Kristen's Road to the NFL
Kristen Kuliga ‘91
Principal
K Sports & Entertainment, LLC
Kristen Kuliga, UMass ’91 was a recent guest at the University of Massachusetts “Someone to Be Proud Of” series. Kristen was interviewed by Glenn Mangurian, University of Massachusetts “Executive in Residence”. Lisa Masteralexis, Chair of the sports Management Department, Isenberg School of Management co-hosted the event. The following is a summary of that interesting, and provocative conversation.
Lisa Masteralexis: Kristen was one of the very first students that I taught at UMass. And one of Kristen’s classmates was Mike Tannenbaum, who’s now the general manager of the New York Jets. Now Kristen and Mike often sit across the table from each other.
The reward for me as a professor is to have taught students to think critically about this sports industry and then to have them go out and make their way. I can’t take credit for what Kristen has done. I just opened her eyes to some things.
One thing I will say about Kristen is that in class she stood out as a leader. As a professor, the first class is one that stays with you for life. I still think back and what I remember about Kristen is that she had this goal that she was going to represent athletes. No one was going to tell her that she couldn’t do it because she was female. She came into my office, and she said, “This is what I’m going to do,” and she has followed that path and carried out her dream, and along the way, she overcame quite a few obstacles.
It’s not easy being female in this industry, and I think of all the sports, football is probably one of the most challenging just because of the nature of the sport and of the people involved in the sport. So I think she accomplished a great deal in overcoming those obstacles and getting to the point where she was representing someone who, at least in this market, is one of the premier athletes in all of sport, Doug Flutie. It took her all of her creativity and innovation in accomplishing great things with Doug during his career.
When you see athletes doing great things, there’s always an “idea” person helping them pave the way, and Kristen has played that role, and for that we’re very proud of her.
She hasn’t limited herself just to Doug Flutie, however; she’s been involved with many other NFL players and is doing other, really innovative things, including working with Keith Lockhart. She’s someone who we’re very proud of from our university.
Kristen, welcome.
Kristen Kuliga: Thank you very much for having me.
Glenn M.: When did you decide you were going to be a sports agent? You were not in sports management; you were in economics, is that right?
Kristen Kuliga: I actually started out as a political science major. I thought I wanted to get into politics, so I joined the student senate, but I soon realized that I didn’t want to be in politics. Then I decided that I wanted to work on Wall Street, so I became a double major in economics. And then I took the sports law class with Lisa, and I realized that was my passion, so I decided to go to law school.
Glenn M.: Were you an athlete in high school or college?
Kristen Kuliga: I was an athlete in high school. Well, I actually started earlier; I was a gymnast growing up. I lived at my coach’s house for a time and was pretty competitive, but at about the age of 14, I grew tall, and you can’t be tall and be a gymnast, so I switched modes and was actually a track athlete. I ran cross-country and was in a spring track meet. My dad was the athletic director at my high school, and I grew up hanging outside the locker room waiting for a ride home after practice. So I was always around sports.
Glenn M.: What high school did you go to?
Kristen Kuliga: I went to Apponequet High School, here in Massachusetts. It’s a small regional school in southeastern Mass.
Glenn M.: So you took Lisa’s course, and you said, “This sounds like something I might like to do.” You graduate, and … what was your first job out of UMass?
Kristen Kuliga: Well, I went right to Suffolk Law, and I worked in a variety of capacities there. I worked for a sole practitioner doing domestic relations work, some bankruptcy work, civil litigation, workers’ compensation, and all of those experiences actually ended up being very valuable for what I’m doing now.
Also, in my second summer, I worked in the Justice Department’s honors program. I thought of working for the antitrust division of the Justice Department, which would then get me into the sports business, but I ended up forgetting about that and accepted a position with the army JAG corps.
After I took the bar exam, I had a couple of months before I was to start with the JAG corps. I had met Gary Wolf, who was running Bob Wolf Associates at the time, and he asked if I wanted to come on as an intern for a couple months until I left for the JAG. It’s the sports business, something I always wanted to do, but I was pretty much set on the JAG corps. Still, I took the internship, and after a couple of months of working really hard, they asked if I would stay permanently. So I gave up the position with the JAG corps and started in the sports business.
Glenn M.: Wolf, as I remember, was the premier Boston agency back then, wasn’t it?
Kristen Kuliga: Yes, Bob Wolf was the pioneer in team sports representation … Bob and Mark McCormick, who started IMG, the premier agent for tennis players and golfers. Bob had a similar reputation with the team sports. He had Larry Bird and a long list of clients.
Glenn M.: How long were you with Wolf?
Kristen Kuliga: I was at Wolf for almost seven years.
