Jay-Z entered the sports agency business recently and has already had a big impact on the industry. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports partnered with Creative Arts Agency and already stole client Robinson Cano from Scott Boras, signed Kevin Durant, Skylar Diggins, and NFL players Victor Cruz and Geno Smith. Jay-Z even recently boasted about taking Cano from Boras in a rap song.
Hova’s presence in the sports agency business has caused some panic among agents, and the rap star/business mogul says that’s for good reason.
“So me coming, that’s a problem for [sports agents] because now they have to go to work,” Jay-Z told Power 105.1 during an interview this week. “Now they have to wake up. Now they have to do things. So they don’t want me to be around because now they have to do something for these athletes.
“And my whole thing is, for the most part, I’m going to do more for the athlete than they’re going to do for me, like, at the end of the day. But I do these because it’s an extension of the bigger goal. The bigger goal is for all artists to get their just due. Not to get half-assed agents or people who rob them, or people who don’t care about their finances. They don’t even care about them. That’s why those guys go broke in four years.”
Though Jay-Z talked about having a greater purpose for entering the sports agency business, he still recognizes that it is a business and he will be making money.
“Not that it’s all like this philanthropic thing. It’s a business as well. But, again, I’m going to contribute just as much or more to an athletes career than they can ever give me.”
Five clients in and business is just getting going for Jay-Z. He even became a certified NBA and MLB agent in June.
