S. Samuel
Rap mogul Jay-Z recently discussed the make-up of his Roc Nation Sports and why other companies will have to show their true value or else risk losing clients.
Young Hov said the creation of Roc Nation Sports will break old habits and lazy traditions set by sports agencies for years.
“Within two months we had Robinson Cano and Kevin Durant,” Jay said in an interview referring to the New York Yankees and Oklahoma City Thunder superstars. “[The other companies,] they’re fighting it. They’re fighting it because it means you have to work now. You have to work now and they’re not comfortable with that. They’ve been spending 15, 20 years just sitting back and collecting the check and now they have to get out, get up and they have to work and they have to care about these clients because they’re going to see the work we’re doing and say, ‘Hold on, wait a second. Why am I not getting this sort of service? What are you doing? What have you been doing this week?’ Those questions are going to start coming so they’re intimidated by that. The fact that they have to work and they’re intimidated by the fact their clients are going to want to come to us. But if they’re doing a great job, there’s no reason for any client to switch.” (BBC Radio 1)
Jigga also said he believes Roc Nation Sports will ultimately make agents reconsider how much time and effort they put into their clients’ careers.
“This is people’s lives. They think they’re going to hang around me because I’m famous but they can do that anyway. They don’t have to sign to Roc Nation,” Jay added. “Those two reasons. They think their clients are going to leave them. Their conscience is telling them, ‘I’m not really earning a check. I’m not really earning,’ because if you’re confident and I know that I’ve done a great job, I have no fear of that because, I’m doing a great job. But their conscience is telling them, ‘I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing and this is not cool that someone’s around that is threatening to really do the job. So I really have to get up now.’ … Some guys sign and they never see the agent. They see them on the signing day and just never them [again]. And hoping to get fired because they have this tale that they still get paid. They’re almost hoping to get fired.” (BBC Radio 1)
A few days ago, Jay’s client Robinson Cano landed his first multi-million dollar deal with Pepsi.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports has landed New York Yankee Robinson Cano his first multimillion dollar sponsorship deal. The Yankee second baseman has signed a national deal with Pepsi to be the face of Major League Baseball for the beverage company. Cano’s first Pepsi ad will break at Citi Field during the All-Star game tomorrow. The Yankee slugger will also join Pepsi’s passion-driven “Live for Now” campaign, of which Beyoncé and Blake Shelton are also participants. Cano signed with Roc Nation in April as the newly formed agency’s first client, severing ties with his former agent Scott Boras. Cano said at the time he was signing with Roc Nation because he was “ready to take a more active role in my endeavors on and off the field.” (New York Post)
Recently, Roc Nation’s Kevin Durant defended his decision to join forces with Team Hov.
“It just seemed like a perfect move to me, something that there’s no risk in doing,” Durant told ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell in a “SportsCenter” interview. “Jay-Z is someone who is a guy who is well-respected in the business area, a guy that has done so well for himself and his brand. I’m looking forward to partnering with him and learning as much as I can from him.” (ESPN)
Check out Jay-Z’s interview:
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