New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who is in the final season of a $57 million contract, has left agent Scott Boras to sign with a company founded by Jay-Z.
Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by Shawn Carter, also known as Jay-Z, announced Tuesday that it is getting into the sports representation business through a partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA). This arm of CAA will be known as Roc Nation Sports, which simultaneously announced that its first sports client is Cano.
“At this point in my career, I am ready to take a more active role in my endeavors on and off the field,” Cano said in a statement. “I am confident that the pairing of Roc Nation Sports and CAA Sports will be essential in helping me accomplish my short- and long-term goals. I am making this important decision now so I can keep my focus on helping the Yankees succeed in 2013, while minimizing any distractions for me and my teammates.”
It remains to be seen whether this alters the trajectory of Cano’s talks with the Yankees, who have been trying to re-sign him. The Yankees made an offer to Cano earlier this winter, in dealing with Boras, but hadn’t gained any traction in their talks, and when Boras clients get this close to free agency, they typically play out their contracts and test the market.
It’s not as if the team negotiating for Cano is inexperienced, like the much-hyped partnership between Ricky Williams and rapper Master P’s No Limit Sports, which resulted in one of the worst contracts in sports history. Through Roc Nation Sports, Cano will also be represented by CAA Sports baseball group, which says it has negotiated $1.1 billion worth of deals, including four contracts that exceeded $100 million, in the last two years alone. CAA also represents soccer superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham.
Sources say Jay-Z himself is planning to be a certified agent, first in baseball and eventually in basketball and football. In order to represent clients in basketball, he would have to give up his small share of the Brooklyn Nets.
Jay-Z has always had a love for sports, but his passion grew through the Nets ownership and his 40/40 high-end sports bar in New York, which over the last nine years has become a hang out for athletes.
The initial launch is with CAA, but Roc Nation Sports will be its own company. Roc Nation, which was founded in 2009, currently represents Rihanna, Shakira and Timbaland, among others.
“Because of my love of sports, it was a natural progression to form a company where we can help top athletes in various sports the same way we have been helping artists in the music industry for years,” Jay-Z said in a statement.
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