By Brandon Reiter

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Skyview CFO. It’s been a while since I last posted… I’ve been busy!

A lot has happened since I last posted, so I wanted to share my recent experiences in an effort to show those who may be feeling challenged entering the workforce or finding the ‘right’ career path, that there are plenty of different ways to get your foot in the door.

In August 2022, I moved Skyview HQ out of my apartment and into a WeWork office in midtown Manhattan. While I was unpacking, one of my neighbors walked into my office and asked what I did. I told him that I provide CFO services to small businesses, and he nodded and said, “I could probably use that soon.”

Less than a month later, he became my biggest client. After more than 20 years in construction, he recently started his own general contracting firm and needed someone to help manage the financial operations. While I had experience in other industries, I knew nothing about construction. I can’t even hang up a picture frame, if I am being honest. Nonetheless, I had to teach myself all about the unique financial processes in the field, and luckily my new client was patient and saw that I was a quick learner.

At first, like most of my clients at the time, he only needed my services for a few hours per week. But over the next year, his business kept growing . It was growing so fast, I was faced with some tough decisions. In order to provide the level of service he needed, I would have to drop some of my other clients. I had tried hiring people to manage those relationships while I grew the business, but in the end it became tough for me to train and provide the same level of service my clients expected. After negotiating, my client agreed to a new rate that would allow me to part ways amicably with those other clients, while still allowing me to maintain some of my smaller accounts who only required my services for a few hours each month.

Fast forward a few more months and I am now managing the financial operations of a multi-million dollar company, in an industry I knew nothing about two years ago. I still have helped other clients on the side, including a start up I invested in after meeting the founder while I was judging a business plan competition at my alma mater, Syracuse University.

While the journey of Skyview CFO has many miles ahead, it has taken a major pivot from since I launched in May 2021. My original intention was to provide financial services within the summer camp industry, but I found that my business model did not really work best for them. Currently, I am no longer providing services, or taking on clients in the summer camp industry. Not until I decide to buy one, that is.

The point is that there is more than one way to get a job. I’m not saying you should make a consulting firm and take the route I did, but there are more ways than just applying to job posts behind a keyboard. You need to think outside the box. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been far from perfect. I was losing money every month in my first year and made plenty of mistakes along the way. It was not easy, especially while earning my Master’s in Accounting, and dealing with my parent’s lengthy divorce at the same time, but I have finally found myself on a path I am proud of.

I see a lot of recent graduates trying to enter the workforce now, complaining that nobody is hiring, while expecting six figure salaries to work remotely in jobs they have zero experience in. No job is going to just jump out and get you. Sometimes they fall in your lap, but more often than not, you have to figure out alternate routes and prove yourself. You have to be okay not being a millionaire in your 20s. You have to be okay not making money, coming into an office, and learning. I have no idea where I’ll be in five years, if Skyview CFO will still exist, but what I will tell you is that I’m always trying to figure out how to increase my value while doing something I enjoy.

I intend to do more writing. I enjoy blogging about business topics and might consider putting out a new book in the future so stay tuned.

Lastly, I could not have done this all without my strong support system who has gotten me through the times of doubt, and to remind me that the people who are hating on my path and trying to bring me down are insignificant.

If you have any questions about my experience or want some advice, please email me at brandon@skyviewcfo.com .

-B

by Brandon Reiter

In March 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to strike down the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA), ending the federal ban on sports betting in every state except Nevada. This allowed states to decide if they wanted to legalize sports gambling. Today, 38 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico have done so.

For many years, the major sports leagues’ concerns with gambling were primarily to do with the integrity of their product. The leagues felt that allowing gambling could compromise their sports and pose as a destructive force. Eventually, they began to realize that gambling could actually increases interest and revenue tremendously. In the 2010’s, the league’s began to change their tune by investing in casinos and gambling companies, putting teams in Las Vegas, and joining the push to end PAPSA. The league’s and the government realized legal gambling would create jobs, generate tax revenue, and lower the rate of crime involved with illegal gambling.

