On a recent Heavy Muscle Radio episode, Dave and Chris, once again touched upon the so-called exclusive contract controversy within the bodybuilding community. Dave couldn’t understand how this was legal and suggested maybe I write an article on it since I am an attorney (in real life). Before I start, let me put this caveat out there (typical, lawyer) and state I have not reviewed any of the specific contracts in question and as such cannot provide a specific opinion at to its legality or not, I can however try to share some general information regarding exclusive contracts and you can form your own opinions and debate freely. I’ll try not to bore you.
In simplistic terms, an exclusive contract is an agreement between two or more entities to deal only with each other regarding a specific area of business. The essential feature of this type of agreement is the covenant to not engage in a particular business activity with other parties for a specified period of time and it usually only restricts one of the parties. One of the primary functions of this type of contract is to drive a rival out of the market; however, these contracts must not curtail competition or trade otherwise they could be deemed illegal. Details of the conditions under which an exclusivity agreement might be deemed illegal and thus unenforceable, are contained in both The Clayton Act and Sherman Antitrust Act. Due to the complexity of these acts, I’m not going to go into them further during the course of this article.
I think it is important to examine just what specific area of business a bodybuilder is being signed to, exclusively. In the context of a bodybuilder signing with a supplement company or a clothing manufacturer, the business activity is certainly more readily transparent. For example, if Aaron Clark is sponsored by Blackstone Labs, as the owner of Blackstone you certainly don’t want him also pushing products from another supplement company that might sell similar stuff. However, what about in the context of the business of multi-media organizations (whatever that means). I certainly don’t believe that ESPN makes Johnny Manziel or any other athlete sign an exclusive agreement that prohibits him from appearing in any other magazine or on any other television, radio or internet show. If they did, how much would he have to get paid to give up all that other exposure? Plus, does this really benefit him in the long run and should the governing organization even allow this to occur considering the stifling effect it could have on the sport. Could you imagine if after the Super Bowl, Russell Wilson was only allowed to talk with ESPN reporters and not Sports Illustrated, or any of the hundreds of other magazines and newspapers that cover the sport? In fact, most professional sports require athletes, specifically, make themselves available to the press after an event.
Sorry, but as bodybuilding athletes (and I use the term loosely), ignorance is not an excuse. It’s a choice. Don’t be so quick to defer the responsibility for your livelihood to someone without knowing the facts first. Your first and only responsibility should be to make yourself relevant. You accomplish this by either your on-stage performance or by finding ways to diversify your interest so that it transcends the sport (i.e. starting a website; opening a supplement company, etc.). Regardless of how you accomplish this, the fact remains that the one constant will be exposure. Therefore, if you do sign an exclusive contract, you certainly better make sure that you get some guarantees in it. What do I mean?
An exclusive contract should reflect two things: 1) Your market value to the Sponsor and 2) Your knowledge of what you want. To analyze these two items you need to ask yourself (or even the sponsor) a simple question: “Why do they want to sign you to an exclusive agreement?” Once you receive a satisfactory answer; then can you begin to determine if signing the contract is also in your best interests. Don’t let the desire of a sponsor wanting to sign you to an exclusive contract for X dollars per month sway your decision of whether or not it’s a good deal. The thing you really need to consider is does it help you accomplish your long term goals?
There are times where an exclusive contract may make sense. If you do sign a contract just make sure you know the term (how long it’s for). Make sure you know if there is a termination clause (and for what?) Is it an escape clause for both you and the sponsor? Make sure the area of business is specific as to what you can and can’t do and also to what geographic areas or mediums it covers. Get some guarantees (e.g. you are guaranteed to be on X amount of covers of our magazine over the course of a year; or you will have X amount of photo shoots that will appear online or in print). In addition to your salary, make sure you try to get some incidentals (i.e. a travel stipend; entry fees for shows paid for; maybe a coaches stipend; or how about a bonus based on how you place in a show).
As I stated above, I’d probably need to look at a specific exclusive contract before I could determine its potential legality; however, I do think in certain instances they can be bad for the sport. However, there is nothing wrong with getting paid for a short term one-time exclusive photo shoot or interview. If ESPN wants to get your photos in their magazine and be the only ones to have you fresh off your win at Nationals, go for it. People Magazine pays celebrities all the time to be the first ones to run pictures of their babies or to be the exclusive photographer at their wedding. That’s the analogy you want to keep in your head when you are making these types of decisions.
I hope this article has helped shed some light on this controversial topic. I tried to keep as much of the legal ease (jargon) as possible out of it. If you’ve decided to make a career out of being a bodybuilder, sorry but at some point you are going to have realize that you are in a business and you are that business’ most valuable commodity, so be very careful about the decisions you make. There is nothing wrong with saying no. Donald Trump once said “Sometimes the best deals, are the ones you don’t do”.
