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As the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers show up to Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, February 7 to play in the capstone game of the 2015-2016 NFL season, throngs of fans will descend on San Francisco to cheer and witness history.

“Super Bowl 50 is a monumental event,” said Kofi Nartey, Director of the Sports & Entertainment Division at The Agency. “Both teams have worked to get to the top, and the showdown of athleticism is certain to be both exciting and a rich example of quality sportsmanship.”

The epic venue for the National Football League’s annual event is Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, arguably the greenest and most technologically advanced professional football stadium in the United States, offering unparalleled amenities within the 1.85 million-square foot arena.

Opened in 2014, the arena is home to the San Francisco 49ers football franchise and seats 68,500 spectators. The arena features 9,000 exclusive club seats and 174 luxury suites that have access to six private clubhouses, all featuring gourmet cooking stations and a full-service bar and lounge. Another four lavish lookouts are open to a select 70 suites and include the Citrix Owners Club, the 27,000 square-foot NRG Solar Terrace and two Trophy Clubs fit with fireplaces and multiple cocktail bars.

 The Super Bowl 50 Host Committee believes that this year’s  milestone Super Bowl is a golden opportunity for  philanthropy. Their goal is to lift up Bay Area communities,  unite the region through a spirit of generosity and leave a  legacy that lasts forever; they want to make Super Bowl 50 the  most giving Super Bowl ever through their non-for-profit  organization, the 50 Fund.

 “What it comes down to is good football and a day that gives  back,” said Kofi. “Watching the culmination of years of hard  work, combined with efforts of the coaches, trainers, film staff and more, Super Bowl 50 is a celebration of the best of the best. We wish both the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers the best of luck.”

For more information on The Agency’s Sports & Entertainment Division, contact Kofi Nartey. And, to hear Kofi’s thoughts on the games, follow him on twitter @KofiSellingLA.

As the Director of the Sports and Entertainment Division at The Agency, part of my job is staying dialed in to athletes, entertainers, and the homes they buy and sell. My own experience in sports and entertainment has kept me fascinated in events such as these. This year’s Super Bowl matchup is a great one and reminds us of some valuable lessons.

1. Be the Best at Something. This year’s match up pits the NFL’s number one offense against the number one defense. Both teams have worked to become the best in opposite categories, yet managed to reach the same pinnacle of success. Figure out what your unique advantage is, and dominate that area of your field. Also, be clear in articulating this unique value proposition to your clients and prospects.

2. Teamwork. This seems like an obvious one, but people often forget peripheral members of their team. For these two teams, it has taken the efforts of more than just the players on the field. The coaches, trainers, film staff, equipment staff, scouts, administrative staff, and several others have contributed towards their successful seasons. Take a moment to think of all the people who contribute to you being able to do your job well. Take the time to thank these people and figure out ways to work with them more effectively. (Don’t forget to thank your family, spouse or significant other.)

3. Raving Fans. Both teams have amazing fans that have supported them through the good and the bad. The Seahawks even have a nickname for their fans, “12’s.” This is to represent the twelfth man. In life and business, it’s important to know who your biggest supporters are. These are the people who will sing your praises and tell others about you. Celebrate and acknowledge your biggest fans.

4. Silence the Crowd. Both teams have the daunting task of blocking out the all of the hype of the game. On the field, they have to block out the screaming and yelling of the opposing team’s fans, and off the field, there is a plethora of positive and negative press. Whatever field you are in, you will have fans and foes as you move up the ladder. Don’t give either too much weight. Let your performance at your job speak for you. Then, celebrate your victories and silence the neigh sayers.

5. Rise to the Occasion. Both teams worked hard and played hard to make it to the Super Bowl. The team that is victorious is the team that can best execute what it knows and rise to the occasion. In life and in business, we have opportunities to rise to the occasion. These are the moments when preparation meets opportunity. Embrace these moments, and focus on the execution of what you know over the outcome. With the right preparation behind you, you will achieve your desired outcome more often than not.

As always, Focus & Finish!

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“I’ve been on the phone with the Rams’ offices, sports agents, business managers, players, players that aren’t on the team but that have relationships with players on the team,” he said.

Like other agents trying to land new clients ever since the Rams return to Los Angeles became official, he hopes all the dialing will lead to return calls from the dozens of players, coaches and executives who will be looking for a place to live before the 2016 season kicks off.

Kaminsky is one of a handful of such agents in town who specialize in working with professional athletes, helping them find new digs as they move from team to team. All are competing to lock down part of the bonanza that comes with the relocation of an entireNFL organization.

“You’ve got your 53-man roster, plus coaches, assistant coaches. We’ll have 100-plus people looking for homes,” said Kofi Nartey, an agent at the Agency, a high-end Beverly Hill real estate firm. “That’s a lot of people looking for places.”

The firm will even be staffing up just to work on Rams relocation projects, helping players hire moving companies, have cars shipped across the country and research local schools, he said.