Now that we are five years since legalization, we can look at how sports betting impacted the U.S. economy. According to the American Gaming Association, The legal U.S. sports betting market generated$7.56 billion of total revenue in 2022, an increase of about 75% from 2021. Americans legally wagered $93.73 billion, compared to $57.53 billion in 2021. New York accounted for $1.37 billion of the national revenue total, as their launch of online sports betting in January 2022 saw it become the largest legal sports betting market in the country by a long shot. New York imposes a 51% state tax on gross gaming revenue. Tax rates vary across states, but in 2022, 27 of those states combined for $1.5 billion tax revenue from sports betting.

It’s not just the tax revenue that has positively impacted the economy. According to a report published this May by IBISworld, there are more than 24,000 businesses employing over 200,000 workers related to sports betting. The leagues are also making more money, not just from partnering with the sportsbooks and casinos, but also selling their data to technology companies that work with the casinos, as well as increased viewership and interest. Specifically, the NFL has increased viewership every year since 2018.

Another interesting financial aspect about gambling is that even when the Casinos are on a losing end of a wager, tax is still being paid. If you, as a gambler, made more than $600 for the year, you have to pay income tax on that. What this means is that nearly every wager placed, whether won or lost by the casinos, generates tax revenue.

It’s no secret that gambling has supplied a boost to the U.S. economy in the form of tax revenue, job creation, and consumer spending. However, everything comes with a cost. Gambling addiction has been on the rise each year since legalization. The lack of regulation in the beginning allowed for extremally predatory and misleading ads that lured in people to start betting with promotions described as “risk-free bets” when in fact, you had to risk money in order to get credits that were in the form of bonus bets. While there is very limited data on this subject because it is all so new and hard to quantify, there are probably plenty of people that would never have placed a sports bet prior to 2018 who now have an addiction. It will be interesting to see how regulation evolves over the years and whether or not the monetary gains for the economy are worth the social costs.

by Brandon Reiter

Over the past few years, we have experienced a period of high inflation, leading to a rise in interest rates. Although it my sound complicated, having a basic understanding of how they relate to you and your business can help you make more informative decisions, when it comes to borrowing, hiring, spending, expanding, and much more.

The most common challenge small business owners face is the cost and quality of labor, which are directly impacted by inflation. After the pandemic, the labor market began to tighten, meaning that the number of available jobs increased more rapidly than the amount of available workers. When this happens, workers are able to demand higher wages because there is little competition for job openings.

Imagine you are a business owner needing to hire someone. When interest rates are low and the labor market is tight, you may start looking for a candidate and find that there are not many applicants to choose from. Let’s say you finally find someone with just enough qualifications, however, they are demanding a wage of $22/hour which is more than you have offered for a similar position in the past. Due to the lack of applicants, you decide to make the hire anyway. In order to pay your new employee, you go and borrow money from the bank until your sales are able to catch up with the new cost. The bank offers you a loan and charges a 3% interest rate. Now that you have an employee with a higher wage and a loan to pay back, you decide to raise your prices a bit. Inflation.

In order to combat inflation, the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. By doing so, they are essentially trying to slow down the economy by discouraging borrowing, and loosening the labor market, which would lead to a slow down in rising prices.

Let’s go back to your business. A year goes by and you want to hire more employees to keep expanding your business. The labor market has only gotten tighter, but the Fed has begun to raise interest rates. The new candidates are demanding a wage of $25/hour, so you go back to your bank and ask for a bigger loan. But now the bank is charging an 8% interest rate. You figure that it would be too costly between the higher wages and the interest, so you decide to hold off until the interest rates go back down.

Instead of borrowing more money, hiring more people, and selling more product, you are choosing to wait, which is what the Fed’s goal is when they decided to raise interest rates. Other business owner’s facing the same predicament as you also choose to hold off on borrowing and hiring. As less businesses create job openings, the labor market begins to loosen. With fewer openings, more people become unemployed for longer; the competition in the labor market increases.

The person you hired for $22/hour is not panning out, so you decide to replace them. You’re pleased to find that there are plenty of eager applicants and they are only demanding $19/hour. Since your labor cost just got lower, you want to gain an edge on your competition so you decide lower your prices back down. More and more businesses like yours cut their labor costs and lower their prices, while the interest rates are high. Inflation defeated.