Glenn M.: What types of things did you do after you were an intern? How did you work your way up?
Kristen Kuliga: I did a little of everything. When I started, I was the only woman there who was not in a secretarial role. That was pretty interesting. Sometimes I’d get resentment from some of the other women; I was getting a lot of assignments that they weren’t getting. And the guys would sometimes throw out, “Hey, can you make copies of this?” But I worked in a variety of areas. I did a lot of research …
Glenn M.: Excuse me, this wasn’t 30 years ago. This was nineteen ninety …
Kristen Kuliga: Nineteen ninety-four.
Glenn M.: So, not very long ago.
Kristen Kuliga: No.
Glenn M.: Things have changed quite a bit …
Kristen Kuliga: They have changed, absolutely, but I was always the first one in the office in the morning and the last one to leave at night. I worked on sponsorship sales, although I had never really done sales work. I worked on a lot of research for agent regulations. We had several clients who were going to salary arbitration, so I immersed myself in understanding the collective bargaining agreements in baseball and hockey, and in drafting the briefs for the respective salary arbitration cases. I actually sat second chair at a couple of those.
We were doing event management at the time, so I started working on events, everything from selling the sponsorship and negotiating with ESPN to on site … you know, making sure the garbage was removed in the VIP area.
At that time, I also started working with a lot of the agents on the athlete marketing end of things. One of the clients was Doug Flutie, who at the time was playing for the Calgary Stampeders. The other agents in the office were very busy with the “big-time” clients, who were bringing in a lot of revenue to the company, and they basically said, “Here Kristen, why don’t you work on Doug, because he’s not making us a lot of money right now. Here you go, here’s a nice assignment for you.” So I worked on his marketing … at that time we were doing $2,500 autograph signings and a few other things in Canada. I worked on those in the same way that I worked on his $33 million deal with the Chargers. That was basically my introduction to working with Doug. Then I worked with a number of other athletes in the marketing realm.
Glenn M.: How did Doug choose you as his agent? Did he have an agent he didn’t like at the time?
Kristen Kuliga: Well, Doug had always been one of Bob Wolf’s clients, and then he was a client of Randy Vataha, before Randy left Wolf. When I got to Wolf, Randy was still there. After he left, several other gentlemen arrived. One was Jack Mula. Another was Andy Brandt. Those two were my real mentors in the NFL business. Andy went on to become the contract negotiator for the Green Bay Packers, and Jack Mula, many of you probably know, is the contract negotiator for the New England Patriots.
I worked for both of those individuals, along with negotiating all of Doug’s contracts up to that point as well as Doug’s marketing. From the time that I had started working with Doug in Calgary to the time that he was in Toronto to the time that he was brought into Buffalo … Flutie Flakes, the cereal product … we put that whole program together as well as a number of other marketing initiatives. I also helped Doug and his wife start their foundation. He knew that I was the one who could always answer the questions about the status of negotiations of his contract. He called me the “offensive lineman,” because I did all of the work and got none of the glory. So, when Jack Mula took the job with the Patriots, Doug said, “Kristen, I want you to represent me.”
Glenn M.: Were any other women NFL agents at the time?
Kristen Kuliga: There had been female agents in the previous 10 years, but very few. At that time other women were registered with the NFL, but none of them had multiple clients. And no other female represented a starting quarterback.
In the NFL business, you have to take an exam with the Players Association. You have to pass that exam in order to be certified as an agent, and only certified agents can negotiate with NFL teams. The NFL is very strict about that. So I took my exam and passed, and that year I left Wolf, and Doug said, “I’m leaving with you.” We had an idea that he was probably going to be released by the Buffalo Bills, but we didn’t know for sure, and I said to him, “Doug, do you want me to partner with someone who is more experienced, who has negotiated more contracts?” He said, “No, I trust you, and I know that you’re going to do a good job by me, and I know you’re not going to have a second agenda.” So I got my certification, and that year Doug was released by the Bills, and we negotiated the contract with the San Diego Chargers.
Glenn M.: Many of us probably don’t know much about sports agents beyond what we saw in Jerry McGuire. From your perspective, does that film accurately reflect what an agent does and what the industry is like?
Kristen Kuliga: Yes and no. It’s obviously exaggerated, but a lot of the things that the movie shows do happen in real life, especially the competitive nature of the job.
In any given year, the NFL business has between 800 and 1,000 registered, certified NFL agents, and there aren’t that many clients. I think it’s something like 80 percent of the players are represented by 20 percent of the agents. So there are a lot of agents who don’t have any clients and will do anything to get clients. They’ll pay clients; they’ll backstab people. There are a lot of good people in the business as well. But, yes, when I was at Wolf, we had agents that left and stole clients, and you know, a lot of crazy things went on—changing the locks on the doors, police escorts, …
At the end of the day, players are under contract with agents; it’s a personal services contract. The way I look at it, if a player doesn’t want someone to represent him, he should be free to go elsewhere, but work something out in an amicable way.
