Jay-Z has long been in the inner circle of A-listers like Alex Rodriguez and LeBron James, using their names in his lyrics and their star wattage to enhance his own. Now, he is making a move to turn those relationships into big business in a more formal way.
With a double-barreled announcement Tuesday that he was opening his own sports agency, and that he was stealing the Yankees star Robinson Cano from the most powerful agent in baseball, Jay-Z stands poised to shake up the sports world by offering athletes something they cannot find anywhere else: himself.
Roc Nation Sports is the newest arm of Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s “full-service entertainment company” that has quickly built a strong reputation representing artists like Rihanna, Shakira and M.I.A. Jay-Z has been temporarily licensed to represent professional baseball players, said Ron Berkowitz, a spokesman for Roc Nation Sports, which also has teamed with Creative Artists Agency, a leading Hollywood agency that provides formidable negotiating authority.
Jay-Z’s move into sports representation does not come as a complete surprise, considering he has long invoked sports in his lyrics alongside boasts about his entrepreneurial skills and his fashion sense. In fact, he has turned a Yankees cap into a sort of personal trademark, claiming in one song that “I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.”
Because of my love of sports, it was a natural progression to form a company where we can help top athletes in various sports the same way we have been helping artists in the music industry for years.
It’s no wonder HOVA knows “how to do this sonnn!” A Hip-hop legend, Roc-A-Fella founder/CEO, 40/40 club owner, Brooklyn Nets co-owner, husband and father, Jay-Z’s resume boasts a list of endless accomplishments that were unforeseen in his formative years, coming up as a youth in the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, New York. Who do you think Roc Nation Sports should sign next?
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