Nothing Flake-y about this lawyer

Q. As vice president and chief operating officer at a sports and entertainment agency, you must have some celebrity clients. Who has been your highest-profile client?

A. Carlton Fiske [catcher for the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox] — he played more years as catcher than almost anybody — and Cam Neely, who played for the [Boston] Bruins.

 

Q. How did they find you and your company, Blue Sky Sports & Entertainment?

A. Both of them have been clients for a long time … when I was at [Boston sports/entertainment agency] Woolf Associates, before I started Blue Sky. When I left Woolf in September 2002, they continued with me.

 

Q. How does a sports and entertainment agent find a client a lucrative endorsement deal? Do you find the advertiser, or does the advertiser find you and your client?

A. It’s a combination of both. We actively pursue opportunities for our clients. But also companies do seek out the individual athletes.

 

Q. How do you decide which product will be a good match with a client?

A. We are always looking, initially, toward starting with the athletes themselves, in terms of what their personality is, their likes and dislikes, their individual brand loyalties. … And we try to match up companies and brands that are best suited to the athletes’ brands. Cam Neely has a relationship with Sam Adams, and that’s a good fit because they’re a Boston-based [beer-brewing] company, and Cam epitomizes a hard-working Boston athlete.

 

Q. What happens when your client is injured or has a bad season or is arrested for an offense of one kind or another? Is the contract renegotiated or terminated?

A. I’ve been fortunate enough that I’ve never had an athlete that’s been arrested for anything. … It depends on what the factors are in the inability to play. If they’re traded out of market, if it’s a regional deal with the advertiser, sometimes it would be terminated. Sometimes it may be restructured. If a player suddenly retires due to injury or is injured and is out for the season, their responsibilities may be altered.

Q. As the lawyer in these multi-million-dollar deals, would you say your fees are comparable to what your clients earn?

A. No. We work on a commission basis, and it’s really a fraction of what the athletes are earning. After all, they’re gifted athletically, and we’re just attorneys trying to make sure they’re protected and that they’re getting the best opportunities off the field, off the ice, as possible. I feel blessed that I’m able to work in this industry. If I was in it for the money, I would probably be doing something else, but I love what I do.

 

Q. In your spare time, do you have to follow all the sports teams and take in all the latest movies?

A. Yes, I pay very close attention to team standings, player statistics. I try to keep up-to-date with what’s going on in the sports and entertainment world. … This job is not a 9-to-5 job, so I don’t know if you’d call it spare time.

 

Q. How did you come up with Flutie Flakes?

A. Originally we were contemplating frozen pizza, but we decided on cereal. Doug [Flutie, former New England Patriots quarterback] likes cereal, and he likes sugary, so it’s a sugary cereal product.

 

Q. How did it land on Tim Russert’s “Meet the Press” show and make cameo appearances on other TV shows?

A. Partly because I have a friend that graduated from [Boston College], as I did, who does product placement, and I reached out to him and helped get the cereal placed on shows like “ER,” “Everybody Loves Raymond.” That sort of just happened; the popularity of cereal was so high at the time. … Tim picked up on it because Doug had just re-entered playing in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, and it was all the craze in Buffalo [Russert’s hometown].

 

Q. Are Flutie Flakes on the Zayotti breakfast table?

A. Not anymore, but they were at the time. They’re not in production right now; they came out [of production] pretty much when Doug retired last season.

 

Q. Any other sports celebrity-brand deals in the works?

A. I’m working on a deal with Carlton Fiske with Just for Men [a men’s hair-coloring product].

 

Q. Does Carlton Fisk color his hair?

A. I guess he does. People will know now.

 

Q. How did you come up with the name Blue Sky for your company?

A. It had an optimistic ring to it … the sky’s the limit. Who doesn’t like a blue sky?

— BARBARA RABINOVITZ

barbara.rabinovitz@exhibitAnews.com