Glenn M.: Doug seems to have had a great deal of confidence in you, and that was part of launching your career. What was the reaction from the people on the other side of the table when you started sitting down with them?
Kristen Kuliga: I can honestly say that I’ve always been treated with respect from general managers and personnel guys. I think that respect is definitely unique. They’ll say, “Well, who’s Doug’s agent?” and I’ll say, “I am.” Sometimes they may think they can get one over on me, but as soon as they know that I’m really prepared and I know what they’re talking about, then they respect what I’m doing.
Now the other agents … I’ve received a lot of feedback from players that I’ve recruited on agents saying, “Why would you want a woman? She’s never played the game. She has no idea about this business. She can’t negotiate a contract,” and numerous other statements that probably shouldn’t be repeated here. So, from the agent’s perspective, it’s been difficult with some individuals. I’ve even been told by agents, “None of my clients would want a woman as an agent.”
One time when I was at Wolf, we were working on hiring a basketball agent, and they kept saying, “Well, he, he, he … when we hire him,” and I just said, tongue-in-cheek, “… or her.” They looked at me as if I had three heads, and they said, “We would never hire a woman as an agent, come on.” So that just fuels my fire.
Even after I did Doug’s contract, I was sitting with an agent, and he made the comment, “Well, none of my clients would want a woman as an agent. You should just do Doug’s stuff and give up. You don’t want to get into recruiting or anything like that.” Anybody that knows me, when someone says, no, I can’t do something, that’s the worst thing to tell me.
Glenn M.: They referred to you as “Doug’s girl,” is that right?
Kristen Kuliga: That comment came at one of my first meetings in the NFL headquarters on Park Avenue. It was a meeting of all of the agents … big-time agents in the business and a lot of the marketing executives and the general counsel from the NFL properties—all men—sitting around a huge table that probably takes up the entire length of this room. I walked in and sat down, and they started handing out papers and talking about the initiatives that they’re doing in the marketing world and the NFL, and they bypassed me and didn’t hand out any papers to me. At the end of the table, an older gentleman stood up and said, “Oh, I just want everyone to meet Kristen Kuliga. This is Doug’s girl.” That was how I was introduced to the room of all men—these very important men. So, that introduction has always been sort of a joke. But, you know, he didn’t mean it in a way that was disrespectful. I think it was just where he was from.
Glenn M.: What other recognizable names do you represent in the NFL?
Kristen Kuliga: Talking about Mike Tannenbaum and the ties and bonds with UMass classmates, and how ultimately keeping those relationships can really help … Ben Graham, who is the punter for the New York Jets is one of my clients. I got a call from his agent, who is from Australia. He said, “Hey, I have this client. I’ve called a couple of other agents. No one has returned my call. Would you be interested in helping me get some workouts for Ben?” I said, “Sure.” I called a few people, including Mike, and Mike said, “Sure, send him in. We’ll take a look at him.”
Because of that relationship, I really believe Ben had an opportunity there. He worked out, and every team loved him, but the Jets were the only ones that said, “We’re going to sign him, we’re going to keep him here, and we’re going to work with him all through the off season. They kept him there, and he worked out there the whole season. I got the call from Mike on the night before the last cut, saying, “He’s our guy.”
That was an exciting client to have, not just that he was from Australia and sort of a long shot, but also that I was able to negotiate the deal with a former classmate and a friend from UMass. And just this past year, we did a long-term contract with Mike.
Glenn M.: You’ve recently branched out beyond sports and are now working on behalf of other celebrities. You’re representing Keith Lockhart, right?
Kristen Kuliga: Yes.
Glenn M.: What types of things are you doing in the celebrity world?
Kristen Kuliga: About five years ago, I started working in the music business. I developed some relationships with Aerosmith and with Irving Azoff, who has Christina Aguilera and a number of other clients. We’re in the online marketing space, and so we’re doing official Web sites for music artists, their official “fan-community programs,” as they’re now called.
We’re really taking the model of the 1970s fan club, where the fan gets a T-shirt and poster, and changing it to online content and a lot of other benefits provided online. I started in that business about seven years ago.
Two and a half years ago, I sold my business to a company called Paid Inc., which is based in Worcester, Massachusetts, with an office in Boston. It’s a small, publicly traded company. They wanted to branch out from the sports business into the music business. So we worked with Aerosmith to develop their official Web site, their official online marketing and branding initiatives and their fan experiences and ticket programs.