Eventually the Fed is happy with the decrease in prices, and can gradually begin to lower their rates. Allowing you to reconsider borrowing money, hiring more people, and selling more product.

Back to reality. Interest rates are still high and the Fed is debating whether or not to raise them even more, as the labor market is still tight. However, It is likely that they will begin to lower them at some point next year.

As you navigate your business over the next couple of years, you’ll want to keep all of this in mind. By understanding economic factors like interest rates, and inflation, make better decisions for your business. It is important to pay attention to what the Fed is planning to do with interest rates in the near future, as you will understand how this will affect your cost of borrowing and labor. If you are planning to borrow money, you may want to consider whether or not you can hold off until interest rates ease up.

by Brandon Reiter

Some economists are pointing to Beyoncé’s recent concert in Stockholm as a reason for Sweden’s high inflation. Is this really true?

The theory looks at the subsequent surge in hotel prices and other costs paid by fans. Her ongoing Renaissance World Tour has attracted consumers from across the globe, leading to increased spending on accommodations and restaurants. As a result, Sweden’s inflation rate only decreased by 0.2% in May, which was lower than expected.

While the influx of foreign Beyoncé fans to Sweden, a country with a population similar to North Carolina, contributed to the inflationary pressure, it is realistically just a blip on the measure, and is not the reason of any prolonged inflation the country is experiencing.

Other factors such as rising food prices, pets, and package holidays were also cited as causes of inflation. In fact, the high entertainment and hotel spending in May did not deviate significantly from historical trends. Sweden, which chose not to adopt the euro, has faced inflation and higher household costs (like most of the world) due to disruptions in the wholesale energy market caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The country fared relatively well during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to its neighbors.

While Beyonce’s tour may cause a temporary surge in pricing and consumer spending in the small country, it is definitely not the reason for high inflation, even though it may temporarily slowdown deflation when comparing May to April.

by Brandon Reiter

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill would suspend the government’s debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion. This vote is crucial to avoid a potential default, which could occur early next week if no action is taken by Congress.

If passed, the legislation would suspend the U.S. debt limit until January 1, 2025, allowing Biden and lawmakers to postpone dealing with this politically sensitive issue until after the November 2024 presidential election. The bill also includes provisions to cap certain government spending over the next two years, expedite the permitting process for specific energy projects, reclaim unused COVID-19 funds, and expand work requirements for food aid programs.

The Treasury Department has warned that without Congress raising the limit, it will be unable to cover all of the government’s obligations by Monday.

Late on Tuesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the legislation would lead to $1.5 trillion in savings over the next ten years.

If the bill successfully passes the House, it will proceed to the Senate, where debate and voting may extend into the weekend, if any of the 100 senators attempt to impede its progress.

The legislation contains the following key provisions:

Debt ceiling extension until 2025

The primary aspect of the deal is the suspension of the current $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until January 1, 2025. During this period, the Treasury Department would employ “extraordinary measures” to cover expenses, which typically last for several months. This effectively resolves the issue until the 2024 election, shifting the responsibility to address it to the next president and Congress.

Spending Levels

The agreement includes spending caps for the next two years to facilitate the appropriations process. For the fiscal year 2024, military spending would be limited to $886 billion, while nonmilitary discretionary spending would be capped at $704 billion. These figures would increase to approximately $895 billion and $711 billion, respectively, for the fiscal year 2025.

What Did Republicans Get?

The bill would rescind approximately $28 billion in unspent Covid relief funds. It would also eliminate $1.4 billion in funding for the IRS and redirect $20 billion of the $80 billion allocated to the agency under the Inflation Reduction Act towards non-defense purposes. Additionally, the legislation would reinstate federal student loan payments after the extended pause that began during the pandemic. Work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits would be imposed on individuals up to 55 years old, compared to the current threshold of 50, with exceptions for veterans and homeless individuals.

What Did Democrats Get?

