Baseball Agents Concerned About Youth NIL Asset Collection in Perfect Game, Fanatics Deal

Top representatives question tactics of youth baseball tournament and scouting service

Jackson Prep Patriots' Konnor Griffin (22) pitches against the St. Joe Bruins at Jackson Prep in / Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY

This week, The Athletic released a story outlining concerns of many prominent baseball agents surrounding Perfect Game's alleged unethical business practices. Perfect Game is a leader in youth baseball scouting and has, for at least the past five years, been obtaining the NIL rights from minors through its various camps and promotions without any financial compensation. Perfect Game’s reach in the baseball world is ubiquitous; according to their data, they have had 14,000 players drafted into Major League Baseball, and 2,000 players appear in a major league game. 

Unlike traditional media releases seen at most large events that obtain the rights to utilize photos and recordings from the event, Prefect Game’s media release includes a much more robust collection of personal intellectual property assets from players. According to a waiver obtained by The Athletic, “participants are informed that their signature at the bottom of the document grants Perfect Game ‘the absolute and irrevocable right’ to use their name, signature, likeness, image, voice and/or appearance in any photos, videos, audio, digital images or cards on behalf of any Perfect Game or its affiliates, at any present and future events related to Perfect Game.”

This collection of youth NIL assets is worrisome, given the high value of signed merchandise in the collectibles market. Youth players and their parents who sign off on the waivers often disregard the forms they are given and lack the legal literacy to understand the potential value of the NIL rights they are signing away. An anonymous agent told The Athletic, “they are getting kids underage to sign contracts with no representation at all, and parents (also sign) who don’t understand the ramifications. It’s unethical and borderline illegal. They know that and they’re still doing it. There should be a class action lawsuit against Perfect Game by the parents.”

Scott Boras, often recognized as the most prominent sports agent in the world, was not shy in sharing his feelings about Perfect Game with The Athletic: “We have warned players for the past two years that Perfect Game is now (signing) away your individual rights for cards and for other things that should not be the design of the platform… they have now gotten into profit-taking on this. We’re letting all young athletes know this is a reason not to sign their documents, not to participate. If they demand that, I wouldn’t recommend student-athletes give away those rights. Why would they?”

These concerns of Perfect Game's NIL aquisition practice are immediate due to a reported partnership with collectibles and merchandise giant Fanatics. Starting this year, the deal will allow Fanatics to produce trading cards and other collectibles featuring Perfect Game athletes. This one of several recent moves from Fanatics to obtain a heavy market share in the baseball collectibles market; most notably, acquiring Topps in 2022, the leader in MLB trading cards since 1952. By partnering with Perfect Game, Fanatics may have found a way to sieze the market for youth prospect collectibles, all without providing athletes compensation for their NIL.