offer to $600,000. The richest rookie deal in NFL history, it thrust the rookie’s agent into the limelight, too. Steinberg had found his calling: a career that combined sports, celebrity, and doing the right thing.
Doing Good, Doing Well Doing good was in his DNA. Leigh recalls his father, Warren—a schoolteacher and principal—saying, “Son, when you’re looking for someone to solve problems in the world, there is no ‘they’. ‘They’ is you.” In that spirit, Steinberg urged his new client to shine his star power on a charity. Bartkowski chose the United Way, joining other NFL players in endorsements that helped boost fundraising by millions each year. Charity, loyalty, and integrity became central to Steinberg’s
nascent practice, and a 1976 Los Angeles Times story proclaimed him “The Agent in the White Hat.” White hat or no, the early years were lean. Commissions were only 3 percent (Bartkowski’s $600,000 contract paid just $18,000), and they lagged contracts by a year or more. Offstage, Steinberg scrimped, living and working in his parents’ L.A. home; sleeping on Berkeley friends’ sofas when he came to scout players and cultivate coaches; driving and sometimes sleeping in a 1962 Buick Special station wagon. But by the late ’70s and early ’80s, Steinberg’s client roster and earnings were growing. In 1984, he scored another record-setting contract, this one for quarterback Warren Moon, who had played six seasons in the Canadian Football League. The deal—a million in salary
Boalt Hall has produced a powerhouse list of sports
STan Berliner ’ 61
Keven Davis ’ 82 )
Gary Uberstine ’ 85
Terdema Ussery ’ 87
Before AT&T Park was built, Berliner represented the Joint Powers Authority for Santa Clara County and later the City of San Jose in stadium negotiations with the San Francisco Giants. He also represented the San Jose Sharks in negotiations with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, and the Oakland A’s in negotiations with the OaklandAlameda County Coliseum Authority. Berliner has represented various clients seeking professional sports franchises, one of whom bought a minority interest in the San Francisco 49ers. For the past 25 years, Berliner has been included in The Best Lawyers in America. He practices in real estate and related business areas, focusing on transactions involving finance, development, land use, and construction matters.
Davis negotiated several deals that helped sisters Venus and Serena Williams become record-setting endorsers in women’s tennis. In 2000, Reebok signed Venus to what was then the largest endorsement contract for a female athlete: five years, $40 million. He met the Williams sisters through his college roommate, an orthopedic surgeon who had treated Venus. Davis handled myriad roles for the Williams family, and also represented musicians Wynton Marsalis and Ludacris. “He was more than a lawyer; he was a friend,” Venus said in a 2012 New York Times article. Although Davis, who died in 2011, could hardly speak during his final days, Venus said he “never complained one moment” and “was still trying to figure out how he could help.”
The client list for Uberstine’s agency includes 28 current NFL players—including Seattle Seahawks’ linebacker Malcolm Smith, most valuable player of this year’s Super Bowl. Before creating PSE, Uberstine was senior vice president and general counsel at Management Plus Enterprises, where he played a lead role in developing the college athletic shoe market and steered business deals for NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott. Uberstine authored two popular books on sports law and was the editor of The Law of Professional & Amateur Sports, the field’s seminal treatise. He has also served as outside legal counsel to some of the world’s largest athletic footwear and apparel companies, including FILA, Skechers, and LA Gear.
With the NBA’s Mavericks since 1997, Ussery was instrumental in getting the team’s arena designed, financed, and built. Since then, he has overseen lucrative deals with numerous corporate partners, more than doubled ticket revenue, and pushed the team toward more lucrative television deals. From 2001 to 2012, he also served as CEO of HDNet, the nation’s first all-high-definition television network. Before joining the Mavericks, Ussery was president of Nike Sports Management from 1993 to 1996 and spent two-and-a-half years as general counsel and later commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association, then the NBA’s top minor league. Ussery has twice been included on Sporting News’ annual list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sports.
Berliner Cohen, Of Counsel
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| Transcript | SPRING 2014
Partner, Garvey, Schubert, Adams & Barer
CEO, Premier Sports & Entertainment (PSE)
President and CEO, Dallas Mavericks