Show me the contract

david.frank@exhibitAnews.com

With teams like the Boston Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and New England Patriots shelling out, on average, more than $2.3 million a year to each of the players on their rosters, it is not surprising that the written contracts memorializing the details of those agreements have evolved into complicated legal documents.

While many of the provisions in a professional sports contract focus on the off-the-field activities of athletes, Boston attorney Brad Blank, who is considered one of the top agents in the National Football League and who also represents various members of the media, says that much of what appears in a particular player’s deal is non-negotiable.

“There are terms covering medical treatment, morals clauses and the athlete’s physical conditioning that were set by the players’ association,” Blank says, “and even if a team and a particular player don’t like them, they can’t be altered or written out during a negotiation.”

Blank should know, having had a hand in putting together long-term, multi-million-dollar deals for well-known NFL clients such as Patriot linebacker Tedi Bruschi, Tennessee Titan wide receiver David Givens and five-time Denver Bronco pro-bowler Tom Nalen of Foxborough.

Stephen Freyer, a Beverly-based agent who has represented high-profile sports and media clients for more than 25 years and recently negotiated a lucrative radio deal with WRKO-AM for former House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, agrees that sports contracts have become more complex in recent years.

“With the stakes as high as they are, and the amount of dollars teams are investing in their players so significant, there is no question that professional sports contracts have drastically changed over the years,” he says.

Freyer’s client list includes National Hockey League Hall-of-Famer Raymond Bourque and Olympic gold-medalist Jaroslav Spacek, who recently signed a $10 million deal with the Buffalo Sabres.

He also represents local personalities, such as The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan, Bruins radio voice David Goucher, sports radio WEEI’s Dale Arnold and Butch Stearns of Fox TV.

Exhibit A asked Freyer and Blank to explain some of the nuances contained in a standard NHL contract. (Although the actual language used in contracts varies among sports, the agents agreed that most of the conditions outlined below are included in some form in all professional leagues.)

 

 “The club hereby employs the Player as a skilled Hockey Player for the term of year(s) commencing October 1, 20__ and agrees, subject to the terms and conditions, hereof, to pay the Player a salary of ______ Dollars ($_______).”

 

The amount of money to be paid to the player is always the first item written into the deal.

“At the end of the day, when you’re negotiating a contract, you’re talking about the length of the deal and the amount of the compensation,” says Freyer. “The hardest part of the equation is determining the value of your player within the universe of other players.”

When an agreement is finally reached and the contract is signed, teams in the NHL agree to pay their players on the 14th and 28th of each month.

Even though most teams allow athletes to receive their money through direct deposit, Blank notes that “most players like seeing the check.”   

Blank, who worked out a five-year, $24 million deal for former Patriots’ Super Bowl champion David Givens before the start of the 2006 NFL season, says that a major concern for rookies and less sophisticated players is the money that is deducted from their paychecks for tax purposes.

“When they see what the gross amount on the check is and then see what the net amount is, they often wonder who’s stolen their money,” he laughs.

 

 “The player further agrees,to report to the Club training camp at the time and place fixed by the club, in good physical condition to keep himself in good physical condition at all times during the season …”

 

While all professional sports teams place some requirements on players to show up in shape at the start of a season, it is unclear what the phrase “good physical condition” actually means, the agents says.

Freyer says that the tests used to determine whether a player is in proper playing condition are imprecise and often create what he calls a “gray area that has never been specifically defined or laid out.”

If team executives determine that a player is not in good physical condition, they may impose suspensions with or without pay or terminate the contract altogether.

Blank notes that, because the termination of a contract would make the player a free agent capable of signing with another team in the league, clubs rarely look to exercise that option.

“The provision is in there just in case something extreme happens, but most times it’s there just to create an incentive for the player to show up in shape,” he says. “Do you think if Tom Brady came to camp out of shape that the Patriots would look to terminate his contract? Of course not.”

 

 “The player further agrees,

(e) to conduct himself on and off the rink according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play and sportsmanship, and to refrain from conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Club, the League or professional hockey generally.”

 

With numerous websites dedicated to “athletes behaving badly” and news stories documenting occasional criminal activity by some players, this type of language, known as the “morals clause,” is included in all modern-day, professional sports contracts.

While the criminal justice system presumes that a person charged with a crime is innocent, the morals clause used in the arena of sports permits teams or league executives to impose suspensions, or even more severe punishment, based on an arrest or other type of evidence.

“You don’t have to be convicted of anything by a real legal system in order to be suspended or thrown out of the league,” explains Blank.

If a player wishes to challenge a finding that he has broken a morals clause, he has the right to file a grievance with the league and challenge the ruling through an arbitration process.

Although the morals clause applies to all players under contract, Freyer says younger athletes more frequently are forced to deal with it than are the veterans.

“With my clients, we have a pet phrase that ‘nothing good happens after 1 in the morning,’” he says. “The ones you really worry about are the young, single players  because it’s not uncommon to have guys who are single and playing in the NHL with a bag full of money — and that can be a problem.”

 

 “The Player and the Club recognize and agree that the Player’s participation in other sports may impair or destroy his ability and skill as a hockey player. Accordingly the Player agrees that he will not during the period of this Contract … engage or participate in football, baseball, softball, hockey, lacrosse, boxing, wrestling or other athletic sport without the written consent of the club, which consent will not  be unreasonably withheld.”

 

Freyer says that this condition, which prohibits players from playing even a simple game of pick-up basketball during the off-season, is tough on many clients.

“These guys are competitive, and they like to keep their competitive juices flowing during the off-season,” he says. “There’s always been a certain amount of tension between clubs and players about what they’re allowed to do.”

Freyer recalls spending weeks battling with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team a few years ago over the list of prohibited activities during contract negotiations.

“In baseball, the activities go on for several paragraphs, and my client was a master scuba driver, which is prohibited under the contract,” he says. “We fought long and hard with the club on that condition and eventually succeeded.”

Although the terms of the contract require players to get permission from their teams before playing other sports, Freyer notes that few actually comply with that order.

“I have always counseled my players that if something happens while you’re playing a pick-up basketball game,” he jokes, “drag yourself out into the parking lot and start screaming, ‘Did anyone get the license plate number?’”