Larry Brown Sports

Jeremy Lin graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics, so he’s not about to get schooled when it comes to financial issues. With that in mind, Lin applied to trademark the term “Linsanity.” It’s a smart business move by Lin, who if he receives the trademark, will be paid a licensing fee for companies to use the term on merchandise. He just has to beat out a few others who also applied for the trademark.

But here’s the weird thing: he also reportedly is competing with his agent for the trademark. Huh?

From Bloomberg:

Lin’s agent, Roger Montgomery, also filed his own Linsanity application on Feb. 14, one day after Lin’s. An e-mail seeking comment from Montgomery about the reasoning behind his separate filing wasn’t immediately returned. Deese declined to comment about Montgomery’s filing.

So is Lin’s agent trying to beat the player and capitalize for himself? Is he working in conjunction with Jeremy, hoping that having two horses in the race gives them a better shot at winning it? Did he not know about Lin’s application and filed on his own? It’s a weird scenario, and darn it, we want answers, Roger!

Jeremy Lin is so popular and coveted by advertisers, he’s had to turn down many offers. Luckily Nike already has an established relationship with him from when he turned pro in 2010, and they’re reportedly looking to take things to the next level.

Last week we shared a report saying Nike planned to create a signature shoe for him. Now we’re hearing Nike is making a “Linsanity” shirt that will soon be available online and in stores. Nike also reportedly has extended its contract with Lin to keep him from other shoe/apparel companies.

The New York Daily News says Lin will likely receive between $2-4 million in his endorsement deal with Nike. They also cite ABC News in saying Nike will soon roll out a “new promotional campaign built around Lin.”

Given the demand for all things Jeremy Lin, it’s no surprise to see Nike planning to capitalize. I’m just surprised it’s taken them this long to begin releasing Linsanity gear.

If you only plan on drinking Sam Adams during the Super Bowl, your list of potential spots to enjoy the game was just cut down by one.  As most of you know, Sam Adams is a company that is based out of Boston, Mass.  You may have seen their catchy commercials with the bald-headed, bearded guys talking about how many awards their main brew — Boston Lager — has taken home over the past year. It’s also possible that these commercials are only shown in the Massachusetts-area and most of you have no clue what I’m talking about. In any event, Foley’s Pub in Manhattan will not be offering Sam Adams next Sunday.

“Foley’s NY Pub in NYC says it will not sell Sam Adams during Super Bowl game so as not to support a Boston-based brand,” Darren Rovell wrote on Twitter Friday.

But that’s not all.  The owner of Foley’s, Shaun Clancy, has made a wager with Ken Casey, the lead vocalist in the Boston-based band the Dropkick Murphys and owner of McGreevy’s bar in Boston. According to the Boston Herald, the loser must donate the earnings from sales of shepherd’s pie from Super Bowl Sunday until MLB Opening Day to the charity of their choice.  In addition, the loser will have to bartend at the winner’s bar wearing the opposing teams jersey.

With two weeks between the conference championship games and Super Bowl Sunday, we all have to find ways to keep ourselves occupied.  Kudos to both bar owners for finding a way to do so in a productive manner.

Those of you who are Giants, Patriots, Ravens, or Niners fans could end up focusing on one thing and one thing only come Sunday, Feb. 5. The rest of us will be enjoying the best day of the year and — per usual — the best commercials of the calendar year. Good news for the portion of the population that has always wanted to see David Beckham in his underwear during the big game: you’ll get your wish during the second quarter this year.

According to the Mirror, the H&M clothing company has put up an estimated $1 million to have Beckham appear in a 30-second commercial wearing nothing but his skivvies. Of course, Beckham will be showcasing H&M’s “David Beckham Bodywear” collection.

“Over the past year, I’ve been developing my Bodywear range with my team and I’m extremely positive about what we have designed and produced,” Beckham said. “The final piece in the jigsaw was a retail partner who has the vision and capability to distribute these products globally. In H&M we have found the perfect partner to collaborate with going forward.”

As the Mirror pointed out, the largest audience Beckham was ever seen by came during the 2002 World Cup, when roughly 1.6 billion people watched a match between England and Brazil. To my knowledge, Beckham was not alone and in his underwear during that broadcast. An estimated two billion people will see him in that state during the Super Bowl. If anyone has the confidence to pull it off, it’s Becks.

With the way technology has advanced over the last few decades, this move has been a long time coming. Yes, there are season ticket holders in the world like Jimmy Fallon in “Fever Pitch” who look forward to the day FedEx drops off all their tickets in the mail. Those people will never go for this print your tickets online or download them to your smart phone stuff, but those of us who like technology will love what the Spurs have done this season.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the Spurs gave their season ticket holders the option of receiving the traditional paper tickets to all 33 regular season home games (shortened season), or just having them all stored on a smart card.  The card can be scanned at the AT&T Center before each game and will keep track of what games you have been to.  Now that’s convenient.

