Episode 551: The Next Chapter - FreeGame

Speaker A: Welcome to Sports Business Secrets. I'm your host, Kevin Tarka. This podcast is specifically designed to share secrets from experts in the sports business

Speaker B: world to help you along your own

Speaker A: path to success in this industry. Each episode is packed with lessons and insights that never expire. You'll hear from general managers of professional teams, to CEOs of sports tech companies, to agents, coaches, players and everything in between. I invite you to join me in real time on my personal journey of representing players and coaches, traveling the world and always finding a way to battle through obstacles in this competitive industry.

Speaker B: Happy Tuesday my friends. Welcome back to Sports Business Secrets. I realized I have not really taken the time to give a full update on what's been going on this way. Um, and the new agency. So today's episode is going to be a lot of that. Uh, if you've listened before, you'd likely follow me on LinkedIn or Instagram or any other social spots. So you most likely got the updates and are aware of the changes. But if you haven't, first of all welcome. You're in a great spot outside of getting to listen to me. Babylon here. Uh, more importantly I bring on some of the best people in the business to learn from myself and I hope it trickles down to you, um, and you learn something as well. So uh, also if you have not, then that's what the episode is for. So today's about the agency update, uh, and then we can dive uh, into some other stuff. So I uh, spent the last almost decade, I call it building Creation Talent Agency from scratch. Uh, from just early on not getting a chance, another agency to hustling my ass off and pretending like I knew what I was doing, um, to negotiating multi year contracts in Europe and Asia to 46 different country visits and counting and the list goes on. I can, you know, I won't take this time to dive back into that. There's plenty of blog posts and uh, and pictures you can look at back on, on my website and social. But it's uh, a, it's a chapter I'll always be proud of. Um, and uh, you know I think I was only able to get to where I am today because of that chapter. So earlier this, well, I was going to say year but this summer um, about know four or five weeks ago I made a transition to join Free Game Management as the director of basketball strategy and athlete manager. And I could not be more grateful and fired up for this next chapter. I've obviously been posting about it a lot but you know, I just wanted to Dive into it a little bit, tell you more about Free, um, game and then go from there. So for starters, um, again I, I just, I like to um, reiterate this one. Creation Talent Agency wasn't started because I had all my shit together. It started because no one else gave me a chance. And leading up to joining Free Game, I mean every single year pretty much, uh, mostly during the summertime or after the college season, I would have conversations with new agencies, some big agencies, um, and everything in between. Those didn't really go anywhere. Not for any specific reason. Well, probably a handful of reasons. But, um, you know, I, I, I had conversations with some good friends. I, I am, I feel like I'm a bit unique. I do have a lot of good, what I consider good friends in the industry, other agents, uh, other people running boutique shops. But for whatever reason it just didn't align. Right. Whether it was a timing thing or um, a lack of a financial commitment on the other side, or the vision or the strategy, uh, it is what it is. It was always something and that's fine. I just kind of kept my head down and knew that, you know, I wanted to continue to build kta and if the time was right, the time was right. And uh, that, uh, that was pretty apparent uh, this summer, um, when I got connected, the Free Game crew, Jordan Taylor, Derek Brown, um, because it's a great crew and for me it just immediately makes sense for, for a handful of reasons. And quite quick, shout out to my guy, Tyler Hines, because he was the first one that hit me and said, look, this could be a great, a great fit. Um, obviously very, very grateful to have been friends with my guy Tyler for a long time. Shout out New Jersey. Um, but he just, he knew my values and mission. And when he started to share what Free Game was up to, um, it made a lot of sense. It aligned those things. Most importantly, the values and mission aligned, um, the strategy aligned. And that's sometimes where it got off track with other conversations. All the other details, uh, you know, were figured out as, as we went. Um, and I'm going to talk a lot more about the crew, you know, uh, jt, db, Tyler and, and, and there's a, there's a, a lot of other amazing people that do various things and, and, and have different roles in Free Game. Uh, that will come in due time. But for now I want to come in here and, and tell you more about Free Game. So Free Game, like many other companies, is a full service athlete management firm.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: We currently have branches in Men's and women's basketball, football uh, and volleyball. And friendly reminder to my European friends because I know a lot of uh, the people that listen to this are, are from across the water. Um, I know I joke about that all the time but this time I'm talking actual American football. Um, who knows, in, in the future maybe, maybe we'll do some uh, some European football or soccer. But uh, but for now it's men's, women's basketball, uh, football and volleyball. So we represent athletes in those sports from high school, those who need support, guidance, education uh, for them and their families because they're about to make a huge choice in, in the beginning of their long term uh career, uh all the way to college. Obviously helping navigate the new landscape from uh rev share opportunities to uh, proper nil and brand partnership opportunities and then obviously into the, into the professional stage of athletes careers. Um, we have three Game Ventures which is truly the growth engine of Free Game in my opinion. Um, and we're just getting started with it which really sits in the intersection between elite talent and high potential brands. So we create these innovative partnerships with brands and we actually represent a roster of brands. So um, Free Game obviously includes, um, I'm sorry, Free Game Ventures obviously includes uh, individual brand partnerships for the athletes that we represent, align sponsorships for our clients but it also includes storytelling and a lot of athletes. Every athlete has a story, right? I think a lot of that goes um, unshared because there's no property, uh, there's no proper structure strategy around telling that story. Right. I'm not talking about, and I joke about this a lot athletes, uh, with all due respect, Kardashians, athletes don't have to be the Kardashians. Athletes don't have to be you know, 24, 7 influencer. Is it a part of it? And we talk about that for sure. Um, you know it's a reality that if you want to open that door to the storytelling and you know the social media and that, that uh, you know that pathway then you can and it's important and it could only help. It can be complimentary to what we say a lot is keeping the main thing the main thing. But Free Game Ventures also includes a macro level strategy that allows us to aggregate all of our clients and all of our