After making Robinson Cano the guinea pig for the Roc Nation sports management experiment and while they’re linked with Giants receiver Victor Cruz, Roc Nation founder Jay-Z has begun the process of divesting his share of ownership in the Brooklyn Nets in his next step towards extending his influence in basketball according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter – owns less than 1 percent of the Nets, but has been a central public figure in the franchise's marketing and move from New Jersey to Brooklyn.
Selling his share of the Nets is a necessary prelude for Jay-Z to obtain his National Basketball Players Association certification as an agent.
NBA rules mandate that no one individual affiliated with a player representation company can have an ownership stake with an NBA team.
From the sound of it, Jay-Z is looking to get this done in a timely manner, so that he can snag clients from the 2013 NBA Draft class. However, Jay-Z will likely handle the macro-operation and leave the micromanagement and law side to agents.
Buzz Brand Marketing VP Denrick Romain told Shadow League member Darren Sands that not only will Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports bring the best athletes into the fold, but he will also eventually “recruit and cultivate the best agents.”
Since 2006, CAA has established itself as an empire in the sports representation world, and now has a symbiotic business relationship with Roc Nation on the entertainment side, as well.
Much like the arrangement with CAA's baseball side, Jay-Z will let the firm's basketball agents handle contract negotiations and day-to-day business with athletes. The potential impact will come with athletes linking to Jay-Z's global reach in marketing, entertainment and business.
According to Sands, “If successful, Roc Nation Sports could offer its athletes something the Falks, Borases and Rosenhauses could never offer their athletes: brand recognition with one of the biggest stars in the world.” At the rate Jay-Z is accumulating power, it won't be long until he buys his own expansion franchise.