Some agents started reaching out to their contacts long before NFL owners approved the move from St. Louis this week.

“Within the last six to eight months we’ve really revved up our conversations,” said Ikem Chukumerije, chief executive of Marina del Rey firm Westside Premier Estates. “It’s all about relationships. If we don’t have connections to a player but someone else does, they get the business.”

That business, at least on the front end, probably won’t be that lucrative. Real estate agents make the big money when clients buy or sell, but most agree that Rams players are more likely to rent than buy.

Many players are on short-term contracts and NFL careers are notoriously brief, averaging a little over three years, according to the players union. So if they have permanent homes in the St. Louis area or elsewhere, they may think twice about buying into the Los Angeles real estate market — especially given how expensive it is.

The median home price in the Los Angeles area is $506,800 — more than three times the median price of $160,000 in the St. Louis area, according to the most recent figures from the National Assn. of Realtors.

Chukumerije recalled working with an NBA player who was renting a 4,200-square-foot home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and, upon moving to L.A., wanted to find something similar in Brentwood.

“They were leasing in Fort Lauderdale for $5,600 a month, but in Brentwood, you’re talking over $12,000,” he said. “We had to shift our search a little bit.”

But even the lowest-paid NFL players make a league-minimum salary of $435,000, so they aren’t exactly priced out of the market. Still, the agents probably will line up a lot of rental units but arrange relatively few sales.

An agent might get a commission of 2% to 3% of a lease they help arrange. Even on a $10,000 a month lease, that’s an annual commission of just $2,400 — tiny compared with the hundreds of thousands in commission an agent might make on the sale of a multimillion-dollar home.

But agents say it’s worth the effort. They hope to build up relationships with players now, which could lead to more — and more lucrative — business later on.

“You can do 10 leases that don’t net much, but those lead to one sale that makes up for all of them,” Nartey said.

Aside from the question of whether to rent or own, the other big decision players will have to make is where in Southern California they’d like to live.

Agents are speculating that Rams players will be interested in a few areas popular with pro athletes: Manhattan Beach has scenic beachfront property and is close to both Los Angeles International Airport and Inglewood, while Calabasas has huge homes in secure, gated communities.

Other areas could see interest from players, too.

“For younger guys, the 21- to 25-year-olds who are single, I see them gravitating toward downtown L.A. and maybe Hollywood,” Chukumerije said.

Some agents suggested players might prefer to have their primary residence in a state with no income tax, such as Florida, though tax accountant Rob Babek said there would be little benefit in doing so.

Babek, a partner in the Century City office of accounting firm Marcum who does the books for a handful of athletes, said pro players pay state income taxes based on where they play their games — some to their team’s home state and smaller shares to every state where they play over the course of a season.

“Even if you’re living in another state, you still have to pay California taxes because half of your games are here,” he said.

But more than almost any other factor, agents said players will decide where to live based on the location of the team’s training facility. That’s where they will go for daily practice, as opposed to the Inglewood location of the stadium, where they’ll only go eight times a season and which won’t be ready until 2019.

NFL coaches are strict about players showing up on time at practices, and being even a few minutes late can cost a player hundreds of dollars, depending on a team’s schedule of fines. L.A.’s heavy traffic makes that a real possibility.

The location of the training facility has yet to be announced, though there’s speculation the team is looking in Westlake Village and Long Beach. That could push players beyond the South Bay to look in the western San Fernando Valley or perhaps Orange County.

“The ballplayers are going to want to be somewhere convenient to the training facility. If the training facility is in whatever city, you might find players congregating there,” saidDavid Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at USC’s Marshall School of Business.

He noted that many L.A. Kings players live in the beach cities, close to the team’s El Segundo training site.

“Hermosa and Manhattan [Beach] are company towns for the Kings,” Carter said.

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The Agency is thrilled to announce the listing this week of one of the most distinct, storied estates in the country, the Playboy Mansion, listed for $200 million and represented by Mauricio Umansky.

“This is the right time to seek a buyer for this incredible property who understands the role the Mansion has played for our brand and enables us to continue to reinvest in the transformation of our business,” said Playboy Enterprises, Inc. CEO, Scott Flanders. “The Playboy Mansion has been a creative center for Hef as his residence and workplace for the past 40 years, as it will continue to be if the property is sold.”

The crown jewel of L.A.’s “Platinum Triangle,” situated on five picturesque acres in Holmby Hills, the Playboy Mansion is a nearly 20,000-square-foot residence that is both an ultra-private retreat and the ultimate setting for large-scale entertaining. The estate features the 29-room main residence, a four-bedroom guest house and every amenity imaginable, including a catering kitchen, wine cellar, home theater, game house, gym, tennis court and freeform swimming pool with a large, cave-like grotto. The Playboy Mansion is also one of a select few private residences in L.A. with a zoo license.

