Ep. 33 | Unleashing Potential: Conversation with Sports Agent Extraordinaire, Leigh Steinberg
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Speaker 2:Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Teaching Tax Flow podcast, episode 33 today. We're gonna talk about unleashing potential. Now, what exactly does that mean? You're gonna have to listen to find out a little bit more, but no better person could we think of than bringing on this gentleman who you're about to meet to talk about just that topic.
Speaker 2:Unleashing potential financially and overall well-being. So before we jump into the introduction and the show, let's take a moment, thank our sponsor as always.
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Speaker 2:Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Teaching Tax Flow podcast. I am John Topolsky, the cohost here with, alongside me, I should say, Nate Hamill, our vice president of member engagement at TTF. How are you, Nate?
Speaker 4:I'm great. How are you, John?
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm about to be a lot better when we introduce our guest here. So, the gentleman we're about to introduce you, as you can see him here on the screen, for anybody that's watching the video, if you're listening to the audio, we're gonna build up the suspense. We're not gonna tell you right away. Just to throw a couple numbers out, couple stats, and I say stats because that'll circle back around. You'll understand what I'm saying about this gentleman.
Speaker 2:So just think sports. Think sports minded. Right? So you're throwing a football, maybe into baseball. This gentleman's negotiated over 3,000,000,000 b, capital b, in contracts over his career, eight times first round draft in the NFL, and 60 times set a first round pick.
Speaker 2:Currently, and that's to date, holds the largest North American sports athlete record contract over half a billion back to that capital b, so 500,000,000 contract value. And that's with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. And not to mention that if anybody's watching this too, you see a little picture over his shoulder there. There was a little movie about this guy's life back in, I believe it was '96, going off memory. Lee Steinberg.
Speaker 2:So hey, Lee. How you doing, my man?
Speaker 5:Nice to see you. Doing great.
Speaker 2:I really drug out that intro, and that was just a a little chunk of your of your resume. So though those of you that don't know Lee, go ahead and spill the beans. If not, I'll I'll just start yelling show me the money for a little hint, from that movie. Jerry Maguire was about was about your life back in the day. So without jumping into that too much, you know, we gotta keep this somewhat tax or finance related.
Speaker 2:Just tell us a little bit about yourself, Lee. What, what you got going on these days?
Speaker 5:So I'm still representing a series of football players. I'm also finishing my third book. We have a new program that's designed to do a couple things in sports. Number one, most of the games come down to the fourth quarter, or the last drive today. So is there a way to simulate energy and productivity?
Speaker 5:And there are big breakthroughs in biomed. So I've talked to a number of teams about hyperbaric oxygen, stem cells, LightStam, which is treated like, NanoV, and a couple neurological, treatments that can really make an impact on neuroplasticity in brains and the rest of them. So I'm taking that to pro teams and then college teams to try and give them a competitive edge. The second problem is that when a player gets injured under the cap today, and if that left tackle is making $20,000,000, then the player backing him up because the cap restrictions is probably someone who was an undrafted free agent or, an aging player. So therefore, it's a precipitous drop in in talent.
Speaker 5:And is there a way to bring players back from rehab quicker? And then, of course, the caution issues. So that's one of the projects. We, we have a school, that we're conceptualizing down in, Arizona in Mesa near Phoenix, and it would be for athletes that, wanna have enhanced education plus training in their sport, but also people that wanna work for a team, a league, a conference, and sports marketing, sports media. And so we're trying to put together, a curricula that would be novel and innovative and, try to train the next generation.
Speaker 5:I do things called agent academies where we train young people how to negotiate, how to recruit, how to mentor players, how to do a charitable foundation, how to do damage control. So it's all about trying to create a new generation of skilled, ethical professionals to take this field to another level.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's amazing. I love that. And, honestly, that's one of the times or one of the reasons that that I reached out to you, Lee, as I was mentioning, you know, prior to this prior to this podcast is, you know, we sat down probably six years ago now. And, I mean, I feel like I I flew out to y'all in in Newport Beach there and, you know, look at the marina and kinda sitting there chatting.
Speaker 2:And a couple things really stuck with me, right, is, you know, you're not just an agent. You just don't see a contract through and kinda sit around and, you know, wait for renewal on that. Right? It's, you know, us talking and some of your experiences, you really work with these players and and help to develop them and really put some I wouldn't say put some sense into them, but really gotta bring bring it up to the forefront. Right?
Speaker 2:Like, obviously, now with the with them owns deal, I mean, you're talking half a billion dollars. Right? That's that's most than, you know, a very, very tiny percentage of people will see over a lifetime. So how how do those conversations go maybe early on in the, you know, contract negotiations and really just when you meet these players and going through the recruiting processes, you know, how do you kinda warm them up for, hey. You may be receiving a lot of dollars, and this is how I suggest that we handle that.