The White House emphasizes that the legislation is a budget deal, not a payment made in exchange for a debt ceiling extension. The bill makes “no changes to Medicaid” and leaves Social Security and Medicare untouched. The White House states that the legislation fully preserves the climate and clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act from last year and does not interfere with President Biden’s executive action on student debt forgiveness.

Additionally, the bill would prevent a catastrophic default for the remainder of Biden’s first term. The White House official views removing the threat of default until 2025 as a significant achievement that positively impacts the economy.

by Brandon Reiter

Taylor Swift is perhaps the most popular music artist on the planet. However, her rise to stardom was not faced without many legal battles over her music right’s that will have a lasting impact on the industry as a whole. From her early years as a budding country singer to her evolution into a global pop superstar, Swift’s career has been marked by legal disputes and a relentless pursuit of creative freedom.

In 2019, Swift faced significant copyright challenges when her former record label, Big Machine Label Group, was acquired by Scooter Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings. The acquisition included the rights to Swift’s early master recordings, a move that Swift vehemently opposed. This sparked a highly publicized feud, with Swift publicly accusing Braun of bullying and attempting to control her artistry. Swift eventually announced her decision to re-record her early albums, reclaiming ownership and control over her music.

The legality of Swift’s decision to re-record her music lies in her rights as the songwriter and copyright holder of the underlying compositions. While the melodies and lyrics of her songs are protected by copyright, the sound recordings themselves have a separate copyright owned by the record label.

Swift is fully within her rights to re-record her songs as long as she does not infringe on the rights of the original sound recordings owned by Big Machine Label Group and Ithaca Holdings. By creating new recordings, she can and has already been releasing them independently or through her new record deal with Republic Records, thus retaining ownership and control over her music.

Re-recording her music not only allows Swift to regain control but also serves as a strategic move to assert her artistic autonomy and reclaim her narrative within the music industry. It enables her to make a statement about the importance of artists having ownership and control over their own work, and it provides her with the opportunity to connect with her fans through fresh versions of her beloved songs.

Swift has further emphasized her desire for artistic control by partnering with Republic Records and establishing her own production company, Taylor Swift Productions. This strategic move has allowed her to have a greater say in the creative direction of her music and maintain ownership over her master recordings. Swift’s determination to be in the driver’s seat of her own career has become a symbol of empowerment for artists in an industry often criticized for its exploitative practices.

Taylor Swift’s copyright conundrum and battle for artistic control have had a profound impact on the music industry. Her high-profile disputes have sparked important conversations about the rights of artists, fair compensation in the digital age, and the importance of creative autonomy. By taking a stand and advocating for herself, Swift has become a voice for artists who often find themselves at the mercy of powerful industry forces. Swift’s actions have also prompted changes within the music industry itself. Her decision to re-record her early albums not only allows her to regain control over her music but also serves as a bold statement against the traditional power structures that artists have long struggled against.

Copyright battle’s aside, Swift has also been atop headlines to do her ticket sales. Ticket scalping and resale have been ongoing concerns in the music industry, and Swift’s concerts have not been immune to these practices. Despite efforts to prevent scalping, tickets for her shows have appeared on secondary markets at inflated prices, often to the disappointment of fans who were unable to secure tickets during the initial sale. This has sparked frustration and allegations of unfairness, as scalpers profit from the high demand for Swift’s concerts.

To address these issues, Swift has taken steps to combat ticket scalping and improve the ticket purchasing experience for her fans. She has partnered with ticketing platforms that implement various anti-scalping measures, such as dynamic pricing, ticket limits per customer, and verified fan programs. Additionally, she has advocated for legislative changes to address ticket scalping and protect fans from inflated prices.

Her influence has prompted other musicians to re-evaluate their contracts and seek more equitable agreements with record labels and streaming platforms. As she continues to push boundaries and challenge the status quo, Taylor Swift remains a formidable force in the pursuit of artistic control and fairness within the music industry. Personally, her music is not my cup of tea but it’s safe to say that Taylor Swift’s prowess, business moves, and advocacy will have a lasting impact on the music industry.

by Brandon Reiter

As I grind through my job, I often wonder how I could possibly make more money than my parents. After all, my parents made more money than their parents, who made more money than their parents.

