Ralph Cindrich assumes a relaxed pose in an interview in his offices in a restored Victorian home in Carnegie. This is the slow time of the year, the sports agent says, although he seems to be doing everything he can to make sure things don’t stay languid for long.
Cindrich has been an agent for some of the top players in professional sports, including the Steelers’ Dermontti Dawson and dozens of other NFL players. He represented Tarik Glenn this year, negotiating a six-year, $30 million dollar deal for the Indianapolis Colts lineman. His firm has established a considerable practice representing players in basketball, hockey and football.
Cindrich & Co. has expanded into representing sports broadcasting figures in their contract negotiations and is building a practice that represents highly compensated executives in pro sports as well as other industries.
Additionally, Cindrich says he’s looking at some “off-the-wall opportunities.”
It looks like Cindrich & Co. is poised to break some new ground. Paul Martha, former executive vice president and general counsel for the San Francisco 49ers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, recently joined Cindrich & Co., bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise that Cindrich says will come in handy as the firm seeks out opportunities to represent clients in stadium naming rights negotiations or team sales agreements, for instance.
Not limiting his activities strictly to sports and willing to stretch himself to create opportunities, Cindrich has even pitched a story about his former Little League baseball coach to director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks, hoping it might be made into a movie.
Says Cindrich: “When you’re in athletics, you’ve got to get up to bat to get a hit, you’ve got to take a swing to get a hit.” How to reach: Cindrich & Co., www.cindrich.com