Speaker 5:The first key, John, is listening skills. It's drawing out a young man, another human being, so you understand their deepest anxieties and fears and their greatest hopes and dreams. And you go through their priorities. In other words, how important is short term financial gain or long term economic security or, geographical location or family or spiritual considerations or being a starter or being on a winning team or endorsements. You wanna know how that all fits into that athlete's life.
Speaker 5:And then you want to put around that athlete a team that does financial literacy. So you're educating that player. You give them a safety net for a little while, but you're empowering them so they can take charge of their own life. So they understand what the tax code's about. They understand how to budget.
Speaker 5:They understand, the concept. They won't make this money for the next fifty years. They may make it for eight. And and you put a safety net underneath them. The second thing you do is teach them how to network so that we're constantly trying to simulate second career.
Speaker 5:So I'll give you an example. If, I talked to players we had in the forty niners, and I said, can you think of any businesses proximate to Santa Clara where you train that might have opportunities for you? And can we go out and network in venture capital? Can we go out and network, in high-tech? So it's not by chance that retired tight end Brent Jones put together a $3,000,000,000 hedge fund or that Steve Young works, hedge funds.
Speaker 5:So we're using we're thinking ahead or Bruce Smith, a construction company. We're looking ahead, and I've even had three players who become minority ownership teams. So this new generation can take equity in a deal as well as a hefty fee and see the growth and and and stay through for a liquidity event.
Speaker 2:So, Lee, I see Nate's head shaking there like, yes. Now you're talking my language. Yeah. Being in the in the financial planning side, so I'll let you go for it, Nate.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Lee, it sounds to me like right away, as soon as you identify a talent and somebody that has a lot of potential, you almost surround them and place like a board of directors over them. Like, hey. It's your company. It's your brand.
Speaker 4:This is who we're gonna put in the seats to make sure that we make the best choices, see the vision clearly, or clear roadblocks that get in the way. Is that is that pretty accurate? You almost see it as, like, a board of directors?
Speaker 5:With the, higher level athletes, that's true. The lower level athlete who's not making much money and doesn't have much profile, it's not quite as true. But, one of the things that I, asked the players to do is go back to the high school community that helped shape them and and put down roots. Scholarship fund or boys and girls club project or a church. And then at the university level to to network with those alums that can and help you.
Speaker 5:So Earl Campbell, for example, maybe greatest running back ever, got help to do a sausage company by a big alum at the University of Texas. And so it's it's all about networking. And to the pro level, we ask them to put a charitable foundation together, and it has the leading business figures, leading political figures, and the, leading community leaders on a board. And they'll execute a charitable program like work done. The former running back just put the two hundredth single mother in her family into the first home by making it out, you're gonna move with her families.
Speaker 5:And so it's athletes. But while they're doing this, they're developing their non athletic skills. Right. And they're also looking at the movers and shakers. So the whole point is from the very beginning, we're focused on what's this long term plan.
Speaker 5:Drawing out that particular person, and you're not representing them empirically, but it's that person. And Mhmm. You've gotta peel back the layers of the onion and get deeper and deeper to, what someone really feels because men don't share quite as easily. I'm I'm sure your female view will attest to that as as women do. So it's harder to get someone to tell you how they really feel and what not what the world thinks is right, but what what would fulfill them.
Speaker 2:And on that note too, Lee, it's you know, now, you know, looking at here we are at at 2023, you know, it's feels like just the other day, it was the whole y two k thing. So, you know, it was twenty three years ago. I was chatting with with my brother-in-law, Cody, actually, a little while ago on this, and, I mean, he's a he's a die hard, you know, NFL guy. And I feel like he brought up a statement or a question or a comment, you know, around the table. And just, like, how what are the challenges now?
Speaker 2:You know, is it is it more do you see more personalities and I hate to say egos, but egos kind of getting in the way of some things? Or how do you, from an agent side, really work with those players and, again, kinda comparing present data, you know, maybe twenty, thirty years ago?
Speaker 5:Well, this is a generation brought up on social media. So they're already thinking about branding themselves early. And and as opposed to forty years ago, they don't read as much, in terms of the newspaper, though. And attention span is a little shorter, so you better get it out pretty quick, if you wanna, retain attention. But NIL has changed everything because name, image, likeness, marketing people who are now working with athletes, they may start with them in high school.
Speaker 5:So, the whole concept of, of, going to college and not really worrying about anything until if you're an athlete, you get drafted, Not true anymore. And, I mean, there's a hospital up the street here, and I'm sure that there are agents hanging out in maternity wards looking for healthy
Speaker 2:It's like, you come up. You're like, yep. That that baby's big. You got look at look at those hands. Yep.
Speaker 2:You're yeah. We're good. Sign them. Get them on get them on the docket. So so, Lee, I know we we kinda jumped into a lot of things and, you know, we don't wanna, you know, consume too much of your time here.
Speaker 2:We really appreciate you hopping out with us, but I know you had mentioned that you guys had some some new projects going on here earlier, you know, on the show. What's what's next? What's next for for Leigh Steinberg? I know you've you've gone kind of, you've done a lot. You've done a lot.
