Show me the money, Ricky Nixon - The Age, 03/03/08
Kinda Dog related, but kinda not so I threw in here: Show me the money, Ricky Nixon Steve Butler | March 3, 2008 http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/-or-at-least-how-to-find-it/2008/03/03/1204402367117.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 Fancy yourself as the next Jerry Maguire? Player manager Ricky Nixon is not content trying to sign up the next generation of AFL superstars, he’s trying to train their agents as well. Steve Butler reports. A BOLD new breed of Jerry Maguires is being groomed under a revolutionary new electronic school for sports player agents. AFL manager pioneer Ricky Nixon has developed an online, interactive course that already has been undertaken by some of the competition’s star players and has been included in Victoria University’s curriculum. Nixon is also negotiating with the AFL Players Association to make completing the course a prerequisite for accredited agents in the competition. That is likely to mean that the AFL, which is under increasing competitive pressure from soccer, will soon hear a greater collective call to "show me the money" — a catch-cry made famous on the big screen by Tom Cruise in the blockbuster movie Jerry Maguire. And like the theme of the film, Nixon is determined to ensure his proteges follow an ethical platform in a profession that often had its morality questioned. "For the life of me, I can’t believe you can become an accredited agent and all you’ve got to do is prove you’re not an axe murderer and haven’t been to jail in the last 10 years and that’s about it," Nixon said. "That’s being flippant, but you should have an education. To get a driver’s licence, you’ve got to go and learn to drive, and if you’re going to be a sports agent, you should learn to be a sports agent. "You can’t just say today, ‘I want to be an accountant’ or ‘I want to be a lawyer’. For the AFL’s benefit and the benefit of the junior players or potential draft picks and parents, everyone should have to have done a course." Nixon said there were still some illegal practices in the agent industry, including giving inducements such as signed memorabilia to prospective clients. But Nixon hoped his course would help fight the problem. "The horror stories you hear from the US don’t happen here, but what is creeping into our game here, which annoys me, is the cheating of the system to sign players and the inducements that are provided," he said. "There are inducements for parents who aren’t wealthy such as holidays or money or accommodation and that’s been going on for a while. Nick Riewoldt will also tell you about an agent who took him to the casino and other places when he was 17, trying to sign him up. "You cheat the system and, at the end of the day, you’ll get caught out, it’s as simple as that. Whether it takes one minute or 10 years, someone will dob you in." Nixon became the AFL’s first full-time sports agent in 1993 after playing 63 games with Carlton, St Kilda and Hawthorn and his first major client was North Melbourne’s Wayne Carey. He remains former West Coast captain Ben Cousins’ manager. Nixon unashamedly admitted to looking for new opportunities in the industry when some of his former employees left to start businesses to compete with him. But his core business is still booming, with 17 of last year’s AFL draftees joining his management stable, including fi =rst-round picks Jarrad Grant (No. 5) and Lachie Henderson (No. 8). Nixon said interest in becoming a sports agent, particularly in the AFL, had sky-rocketed in recent years. It led him to devise his course, which is based around a similar live audio program in the US, which uses the internet to educate people in a variety of professions ranging from sports administrator to NASCAR broadcaster. Part of the course includes a weekly online lecture with Nixon and at the end of each week, participants also join a live online discussion group with him and other leading players and officials in sport. Issues covered are compatible with most elite sports and include negotiating contracts, recruiting, how to get started in the industry and the hot topic of crisis management. "Everybody wanted to be a phys-ed teacher in the ‘80s and now it seems everybody wants to be a sports agent," he said. "What people don’t realise is that it’s pretty much 24/7 and while it’s easy to say that all you seem to do all day, every day is clean up messes, you’ve got to go with the good and the bad and there’s a lot that’s satisfying about being a sports agent. I suppose everyone’s driven by different things, but it’s what happens out there (on the field) on Saturday is what drives you. "Nick Riewoldt was always going to be a star and he’s a fantastic bloke, so that gives you certain satisfaction. But someone like Steven King last year, going from the depths of depression in the middle of the season to play in a VFL premiership and then an AFL premiership a week later and then maybe another one this year with a different club … that drives you a lot more than some of the other stuff." Western Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson — one of the course’s star graduates along with St Kilda pair Nick Dal Santo and Xavier Clarke, Melbourne’s Cameron Bruce and Essendon’s Nathan Lovett-Murray — said he had watched the role of the player agent grow significantly over his 14-year AFL career. "The style has definitely changed over the years," Johnson said. "It gives players a different service to draw upon because there’s a lot more that management offers these days. You can certainly go to them and ask any question you like and they’ve usually got an answer for you. "I’ve always been interested in sports management and it’s very important in modern footy. The biggest thing is that your manager is honest with you and upfront because that’s how you develop the trust that you need. "It seems to be all off field stuff, but it’s how you’re performing on the field as well and that’s where you really want to get your honest feedback. They don’t pull any punches and they tell you straight up. "The course for me is all about keeping your knowledge up in different areas so that when you’ve finished footy, you might have a couple of different options to go into." A new course at flyingstartonline.com.au starts today.

I wish he would find a rock to crawl under... AFL agents aren't too bad though, it's generally the player who makes all the big decisions and they are mostly footy based instead of money based (those who defect to Richmond excluded). What we don't want is for the competition to turn into the NRL where a few top players leave any given club every season, often announcing a contract with a rival a full season out.