Introducing CAA Sports
The LA Weekly's Nikki Finke devotes this week's column to analyzing CAA's sudden move into the athlete-repping business, a strategy kick-started by this week's reported snatching of pretty-boy USC quarterback Matt Leinart from superagent Leigh Steinberg. It seems that CAA is already applying its trademark poach-first-and-ask-questions-later approach to their new endeavor:
Of course, the rules also state that, while Steinberg had this client, no other sports agents were supposed to be talking to Leinart. And, as things stand now, no agent is supposed to contact Leinart until the five days have expired. So then, how come sources are telling me that Leinart is about to switch to CAA?
"You have to make the assumption that they went to him the minute they got [IMG agent Tom] Condon. But how do you make the tampering case against CAA here?" one source told me. "They do it in Hollywood. They're not supposed to do it in football. It's totally against the guidelines. It's totally illegal to talk to someone who's represented about switching. The point is, rarely is a case like this brought. How do you prove it?" [...]
"It was a happy marriage," one source explained, "until CAA came along."
Having only experienced the more genteel and regulated world of NFL agents, Leinart stood no chance against CAA's pitch. After a quick trip to the agency's headquarters, where they were "coincidentally" serving their afternoon snack of fresh babies out of football helmets, Leinart was ready to sign, saving one unlucky junior rep from the "hard sell," in which he would be stabbed to death at the young QB's feet as a display of loyalty.