Speaker 2:I mean, looking back, you know, to to the nineties, even with that movie, you know, people maybe now put a, you know, a face with a face with a face or a face with a name and hearing all the other stuff that you do and are doing. But where where do you see the next decade or two in your life?
Speaker 5:I I see it being part of content supply. Sports theme, motion pictures, television, video games, new apps on the, Internet, new ways to enjoy sport, cutting edge medical treatments that revolutionize how quickly players can, recover and can simulate energy without, drugs. Increasing TV contracts. Because, if you take the NFL, eighty of the top 100 shows last year were NFL nighttime football. So we're in a situation where not only is NFL football and after that college football, the most popular sport, it's the most popular form of entertainment.
Speaker 5:It's what people are watching. So, you know, I think we move further. There'll be new sports, new niches. You'll have e sports, busting out, and that'll end up becoming a professional league. And they they I think our passion with, sports would just continue.
Speaker 5:And and then I believe you can use a, practice with players to address any societal need. So if I had Lennox Lewis, who's a heavyweight champion, cut a public service announcement that says real men don't hit women, he can do more to trigger behavioral change and rebellious adolescents than a thousand authority figures ever could. So we can target domestic violence and sex trafficking and racism and bullying and and all sorts of problems. So I see trying to work on programs that that deal with those societal issues.
Speaker 2:Those are just a couple tasks. Right? I mean, most peep most people are like, oh, you know, I'm gonna go on vacation in the next two years. You're literally changing the face of of the way that we interact with sports and and players, which is fantastic. So, kind of in closing date, I don't I don't know if you had anything else to kinda put Lee on the spot for before we let him off the hook here?
Speaker 4:Not that we have time for because I could spend all day with Lee.
Speaker 2:I'm sure you can. So Lee, just in in closing, I mean, what would be if you had a had a young athlete or just a young individual coming to you, what might be some advice that you'd give them and and really just financial, entrepreneurial life? What what would be one little statement you might be able to give one of these these young individuals?
Speaker 5:To understand today because of the popularity of sport that they are a brand, and they have the ability to to be the owner. They have the ability to be the president. They have the ability, whether it's media or business, to to do all those things. And so fast jump, if if an athlete understands how to network and reach out beyond himself to to, network with business people and other people, they can have an amazing group of activities that will be beyond anything that older athletes ever ever dream.
Speaker 2:Excellent. Excellent. And it comes from a very wise man. So anybody who hears this, take it to heart. But thank thank you, Lee, again for joining us.
Speaker 2:I know you got a got a very busy schedule. You got a you got a lot going on. It's been a pleasure to see you after a little little gap in years there that's been since we've chatted, and we look forward to to hanging out with Peter again in the future. Yep. It's it's that time.
Speaker 2:Right? Like, we're all we're all back up. We've all risen. So thank you. Thank you so much, and and we'll be definitely, you know, reconnecting soon here, seeing what you're up to.
Speaker 2:We're not gonna wait a decade, though, to hear how this decade went, but we'll be back. So excellent. Thank you, Lee. Thank you, Nate. Thank you, everybody, for joining us back here on the Teaching Tax Flow podcast.
Speaker 2:Again, we have some great content coming up, this show included. Go back and listen to this one a couple times. I think Lee had mentioned a couple couple statements in there that you could either, you know, write down, you know, maybe get a little tattoo on your arm with some of those, and definitely definitely enjoy life, I think, is one thing that we're we're getting across here. Just take ownership of what you have. So thank you, everybody, and we will see you next week.
Speaker 2:Week. Hey, everyone. John Topolsky here as always from the teaching tax flow team. Thank you, Lee, for joining us on this great episode. Thank you, Nate, for hopping on with us as well.
Speaker 2:Something we always talk about here at Teaching Tax Flow, obviously, as we always mention, is controlling your tax situation, but that also carries through to your personal or professional life. So not only, obviously, did we talk a little bit about finance in there and what some of these athletes may encounter, as they jump into these careers, fantastic careers. Some of those dollar figures may be a little shocking to some, but think about that. Right? Like, with the great opportunity comes a lot of potential challenges, especially if you're not planning ahead or planning forward.
Speaker 2:So thank you, Lee, for joining us and jumping into those specific topics. Some of those examples you had mentioned and really just some of the things that you're working on are absolutely fantastic. It's great to see that somebody is really taking part in that personal board of directors for other individuals. Case in point, as Lee does as a agent for his clients for those athletes. He's he really becomes a partner with them, not just a client, relationship.
Speaker 2:So thank you everybody for joining us as always. Any questions, please send them to us. We would be happy to forward them on to Lee if you had any of those. But as always, some other great topics coming up. We're really excited to bring Lee on with us here on this episode and as we line up some other guests here in the next couple weeks and actually jumping into a little further in the quarter, we look forward to everybody shooting us over more of those topic ideas or any potential guests you may have as well.
Speaker 2:So as always, see you very soon.