Being the typical millennial I am, as I scroll through social media, I see plenty of memes and jokes about “boomers” telling their millennial children, that ‘at their age, they were able to afford a house and feed an entire family, all while saving for retirement.’ There is indeed actual data outside of memes that support this notion. So, it’s not just me, but millennials, on average, are less wealthy than their parents at the same stage in life, despite making more money and being more educated. Why?

There are a multitude of factors we can point to, and it’s not because millennials are dumb or lazy (okay some us are but not more so than other generations). Socioeconomic factors like cost of living, economic growth, and overall views on saving money are the real culprits for millennials finding themselves at a financial disadvantage compared to their parents.

Let’s start by taking a look at the cost of living. It costs way more to live as an adult now, that it did 30-50 years ago. Just think about all of the little things you need* to spend on that your parents and grandparents did not. Internet, cable, Wi-Fi, email, and most other tech-related “utilities”, that are so common now, did not exist as little as 25 years ago. In addition, many items that did exist have drastically increased in price, outpacing wages. Increases in college tuition, housing, healthcare, and child care have out paced wages. Simply put, it costs way more to live in this current society and wages have not compensated to the same extent.

Another huge factor is the differences in generation population and corresponding economic growth. Boomers are typically the children of the traditionalist/silent generation, those people born between 1928-1945. The traditionalist generation was one that grew up on the heels of the Great Depression and WWII, causing their parents to have less children, yielding a smaller demographic compared to other generations. Boomers get their name because their parents had far more children due to changing mindsets about war and family than their grandparents, thus leading to the “Baby Boom” in the 50s and 60s. Naturally, with more boomers entering a growing workforce, job opportunities were plentiful as they came of age because there were way more of them in a growing economy fill than there were incumbents to block them from filling such roles.

While boomers had more children, on average, than Millennials do now, they still did not have as many as their own parents. This would create less opportunities for millennials in the workforce to replace the boomer incumbents in higher paying jobs, not just because there were less of them to replace their predecessors, but also because the economy came to screeching halt in both 2008 and 2020.

Millennials came of age during The Great Recession of 2008, thus the economy ceased to create the same level of opportunities to out earn their parents. Prior to the financial collapse of 2008, many people were able to buy a house and reasonably expect that property to appreciate significantly over the course of their ownership. Once the housing market collapsed, this was no longer true for millennials, leading to far less of them becoming home owners than their parents were at the same age.

On top of these major factors, millennials have a much different mindset than their parents and grandparents when it comes to saving money. Boomers and their parents were taught to earn and save for retirement, climb corporate ladders, own a home and have children. Millennials on the other hand, are much more influenced by social media to spend, have more of a work life balance, travel, and delay having children. There fore millennials spend way more of their paychecks than their parents did at their age, leading to less investments in their retirement.

The point of all this is not to complain or blame the generations before us, but to understand the financial position we’re in so we can all prepare for our future. It is not impossible to get a mortgage and buy a house as a millennial, our parents faced very high interest rates as well. You can still travel and delay having children thanks to advances in medicine and fertility treatment. There are ways to budget for this and still save, so it is important to think about your retirement and how much you are actually spending, and focus on how you can adjust your budget to accomplish your desired lifestyle to a reasonable degree while also putting some money away for retirement.

While our parents were taught and conditioned to work and save, work and save, work and save, it is OKAY that our generation prefers to actually try and enjoy life to some degree while also trying to make a living wage. Just as every generation before us had jobs that did not exist when they were children, so do millennials and we will keep finding jobs tomorrow that do not exist today. Take me for example.

(Full disclosure: I am a white male raised by an upper-middle class family, so I do recognize that the odds are stacked in my favor, but I think my experience is still valuable.)

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance, and went on to work traditional 9-5 jobs for big companies in my first few years out of college. During the pandemic, and more so the shift to a more virtual workforce, I found that I had a greater opportunity to offer my skills and services by freelancing. This allows me to serve multiple clients, and customize my workload to some degree. I am not relying on a single employer to fund my life, and I can adjust my work and amount of clients to fit my desired work/life balance. I find that an increasing amount of my peers are choosing a similar route, especially those who work in marketing, advertising, PR, and graphic design industries.

