

• Outstanding Directing – Motion Pictures (Crowe, nominated)

Golden Globe Awards

• Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Cruise, won)
• Best Film – Musical or Comedy (nominated)
• Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Gooding Jr., nominated)

Image Awards

• Outstanding Actor – Motion Picture (Gooding Jr., nominated)

Satellite Awards

• Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Cruise, won)
• Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Gooding Jr., won)
• Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Zellweger, nominated)

Screen Actors Guild

• Outstanding Actor – Motion Picture (Cruise, nominated)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor (Gooding Jr., won)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress (Zellweger, nominated)

Writers Guild of America

• Best Screenplay – Original (Crowe, nominated)

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #100
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • Secret Garden – Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Show me the money!" – #25
  • "You had me at "hello."" – #52
  • "You complete me." – Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated
• AFI's 10 Top 10 – #10 Sports Film (also nominated Romantic Comedy)

Soundtrack[link]

The movie soundtrack includes:^[11]

• The Durutti Column – "Requiem Again"
• Rickie Lee Jones – "The Horses"
• The Replacements – "I'll Be You"
• Paul McCartney – "Momma Miss America"
• Paul McCartney – "Singalong Junk"
• Elvis Presley – "Pocket Full of Rainbows"
• Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – "The Lonely Bull"
• Merrilee Rush – "Angel of the Morning"
• The Who – "Magic Bus" and "Getting in Tune"
• Nirvana – "Something in the Way"
• AC/DC – "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"
• Tom Petty – "Free Fallin'"
• Neil Young – "World on a String"
• Bob Dylan – "Shelter from the Storm"
• Bruce Springsteen – "Secret Garden"
• The Rolling Stones - "Bitch"
• Aimee Mann – "Wise Up"
• a clip of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus performing (Mingus' piece is "Haitian Fight Song")

"Secret Garden", originally a Springsteen track from 1995, was re-released in 1997 after its exposure in the film and on the soundtrack, and peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.^{[citation needed]}

The film was scored by director Crowe's (now former) wife, Nancy Wilson,^[12] who was a member of the rock band Heart.

Home video releases[link]

• Jerry Maguire (1997),
• Jerry Maguire (1997) Deluxe Widescreen Presentation,
• Jerry Maguire (2002) Special Edition,
• Jerry Maguire (2008) (+ BD Live [Blu-ray}

Based on[link]

Sports agent Leigh Steinberg was the inspiration for the movie, and acted as Technical Consultant on the crew.^{[13][14][15][16]}

See also[link]

• Cinema of the United States
• List of American films of 1996

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jerry Maguire

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rod Tidwell

• Jerry Maguire at the Internet Movie Database
• Jerry Maguire at Metacritic
• The Jerry Maguire Journal, a log kept by Crowe during the film's production and published in Rolling Stone in December 1996.
• "Things we think and do not say", the memo that led Maguire to establish his own agency
• Jerry Maguire, film script (text document)

The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels.^[1] TSN is owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture of Bell Media (80%) and ESPN (20%).

Bell Media also operates additional TSN-branded properties, including TSN2, TSN Radio 1050, TSN Radio 990, TSN Radio 1290 and two part-time regional feeds, Canadiens on TSN and Jets on TSN.

History[link]

Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 2, 1984 as Action Canada Sports Network,^[2] the channel was launched by the Labatt Brewing Company on September 1st of the same year as "The Sports Network", or "TSN". TSN was formed partly to promote Labatt's flagship products, but also to act as a vehicle for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team (which was also owned by Labatt at the time). In 1989, TSN also launched a sister French language service, Réseau des sports (RDS).

Due to CRTC regulations on the foreign ownership of broadcasters, Labatt was forced to sell TSN and RDS upon its acquisition by Interbrew in 1995. Labatt's broadcasting assets were sold to a privately held consortium named NetStar Communications, the investors of which included a number of Canadian firms as well as ESPN, which held about 30%.

Acquisition by CTV, expansion[link]

In 2000, after ESPN blocked two attempts by the Canadian partners to sell NetStar to Canwest, CTV Inc. acquired the Canadian partners' shares thanks in part to ESPN's disapproval of Canwest. CTV Inc. was acquired by Bell Canada and The Woodbridge Company (owners of The Globe and Mail newspaper) as part of the joint venture Bell Globemedia in 2001. As a result of its purchase of TSN, CTV would be forced to sell its regional sports network CTV Sportsnet, eventually selling it to part-owner Rogers Media. Incidentally, while TSN would move its operations to CTV's Agincourt complex after the acquisition, Rogers Sportsnet would not immediately move from Agincourt, effectively having the two competing networks sharing the same headquarters. This oddity would become an inside joke between personalities on both networks, would be referenced on-air by personalities on both networks, with many referring to moving between TSN and Sportsnet as "crossing the parking lot." Rogers Sportsnet would move from Agincourt to a new studio at the Rogers Building in Downtown Toronto in 2008.^[3]

Plans were made to re-launch TSN as ESPN Canada in 2001. However, due to the name recognition and value of the brand, the TSN name was maintained. However, TSN would begin incorporating elements of ESPN's branding into their own throughout the year, including a new logo using a similar design to ESPN's, and the renaming of its sports news program SportsDesk to SportsCentre (a variation of ESPN's SportsCenter, rendered using Canadian English).