If you’re a member of Aerosmith’s online fan community, you can buy tickets to their shows prior to the tickets going on sale to the public. You can also buy really great, fun, cool fan experiences—for example, you can get a ticket in the front row and meet the band. We also do all of Aerosmith’s merchandising online. My role is negotiating those contracts and going out and seeking new business.
We did branch out to work with Keith Lockhart, who came to me through another UMass alum, Helen Brady. She works with the Boston Pops, and she said, “Kristen, I really like what you’ve done with Doug Flutie, and Keith Lockhart really needs someone to help with his branding and marketing.” So we developed his Web site, and we just developed some merchandising for him. We’re launching some fan experiences with him as well and also trying to reach out to the corporate community to serve as a spokesperson—public appearances, speaking engagements, that type of thing.
Glenn M.: Are the skills you have as an NFL agent transferable to baseball or hockey or basketball, or are your skills very specialized?
Kristen Kuliga: They are transferable. The collective bargaining agreements are a little different in each of the sports. But they’re not so different that a lawyer, especially, or someone who understands the CBAs, can’t learn all of the aspects of each business. The most difficult part is the recruiting, and there aren’t many agents who represent players in multiple sports. I work so hard on the recruiting aspect—and that’s almost year-round in football—that I can’t even imagine doing it in multiple sports. I would not have a life—and my husband would probably be divorcing me!
Glenn M.: Let me open it up to the group for questions.
Question 1: When you’re looking at marketing opportunities for a client, how much do those opportunities come into play when you’re negotiating with particular teams?
Kristen Kuliga: We can look to Eli Manning. I really believe the biggest reason he didn’t want to become a member of the San Diego Chargers was because of the marketing opportunities that he could get in New York. If you have leverage and the ability to negotiate between several marketplaces, and you have a client who’s a quarterback or a receiver or a running back with a lot of marketing potential, then, yes, marketing definitely comes into play.
However, in most instances, you’re not as fortunate to have the choice between, say, Green Bay and Oakland and New England, or Indianapolis or New York. The player is going to get the most money from being on the field, unless he’s a big-time quarterback.
I did some work with Adam Vinatieri on some marketing initiatives. I helped him put together the Papa Gino’s deal, and he did make significant dollars on the marketing end, but not the kind of money that he’s making on the contract end. What happens is, for a lot of these guys, the marketing isn’t what fuels their fire. It’s not their primary responsibility, their primary job, so as they become more established, they tend to want to do less in marketing anyway.
Glenn M.: I don't know if any of you saw the Boston Globe Magazine this past Sunday. The cover story was on Scott Boros. I was shocked to see that Boros has a staff of 40. What I got from the article is that the work does not just involve “schmoozing” with people. It’s analytical. There’s a business case that gets put together. Do you get involved in that aspect as well?
Kristen Kuliga: The NFL is not as analytical as baseball is right now, but it is an analytical business, and my econometrics background—I actually took a couple of econometrics classes at UMass—really comes in handy in analyzing the various statistics to justify what we’re trying to ask for with the team.
Glenn M.: Also understanding how much money the owners actually make—that’s one of the things Boros talked about.
Kristen Kuliga: Absolutely.
Glenn M.: What would you have done differently in your career?
Kristen Kuliga: When I first started in the agent representation business, I was sitting on a plane next to the late Will McDonough. I had heard stories about him, that he was sexist and all these things, but he couldn’t have been nicer. He said, “You know, you need to go out and recruit.” At that point I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to recruit, but I said to myself, “You know what, I’m going to do it.”
After that suggestion from McDonough and the comment from the agent who said that none of his clients would ever want a woman agent, I went out and I recruited—and I spent a lot of money recruiting. I picked up some marginal players who hadn’t made teams.
In the NFL, every player, whether he’s a free agent and not drafted or a first-round pick, every player wants a private trainer before the tryouts. It costs a tremendous amount of money for those private trainers. You spend about a $1,000 a week just on the training. In addition to that, they need housing, they need a stipend, they need a car…. You’re probably spending close to $20,000 a player. If you’re doing that with too many players who aren’t going to make teams, you’re going to lose a lot of money.
So, in my career, one thing I would have done differently is focus only on a few select players each year. In those first few years of recruiting, when you’re learning the ropes, you make mistakes, including going after some players who may have character issues, which ultimately come out, no matter what.
Question 2: What role does character play in a player’s marketability?
Kristen Kuliga: I think that players have marketability in two areas. One is their marketability with the teams that will want to sign them, and the second is with corporate endorsements.
With the teams, I find that more and more they’re looking at the