HOW ATHLETES ARE USING TECH TO GET OWNERSHIP BACK
Written by Folarin Ologunagba
Earlier this month, Manchester City (EPL) attacking midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, made news by successfully renegotiating his two-year contract extension to stay at the club until 2025 without an agent. Since joining City in 2015, Kevin De Bruyne has been a crucial part of the team’s continued success, with the 2019/2020 season being most productive earning him the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Player of the Year award.
Leaning on help from his father and a lawyer from his homeland Belgium for contract negotiations, Kevin was able to secure a new deal worth £385,000 a week – a £85,000 (~30%) a week rise from his current contract. Kevin was able to leverage data analytics to quantitatively prove his value and influence within this current City team and in their future plans. Kevin used “TransferLab” - a recruitment product that allows organizations and players to make smarter decisions by using algorithms to calculate a player’s “contribution value” to their team. The contribution value is calculated based on hundreds of metrics, and gives a rating on the effect a player has had on their team’s chances of scoring or conceding goals — among other things. TransferLab is the flagship product of AnalyticsFC which was founded by former West Ham FC scout Jeremy Steele. With this new contract negotiation, Kevin solidified his status as City’s highest earner bringing in £20.8m-a-year.
Kevin De Bruyne serves as the latest case of an athlete negotiating their own contracts without an agent and setting record high earnings in the process. In September 2020, Arizona Cardinals (NFL) wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins became the highest-paid wide receiver ever when he successfully renegotiated his two-year $54.5 million extension without an agent. Hopkins handled roughly 90% of the negotiations himself and leaned on a team of advisers for the remaining. Hopkins’ contract raised the bar for the wide receiver market by nearly 24%
“It's ownership and me believing in myself and my abilities to study the terminology of contracts and me knowing where I want to be after football. ” – DeAndre Hopkins.
Agent less negotiations are not only reserved for those athletes setting record earnings. Athletes are becoming more aware of how crucial it is that they are knowledgeable and experienced in this process. Over the past 3 years in the NFL alone, Richard Sherman, Laremy Tunsil, and Bobby Wagner have all successfully renegotiated their contracts extensions.
Self negotiations provide athletes with the opportunity to educate themselves on the financial side of their brand, making them more well-rounded individuals and providing them with more control over their future. The knowledge gained from going through the process opens new opportunities for them which they can capitalize on in future business ventures.
“There was a lot of reading, a lot of nights staying up late learning the language and terminology of everything” – Deandre Hopkins.
With Athletes taking more control of various areas of their financial lives, it seems clear that contract negotiations are the latest pillar to fall.