In 2001, TSN would also launch a number of sister digital specialty channels; including a local version of ESPN Classic, and the NHL Network — a network devoted to ice hockey and the National Hockey League. TSN only holds minority interest in NHL Network however, it is also owned in part by Insight Sports and a consortium of the NHL and several of its Canadian franchises.

Beginning in 2006, the CRTC officially allowed TSN to operate national secondary digital feeds with limited amounts of alternative programming.^[4] Following this development, TSN began to use such a feed to broadcast additional programming that could not be aired on TSN due to scheduling conflicts or other events. On August 29, 2008, the feed evolved into a new 24-hour channel, similar to ESPN2, known as TSN2.^[5]

In October 2010, TSN announced the launch of a part-time feed to carry regional broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games, in the eastern Canadian territory shared by Montreal and the Ottawa Senators.^[6] This feed (referred to on the Canadiens' website as "TSN Habs"^[7])

Acquisition by Bell, TSN Radio[link]

On September 10, 2010, Bell Canada announced plans to re-acquire 100% of CTVglobemedia's broadcasting arm, including its majority control of TSN. Under the deal, Woodbridge Company Limited, Torstar, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan will together receive $1.3 billion in either cash or equity in BCE, while BCE will also assume $1.7 billion in debt (BCE's existing equity interest is $200 million, for a total transaction value of $3.2 billion). Woodbridge has since simultaneously regained majority control of The Globe and Mail, with Bell retaining a 15% interest in December 2010. The deal closed on April 1, 2011, after the CRTC approved the sale on March 7, 2011.^[8]

After a longstanding speculation about TSN's interest in launching its own TSN-branded radio network, TSN entered radio broadcasting with the launch of the first TSN Radio station, a re-launch of AM station CHUM in Toronto on April 13, 2011.^[9] Bell Media's Bell Media Radio division already operates several sports radio stations elsewhere in Canada most of which currently branded under The Team moniker (which was introduced by previous owner CHUM Limited in its own failed attempt at establishing a national sports radio network), and it is expected that (if the launch of TSN Radio 1050 was a success) they will eventually adopt the TSN Radio branding as well, forming a sports radio network.^[10]

Also in 2011, TSN acquired broadcast rights to the returning Winnipeg Jets, through another regional TSN feed for the Jets' home market, and radio coverage on Bell-owned CFRW^[11] (which, along with Montreal station CKGM, also migrated to the TSN Radio brand on October 5, 2011)^[12] Additionally, Bell would also launch TSN Mobile TV, streaming versions of TSN and TSN2 offered through Bell Mobility's Mobile TV services.

On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced that it would sell its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to two major telecommunications companies; Bell Canada (TSN's main parent company) and Rogers Communications (owners of the competing Sportsnet chain of sports channels) with a 37.5% share each (Larry Tanenbaum will increase his ownership to a quarter of the company as well), in a deal expected to be valued at around $1.32 billion in total.^[13] The deal is expected to be completed in summer 2012, pending the approval of Canada's Competition Bureau, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (with regards to MLSE's TV channels), as well as the leagues for each of MLSE's main sports franchises. The deal is expected to have a major impact on future broadcast rights for MLSE's teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, as their ownership of the teams will offer enhanced coverage for the team through new platforms such as mobile television.^[14]

Following the announcement however, concerns were again raised by critics, speculating that Bell Media may attempt to acquire full rights to the NHL once CBC's current contract with the league expires in the 2013-14 season — using their potential ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL's highest valued franchise, as a impetus for such a coup. Concerns were also raised that such an arrangement could prevent wireless service providers other than Bell and Rogers from accessing its content. However, the CRTC ruled in favor of Telus in a decision requiring Bell and other media companies to allow other competing wireless providers access to its content, and not exclusively tie it to their own service.^[14]

Programming[link]

TSN's flagship news program is SportsCentre, a sports news program airing several times throughout the day. Formally known as Sportsdesk, it was re-vamped to closer resemble ESPN's own SportsCenter (including the use of its theme music, logo, and opening) in the Fall of 2001 as part of a corporate restructuring, closer aligning itself with new minority owner ESPN. In 2006, a new studio was built in order to prepare the show for its transition to high definition television — becoming the first daily news program in Canada to be produced in HD beginning on September 25, 2006. Other original programs on TSN include the talk show Off The Record, the automotive newsmagazine Motoring, and TSN The Reporters.

Through its minority ownership of TSN, the network also airs some of ESPN's original programming as well, including Pardon the Interruption, Sunday NFL Countdown The Sports Reporters, and other ESPN programs and documentaries.

Significant domestic broadcast rights[link]

As of the 2008 season, TSN is the exclusive broadcaster of the Canadian Football League, airing all of the league's games, including the season-ending Grey Cup.^[15] The network also airs the Vanier Cup, the country's championship university football game.^[16]

In February 2011, TSN announced that it had began a new broadcasting relationship with Major League Soccer, airing 24 matches during the 2011 season that involved the league's Canadian clubs, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 30 games will be shown by TSN in 2012 due to the addition of the Montreal Impact to the MLS. In addition the network, along with TSN2 will broadcast a package of other regular season games, the MLS All-Star Game, MLS Cup Playoffs and the MLS Cup.^[17]