Of course, the all-important issue of selling your tickets complicates things.  The smart cards are reportedly saving the Spurs about $50,000 this season since they don’t have to print as many tickets, but what if you can’t go to a game?  You could always let your friend pay you and borrow your smart card for that game, but what about selling to strangers?  Those who fail to think it through will find themselves struggling to profit on the secondary market, which can be considered another win for San Antonio.

Chest bump to I Am a GM for passing the story along.

The new NBA CBA hasn’t been officially signed, but many of the details from the agreement are in place. Most of the changes should help teams field more competitive teams. For instance, teams must now spend 85% of the salary cap, rather than 75%. There is also an updated amnesty clause that allows teams to shed one bad contract per season without taking a salary cap or luxury tax hit. Lastly, there is a new stretch provision that allows teams to spread the money owed on bad contracts of players they’ve waived over several years.

The one area where the NBA’s new CBA can have an impact is on competitive balance because of its luxury tax rules. In the past, teams paid $1 for every dollar they went over the luxury tax. Now it will be much more expensive. Here is how the new luxury tax rules look, according to ESPN’s Larry Coon:

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Nick Young made a bold statement Saturday evening after NBA labor negotiations ended with little progress. The Wizards guard was so upset he tweeted that he would no longer wear Michael Jordan shoes.

“I’m not wearing Jordans no more can’t believe what I just seen and heard from MJ,” he wrote.

Young is upset because Michael Jordan reportedly is leading a group of owners who refuse to give the players any more than 47% of basketball related income. Not only is Jordan making it extremely difficult for the sides to agree on a deal, he’s also proven to be a hypocrite now that he’s an owner rather than player.

Jordan said during the 1998-1999 lockout that NBA owners who couldn’t afford their teams should sell. When he was a player, he also fought against an offer from the owners he didn’t think was fair. “[David Stern] wouldn’t recommend that; he wouldn’t accept that deal from a business standpoint so why would he ask the players to do that?” he said at the time.

But now that he’s on the opposite side as an owner of a team losing money (the Charlotte Bobcats), Jordan doesn’t care about principles; he just wants the best deal for himself. A few players have called him a hypocrite as a result.

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At least one NBA player has made it known he’s ready to compromise in order to continue his basketball career. Celtics forward Glen Big Baby Davis tweeted Wednesday that he would take a 51% split on basketball-related income in order to end the lockout.

“Take the 51% man and let’s play,” he tweeted. “All I’m doing is speaking my mind. I’m with whatever the unions with. Yeah it sucks sitting at home not playing the game you love.”

The players were receiving 57% while the owners had 43% of BRI in the last collective bargaining agreement. The players are making a concession by dropping to 52%. The owners reportedly want a 50-50 split.

It’s hard to know what to believe each day, so we try to ignore daily changes in media reports. We remain confident an agreement will be reached eventually.

We’re also seeing from both sides (see Heat owner Micky Arison) that many people want the lockout to end. Given Big Baby’s nature as a soft personality, it’s no surprise he’d be willing to make a concession that the union might not want to make.

Statistics can sometimes be misleading. Attendance numbers are no exception. But that doesn’t mean they are not interesting to examine.

Here are some numbers to think about. As of week seven, the New York Jets are the only team to have totaled over 500,000 fans in attendance — both at home and on the road. No surprise there. The real surprise is the team that follows them. No, it’s not Dallas or Green Bay. Drum roll please. Did you think it would be Carolina? The Panthers have attracted over 482,000 people to their games.

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The NBA owners have locked out the players and the sides are working on negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. There is currently a soft salary cap and a maximum placed on the amount of money players can earn. Kobe Bryant is the top earner in the NBA in terms of annual salary, making just over $25 million per season. Few people would argue that he’s not worth more to the Lakers organization. According to a report, team owner Jerry Buss agrees.

In a column on NBA player salaries not matching the value of true stars, Adrian Wojnarowski drops in the following nugget.

“Privately, Jerry Buss has told people that Bryant – who will make a league-high $25 million this season under his current contract terms – is worth perhaps $70 million a year to the Los Angeles Lakers.”

Players like Kobe capitalize on endorsement deals so it’s not as if they’re not making major money. Still, few people would say the game’s superstars are not worth more than they make from their teams. On the other hand, most of the bench players and mid-level guys are worth far less than what they make.

The information above may serve as an argument to remove the salary cap and make the NBA a free market system. I disagree. The most competitive leagues have hard salary caps because that puts teams on equal footing. Look at the NFL and NHL — teams have hope that they can succeed from year-to-year whereas MLB and NBA teams pretty much already know where they stand before seasons begin. Now if you want to remove maximum contracts, that is reasonable. However, it would likely come at the cost of the NBA’s mid-level players, for whom owners might have less money.

Thank you, I am a GM