Negotiation 101: Students as Sports Agents and General Managers
One of my favorite classroom projects each semester is the contract negotiation in my Sport Business Practices course. Nate Kaeding, University of Iowa All-American and NFL All-Pro, and I developed a negotiation hypothetical together, and Nate joins me in class each year to help teach it. The hypothetical scenario involves an unrestricted free-agent linebacker and four pages of details that may influence negotiations during his free agency, e.g., player’s personal background and priorities, injury history, pressure to win now from ownership.
Highlights include:
Before free agency begins, Nate visits class and we discuss different issues the students should consider in their negotiations. In addition to providing negotiation advice gained from his M.B.A. studies and business ventures, Nate shares his player perspective on the dynamics of NFL free agency to help bring the project to life for students.
Students are broken into project teams with half the project teams playing the role of sports agent for the player and half the teams playing the role of team General Manager. Project teams are matched up against each other, so several negotiations take place simultaneously in class.
I or one of my teaching assistants play the role of sports agent for other available free agents and GMs for other football teams. For example, if a project team in the class wants to also negotiate with a different free agent than the one in the hypothetical, they contact me and I serve as the sports agent for the player they inquire about. If a project team representing the linebacker in the hypothetical wants to explore a possible contract with the Denver Broncos, for example, they contact me and I play the role of the Broncos GM.
The free agency signing period lasts two weeks; students may negotiate in and outside of class. There are many possible scenarios that have time to develop and variables that come into play during the two weeks of the project, just like a real contract negotiation.
At the end of free agency students submit the terms of any deals reached, and Nate returns to class to help critique the outcomes in each negotiation.
“Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People,” by G. Richard Shell is required reading before the project begins, and students write a reflection paper at the end with analysis that relies on Shell’s excellent negotiation book.
The fall semester free agency period in class recently ended, and you can watch a video here that follows the project from start to finish. Check it out – it’s a fun and educational activity that sharpens the negotiation skills of students and makes real NFL free agency more intriguing for them after going through this experience.