So if you are a millennial (or older Gen Zer) concerned with your future retirement and earning potential, the best thing you can do is strategically consider how you can leverage you’re knowledge, education and skills, in way that may be a tad less “traditional”, but one that can allow you to work in an environment that is more suited for your lifestyle and spending habits.

by Brandon Reiter (Kind of)

The world is freaking out over the developments of groundbreaking A.I. applications, most notably, Chat GPT.

What exactly is Chat GPT? Luckily instead of trying to explain it with my limited technology education, I just asked it. However, it originally spat out a five paragraph comprehensive explanation that was way too long. Since I don’t want to bore you, I clarified and asked it to explain it in three sentences. Here is what it said:

“Chat GPT is a natural language processing model designed to generate human-like responses to text-based conversational prompts. It is pre-trained on large datasets of conversational text and can be fine-tuned for specific use cases, such as customer service chatbots or personal assistants. Chat GPT has become increasingly popular in recent years as businesses seek to automate customer service and support operations and improve engagement on social media platforms.”

While it said it is designed to generate human-like responses, this response seemed pretty robotic to me, but you get the point.

It’s pretty insane to think about how far we’ve come. I’m jealous that the younger generations will be able to use technology like this instead of asking Gieves.

Nonetheless, instead of being terrified by the fact the it’s only a matter of time before computers start taking over the world, I decided to use it to my advantage in the mean time and write me an article about the benefits of Fractional CFO survives, like Skyview CFO. Here’s what it said:

“Fractional CFO (Chief Financial Officer) services are becoming increasingly popular among businesses of all sizes. A fractional CFO is a financial professional who provides part-time CFO services to multiple companies on a contract basis. This allows businesses to access high-level financial expertise without the cost of a full-time CFO.

Fractional CFOs are typically experienced financial executives who have held senior positions in larger companies or have worked in a CFO capacity for smaller businesses. They provide a range of services, including financial planning and analysis, budgeting and forecasting, cash flow management, financial reporting, and strategic planning.

One of the primary benefits of hiring a fractional CFO is cost savings. A full-time CFO can be expensive, with salaries ranging from $150,000 to $500,000 per year, depending on the size and complexity of the business. In contrast, a fractional CFO can provide the same level of expertise at a fraction of the cost. Businesses can hire a fractional CFO for a few hours a week or a few days a month, depending on their needs and budget.

Another benefit of hiring a fractional CFO is flexibility. Businesses can adjust the level of service they receive based on their changing needs. For example, a business may only need a fractional CFO for financial planning and analysis during a period of growth or restructuring. Once the project is complete, the business can scale back or end the engagement.

Fractional CFOs can also provide objective insights and strategic guidance. Because they work with multiple clients, they have a broad perspective on industry trends, best practices, and potential risks. They can provide valuable advice on financial strategy, risk management, and capital allocation.

Finally, hiring a fractional CFO can free up time for business owners and executives to focus on other areas of the business. CFOs are critical to the success of any business, but they also require a significant amount of time and resources. By outsourcing CFO services, businesses can offload these responsibilities and focus on core business functions such as sales, marketing, and product development.

In conclusion, fractional CFO services are an excellent option for businesses of all sizes that need high-level financial expertise but don’t require a full-time CFO. Fractional CFOs provide cost savings, flexibility, objective insights, strategic guidance, and time savings. If you’re considering hiring a fractional CFO, be sure to choose a reputable provider with a track record of success and experience working with businesses in your industry.”

Not too bad. Thanks for saving me the time, chat GPT! Please spare me in the revolution!

by Brandon Reiter

Today, Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems have reached a historic settlement in the defamation case stemming from Fox’s coverage of Dominion’s role in the outcome of the 2020 US Presidential election.

The case was originally filed by Dominion Voting Systems in March 2021 for $1.6 Billion. Dominion claimed that numerous Fox News personalities knowingly spread false statements that their voting machines were used to manipulate the 2020 election against former president Donald Trump.