“The Agency couldn’t be more proud to be representing one of the most well-known estates in the country,” said Co-founder and CEO Mauricio Umansky, one of the principal listing agents on the estate. “With its iconic style and immaculate grounds, the Mansion has inspired so many properties throughout Southern California.”

The Playboy Mansion was originally designed by renowned American architect Arthur R. Kelly in 1927. The residence has not changed hands since 1971 when Playboy Enterprises, Inc. purchased the home for $1,050,000, the largest real estate transaction in L.A. history. Its sprawling acreage is nestled along the edge of the Los Angeles Country Club in the coveted Holmby Hills neighborhood between Beverly Hills and Westwood.

As we prepare to embark on a New Year, a year in which The Agency will celebrate our fifth anniversary, we are reflecting on who we’ve become and what we’ve accomplished over the past four years. Since opening our doors in 2011, The Agency has modernized the practice of buying and selling real estate by fostering a culture of collaboration in which the collective talents, resources and networks of our individual agents serve each of our clients.

The Agency is a real estate brokerage and lifestyle company representing clients all over the world in a broad spectrum of interests. Our New Development Division and an in-house creative agency provide custom tailored marketing and sales strategy for buyers, sellers, developers and investors across the globe. We’ve introduced a fresh, forward-thinking approach to how properties are represented and innovated new technologies and research practices that have revolutionized the industry. In less than four years, The Agency closed more than $4.8 billion in real estate and was anointed the most outstanding brokerage in L.A. County by The Wall Street Journal in its annual ranking of the nation’s top real estate professionals.

We are pleased to share with you a new video that provides a glimpse inside The Agency, and how we embarked on a journey, led by Co-founders Billy Rose and Mauricio Umansky, to redefine our industry. And we’re just getting started.

Watch the video here

Check out my segment here on Hollywood Today Live!

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The Agency’s Sports & Entertainment Division recently hosted an enthusiastic panel discussion on Sports & Philanthropy at The Century Plaza Hotel. Representatives from the charitable foundations of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Dodgers and AEG discussed their foundations’ current endeavors, along with best practices in fundraising and charitable giving.

“In working with entertainers and athletes, I’ve found that the desire to give back and to be part of the community is of supreme importance,” said Kofi Nartey, Director of The Agency’s Sports & Entertainment Division. “Creating a forum in which useful information was shared and support was given was both rewarding and educational.”

Members and donors from the philanthropic community turned out in full capacity.

Panel speakers included Nichol Whiteman, Executive Director of the Dodgers Foundation; Kiesha Nix, Executive Director of the Lakers Youth Foundation; Erikk Aldridge, Director, Staples Center Foundation at AEG and Ariana Kukors, former competitive swimmer and world record holder, now Director of Health for LifeWise Health Plan of Washington.

Thank you to the L.A. Dodgers and L.A. Lakers for bringing team swag for all attendees, along with AEG for surprising all in attendance with the opportunity to win Justin Bieber concert tickets.

The Agency applauds Kofi’s success and momentum as he continues to expand the Sports & Entertainment Division

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On the heels of Halloween comes the global, month-long event known as Movember, a cause-driven celebration where men grow mustaches in order to raise funds and awareness for the health risks facing them. With people from around the world going the entire month without surrendering to the razor, you can think of it as a play-off beard where everyone is on the same team.

Joining the “Mo” community are select members of The Agencywho have formed their own team to help in the fight against testicular and other cancers affecting our male population. Our Chief Technology OfficerShane Farkas will head the 14-member group that includes The Agency Co-Founder and President Billy Rose, Mike Leipart (Chief Marketing Officer), CEO and Co-Founder Mauricio Umansky, along with the support of “Mo Sistas” Aileen Comora, Jeeb O’Reilly, and Sophia Harang (Marketing Coordinator).

The Movember Foundation will also sponsor Angeleno Magazine’s“Modern Man” event being held at the London West Hollywood later this week. Among L.A.’s Leading Modern Latino Gentlemen is our very own Mauricio Umansky, whose civic impact will be honored in the November issue, alongside Carlos Carreras, Mario Lopez, Robert Rodriguez and Raymond Garcia.

Be sure to stay tuned for more snapshots and updates as we continue to follow The Agency men and women on their Movember journeys. And in case you’ve already started sporting a stache of your own, don’t forget to visit our list of the top barbershops when the growing gets tough and you’re in need of some first-class grooming.

Five million hits and counting – that’s hype worthy of a sports legend. New videos produced by The Agency’s Kofi Nartey flex some serious muscle with sports-style coverage of Michael Jordan’s Chicago estate,2700 Point Lane in Highland Park. As The Chicago Sun-Times put it, the marketing of the $14,855,000 mansion “has gone full Jordan”.

Giving the home its own vivacious personality, the “Start Your Legend” videos challenge people to buy and take on “the competition” while showcasing the 56,000-square-foot home’s nine bedrooms, pool pavilion, full-size basketball court, home theatre, gym and putting green. The videos have been viewed by millions, capturing headlines across the country.

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