brands for, for maximum impact and exposure. And I'll have Nibia on at some point to dive into that further but for now that's just that that 30,000 foot view. Um, a couple other questions that I've been getting. Uh, that I just want to kind of tackle here. Am I still repping pros? Of course. That's always gonna be part of my DNA. That's obviously a big part of, of athlete management and the agent side. Um, and by the way, my guys that were with me at uh, KTA are, are still with me. Um, I know I had a, um, a lot of clients over the years and in the past couple years a few have retired. Um, but, uh, but you know, the, the main guys that have been with me for the jump are still with me. And, and the way that I explain it is it's more of a branding shift to be honest. Instead of KTA posting announcements and highlights, it's just going to be free game. Um, and obviously that, that doesn't happen. Um, uh, it doesn't always happen where all your clients come over to a new agency. Um, I'm just grateful to have guys with me that from the jump that believe in me and empowered me to play a small role in their career. Right. So for them it made, it made total sense because there's no real downside. Right? It's a, sticking with me, um, you know, and sticking to our plan that we built from the beginning. Uh, and then B, there's just a bigger team behind them, just like it is for me. So some of that added value in the brand side and the client relations and all the other cool stuff we have going on. Um, so with that being said, of course I'm still repping pros, but I'm, I'm fired up to start representing high school and college players as well. The last several years I kind of planted those seeds, if you will.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Nurtured relationships at all levels from high school to prep school to jucos to college. Obviously Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, the pro level here in the states, the NBA, the G League and abroad. Um, but I really just kind of did some things behind the scenes when it came to the nil stage. Uh, and this role really allows me to connect all the above, uh, and get involved early, which is very needed to help build out that long term strategy. And the reality is that it should be a long term strategy. Uh, there's a lot of this landscape now that's very transactional. Um, that's the reality of it. Uh, because on paper, uh, signing a contract within a few weeks of getting into the portal to get paid to play the game you love, there's a certain extent of that that is transactional. But the earlier you can start, the better. If you're just Starting to think about your long term strategy and where you want to take this game, um, or where you want this game to take you, uh, your junior senior year of college. Uh, I don't want to say it's too late because it's never too late, but the reality is you could have probably been more effective or productive in your plan if you started early and if you built the right crew around you to help you do that. So uh, again, the only way that I was able to do this and shift some of my focus and really expand some of the athletes I represent is because of the bigger platform and the bigger and stronger team behind me and working with me. Right. You have to realize how much goes into this. Uh, and I was at a point where I just couldn't do everything myself. If I'm being honest. I probably was several years far past that point. Um, but at the core I'm still representing athletes and helping them make the best career decisions that might be, um, ah, a um, senior or super senior in college that's transitioning into their pro career and they might end up across the water or they might end up in the G League or they might end up, um, you know, on in the NBA draft. Uh, or it could be a high school student trying to figure out the last year or two of their high school career to set themselves up for a college career. Or you know, a lot of it will be college athletes who, um, just need some guidance, uh, you know, navigating this landscape. So, um, that was that question. Am I focusing on more international or domestic? Is another question. I get the answer is both.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: I've lived and worked in markets all over the world, um, which has been, um, you know, uh, a blessing to say the least. And free game just kind of gives me the resources to merge all of that with the U.S. landscape, uh, the college landscape, the nil landscape. Um, I could probably go on for another hour about this stuff, but let's just take it one day at a time. Short answer is, uh, yes, I'm, I'm, uh, obviously this is a global game and it's all interconnected, so there will be certain intricacies of how much time I spend abroad or uh, what pathway I spend abroad on the pro side versus the youth prospects side versus here in the States. Yes, a lot of the focus is going to be in the States, but it's just all connected. Um, so I know I've been rambling for a while now, you know, a little bit about the new chapter. So when you see Me posting that, the Free Game logo, or reposting things from the account, uh, that's where we're at. So one thing I want, and it's important to me, I want families and athletes to take away from this is education is so big. And it's not just education in terms of textbook and academics in school, that's of course a part of it, but just understanding the business, um, educating yourself on the business, because it's changing rapidly. But it is imperative for you to, um, do that as you go through this process. Um, know the rules, know the market, ask the right questions. What questions are you asking when you're going through that recruiting process? If you're an athlete, listening, yes, that's to you, but also to families and also to people in their circle. Because let me tell you, coaches, GMs, NBA teams, they're asking questions not just to you. They do their due diligence. They know more about you and your background than you can ever imagine. I promise you that. Uh, but you should flip it around and educate yourself how to do that. When you go on an official visit. What do you know about the coach? What questions are you asking? What do you know about the school? What do you know about the players who transferred out or transferred in, where they came from, where they went. What about alumni who came through? Do they come back? You got to ask. You have to do your homework. And now I'm getting fired up going on another tangent. But, um, it's not easy. Uh, if it was easy, then everyone will be doing it. So doing it the right way, um, and doing it, uh, with the crew around you is important. And the education, the experience, relationships part, uh, that's what we're here for. So I close with, uh, gratitude, with excitement. Um, um, I'm grateful For the last 10 years in this space that I've built that really led me to today. And I'm m even more excited about what's ahead at Free Game. We're building something special one day at a time, as always. But I truly believe it's going to change the way athletes approach their careers. And I'm honored to, um, be a small role of it. So appreciate you tuning in and we'll make sure to get back here more often. Um, make sure you give a follow to, uh, Free Game on socials. We've got some cool stuff coming out this week. And as always, if you need anything or have a question, you know where to find me. Have an amazing day.