'Show me more than just the money'

THE POPULAR perception of the sports agent, so finely detailed in the movie Jerry Maguire, is that filthy lucre is all that matters. The catchphrase – “Show me the money!” – would have us believe that money is all that concerns any professional sportsman.

It is important; but it is not the only thing, and those in pursuit of Shane Lowry’s signature will know what will be equally important is the team placed around the golfer and how he is treated.

Lowry was always destined to become a professional. However, his victory in the Irish Open – incidentally, bookmakers Paddy Power have put the neat odds at 3 to 1 that the mobile company will also become the golfer’s first commercial sponsor – has probably accelerated the process, giving him immediate access to a tour card.

Yet, the days of sports management companies waving blank cheques in front of players are not really applicable any more. Instead, rather than buying players, management companies are more likely to use their track record and ability to look after players – not just financially – in luring them into their stable.

Remarkably, the first approaches from sports agents to Lowry only took place last week, before he made his massive breakthrough at Baltray.

As Lowry put it yesterday, “Last week during the practice rounds was the first time I’ve had management companies approach me, and I’m going to have a make a decision at some stage”.

Lowry is a hot commodity. And you’d expect Horizon Sports (who include Graeme McDowell, Ross Fisher and Michael Hoey in their stable), IMG (who look after Pádraig Harrington) and ISM (who number Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Paul McGinley and Ernie Els among their clients) to be among those interested in acquiring him as a client.

However, the days of silly money being produced up front to players are gone. Even IMG, the biggest player in the market, tends to tread carefully these days: the memory of Gordon Sherry’s much-vaunted but ultimately unsuccessful move from the amateur ranks into the pro game are still fresh.

Lowry, who as an amateur had to turn down the €500,000 winner’s cheque on Sunday, can expect to recoup that – probably quite comfortably – with contracts over the next couple of seasons.

For example, when Danny Lee, the US Amateur champion who’d won the Johnnie Walker Classic on the European Tour in Australia in January, turned professional after playing in the US Masters, he reputedly signed a two-year deal with Callaway worth €800,000.

Those starting out are not in the same league, however, as the really big players in the market. When Harrington re-signed his deal with Wilson after winning his third major, the US PGA last August, it was reputedly for over $10 million over three years.

He’d also signed a deal with FTI Consulting (whose name is on the front of his cap) for a similar amount over a similar period.

Lowry, of course, has not jumped into that league: you have to serve your time and win majors to start talking about that number of zeros after a number.

What he has done is make himself a very marketable commodity, even in a depressed market, and he obviously has serious talent.

Whoever gets him will be doing well. But it is more than just about the potential endorsements: trust will most likely be just as important.