Details of the settlement are still unknown to the public, but this serves as a historic precedent for news outlets and the potential repercussions they may face when it comes to journalistic integrity. While Fox tried to defend themselves by citing the first amendment, their words had a direct impact on Dominion’s business.

This is an important reminder that while our constitution does provide us with free speech, if you are going to knowingly spread false information about a person or entity that stands to suffer financial damages from such actions, there is a price to pay. In fact, the settlement amount is more than Dominion Voting Systems is even worth, but damages can be attributed to potential lost earnings.

If you are going to defame, diminish, or attack a person’s character, you better make sure there are facts to back it up.

by Brandon Reiter

The NFL has found it’s way to remain in the headlines despite it being the middle of the offseason large in part due to the unique contract discussions surrounding prominent quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson.

While Rodgers figured out he would like to continue his career for a tune of $50 million while he was meditating in a cave or whatever, Lamar Jackson has been trying to negotiate a new deal with the Baltimore Ravens despite not having an agent.

There’s no doubt amongst the football community that Jackson has a remarkable talent. Like many others, I was instantly awed the first time I saw him play, back when he was in college with the Louisville Cardinals. He was up against my lowly Syracuse Orange and he straight up hurdled a guy without even touching him on his way to a touchdown. He went on to win the coveted Heisman Trophy that year, and later went on to be selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the last pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Despite the concerns about his throwing accuracy, Jackson quickly made the teams who passed on him regret it. That year we saw quite quarterbacks drafted in front of him (Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Josh Rosen were all selected in the top 10, yikes.)

In just his second season and first as a fulltime starter, Jackson won the league’s MVP award after throwing for over 3000 yards and rushing over 1200. But despite his regular season success, Jackson has disappointed in the playoffs and has suffered a few injuries the past couple seasons that sidelined him from some crucial games. Even so, there is no denying that Jackson is one of the league’s best at the key position and is due a big pay day entering his 6th season.

However, the negotiations have been taking very long, as Jackson is seeking a fully guaranteed contract (meaning he gets paid even if he gets hurt and can’t play). Personally, I believe that should be the case regardless, but that’s not how it works in the NFL today. There have been some players to successfully negotiate fully guaranteed deals, the most recent one being Deshaun Watson when he signed with the Cleveland Browns for $230 Million last year.

Many people, and perhaps Lamar, are pointing to Watson’s deal as a main reason he deserves a fully guarantied deal. Especially when you consider the fact that Watson was coming off an ACL injury. Oh and numerous allegations that he sexually harassed many of his massage therapists.

But just because the Browns do something, doesn’t mean everyone else will do the same. In fact, it would probably make sense for them to do the opposite since the Browns haven’t won a playoff game since I’ve been alive, but that’s besides the point.

Lamar and the Ravens have yet to finalize a deal, but the most interesting factor that may be holding this all up is that Jackson does not have an agent. Sure, there have been players to successfully negotiate deals by themselves, but those have all been long tenured veterans playing less vital positions. Lamar is the first quarterback in the prime of his career to attempt a record-breaking deal on his own. And perhaps this is the most important reason why he has failed to make a deal so far.

It may have nothing at all to do with his talent, injury history, or even his asking price. Agent’s have relationships with teams and have a variety of negotiating tools and their disposal that a player, who’s main focus is football, simply not might be aware of. I mean if you were trying to run a business, just like Lamar is essentially doing, you wouldn’t spend you entire day trying to balance your books, create budgets and forecasts, and file you own taxes would you? Of course not, you’d hire Skyview CFO to take care of that so you can focus on what you do best to help your business grow.

But perhaps it goes even deeper. Think about what would happen to the agent industry if Lamar did indeed sign a record breaking, fully guaranteed contract… It would set a remarkable precedent. Players like Lamar in the future would look at him and think, “Lamar was able to do it, why would I hire an agent so he can take a hefty percentage?”

I’m not saying the agents are colluding with the owners to make sure this doesn’t happen, but I’m not not saying it either.

So, what would you do if you were Lamar? Would you saddle up with an agent at this point to try to get a deal done, or would you continue and try to break precedent?