You saw "RRA" all over Miami Dolphins games, Heat games, Panthers games, last year's BCS National Championship game at the Orange Bowl, a Don King-promoted boxing match, even the Super Bowl.
The Ponzi schemer was also in regular contact with football stars like Channing Crowder, Ronnie Brown, and Jay Fiedler. Rothstein was also a huge donor to the foundation run by his pal and billboard mate Dan Marino and the Summer Groove, put on by Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade.You have to imagine he would have found a way to get the RRA logo on tonight's BCS championship if he weren't incarcerated.
There is no question that Rothstein paid a lot of stolen money to buy sponsorships at premiere sporting events. But why? Well it wasn't out of pure ego (though that would seem possible with Rothstein) -- it was all part of his attempt to become king in the sports world, chiefly through a company called Goal Line Management, which he bought his way into in December 2008. He transformed it into RRA Goal Line Management -- a company that hit the market with a typical Rothstein splash and cash.
"Scott was a jock sniffer; he was a big fan, and he wanted to hang out with the players," said one source in the sports business. "When he got into the business, he wanted to be top dog. They were going to buy their way into being the number-one sports agency. That was their goal. He wanted to be like CAA [Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles]. He wanted to beat out [Miami sports agent] Drew [Rosenhaus]. The problem is you can't beat out Drew. He'sunstoppable. Once a player signs with Drew, they are with Drew for life."
RRA Goal Line Management, with Rothstein partner and sports agent Brian Levy at the helm, didn't really make much of a dent. The company boasted a couple of high-profile clients -- including NFL coaches Mike Tomlin of the Steelers and Raheem Morris of the Bucs -- but never got the marquee names Rothstein wanted, said the source. "Scott found out how hard it is to sign players," said the source. "There are just so many agencies out there, and CAA automatically gets the first-round picks. And just because you have Dan Marino around doesn't mean you're going to sign Tim Tebow."
Interestingly, Rothstein's former partner, Levy, is still operating the company, just dropping the RRA at the beginning. It's slogan is "Faith, Family, Football." It boasts some decent names on the client list -- Bronco and former Dolphin Vonnie Holliday, Packer Donald Lee, and Patriot Myron Pryor among them -- but none of the big names Rothstein dreamed about.The question for the bankruptcy trustee may be how to distinguish Goal Line from RRA Goal Line. Obviously, Levy's business had value and clients prior to Rothstein buying into it, but how much of the business came from Rothstein cash?
"Of all of Rothstein's assets, this is one that they could open the books and say, 'We found money,'" said the source. "They have clients; they just didn't take over the market. They failed because Scott bought it just last year. He only got one season. If Scott would have continued what he was doing, God knows how big he would have gotten. He had unlimited funds."
