Most sports fans care about what happens on the court or on the field. Did my favorite team win? Did my favorite player put up a big game? That’s why we buy jerseys and save our money to see our teams play. It’s why we scream and cheer until we have no voice left, and why we cancel plans with loved ones when they conflict with a must-see game.
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Jay Williams put out an over-scripted Instagram video yesterday in which he tells us not to pay as much attention to the stars between the lines, but to instead take notice of the much lesser-known names behind the scenes.
The athletes make the money, Williams argues, but it’s these unsung heroes who create business empires. The question is, why should we as fans care?
“You’re focused on the names on the jersey,” Williams said, “but do you know the names on the LLC agreements? … While everybody’s tracking on ESPN who dropped 30 last night, I’m tracking who structured the holdco that owns the IP,” he continued.
Williams went through a list of some of the richest and most influential athletes to make his point. LeBron James has made a strong case to be the basketball GOAT over his 22-year career, but Williams spoke about Paul Wachter of Fenway Sports Group as the one who actually writes the checks.
Shaquille O’Neal is still making beaucoup bucks as a corporate pitchman, but his agent Perry Rogers “didn’t build a brand, he built Shaq like a conglomerate,” Williams says.
The former Duke point guard then left the hardwood to give another example, citing Harvard MBA Alison Stillman as the “term sheet tactician” behind tennis legend Serena Williams’ venture fund.
Williams opened his video by saying, “Fame gets you claps, but equity gets you wiring instructions.” What he’s missing is that fans don’t, and shouldn’t, care about any of this. It’s why nobody owns a Warren Buffett jersey or buys tickets to watch Apple’s fourth-quarter earnings report.
Credit to the athletes who maximize their worth on and off the field. In a profession in which so many retire and end up broke shortly thereafter, the ones who buck the trend deserve some adulation. But to say that anyone should care about the number of zeroes in an athlete’s bank account, or the person who manages their business affairs, is the height of self-serious silliness.
The first comment on Williams’ video is from Tobias Harris, which is somehow too perfect. Harris has been a good NBA player for a while, but not a great one. He’s never been able to thrive as anything more than the fourth option on a team. Yet by the end of next season, he’ll have made $300 million in salary.
Should we celebrate Harris’ bank account or learn his accountant’s name? Or is it more interesting to watch and focus on the players who have made a bigger difference on the court?
