CAA, GSP and Other Acronyms

There has been a lot coming out on the signing of Georges St. Pierre by the sports talent agency known as CAA. CAA, for those who know as little about the sports talent world as I did fifteen minutes ago, is the same agency that represents Derek Jeter and David Beckham.

What bothers me is that people think that because Georges is represented by CAA Sports, he’s going to become Derek Jeter and David Beckham. This is a delusion perpetuated by the internet media, and it needs to stop, because that is not he reality of the situation, and the idea that Georges, despite being at least as incredible athletically as those other guys, is going to immediately skyrocket to the top of the list of sports stars is absurd.

It’s not a matter of impossibility. Georges is certainly a great star, he’s definitely one of the top athletes in the world, but we are not a mainstream sport. Even boxing never really became a mainstream sport, and there is something that needs to be recognized in that while MMA may become the preeminent combat sport, the chances that it is going to reach the same level as baseball are low. After all, baseball airs every night of the season on network television, and the NFL is on every Sunday. Even if MMA does claim a network spot with some regularity, it will be every three to six months, not every other day.

Am I trying to diminish the importance of a major talent agency signing GSP? No. It’s great for Georges and his fans, but this idea that all of a sudden Georges is going to become Tiger Woods or Roger Federer or David Beckham surprises me. Obviously Georges isn’t going to get paid what these guys do, and while there may be some fans that recognize him from the commercials that he will inevitably do, is he going to be Muhammad Ali? Absolutely not, and the fact that the internet media is making a huge deal out of this is absurd.

I hate to be a buzz-kill, and that is most certainly what I’m doing right now, but the casual fan base isn’t going to grow more because Georges is doing commercials, that’s just a side effect of the changes that the sport is already going through.

David Beckham’s signing with CAA didn’t make soccer the biggest sport in the world, it already was. And GSP’s signing isn’t going to make MMA bigger than baseball.

That said, it’s a great opportunity for Georges to get some good advertising deals, and I hope that he does. Best of luck to you, Georges.

If you have any questions or comments about the article, feel free to post them in the comments or send an email to josh@mmaopinion.com. I don’t get that much email, so I’ll be sure to read it.