by Heywood Charmichael, BR International
May 14, 2030: Bradenton, Florida – In a stunning event that has shocked the amateur sports world – from the US, through the EU and Asia, breaking news revealed this morning that Global Baseball Academies, INC. have suddenly, and with no previous, public, hint of troubles, closed their doors and severed all ties with the young players that have been their charges anywhere from 1- to 6-years.
GBA was founded in 2024 at the site of the former-IMG Academies. The International Management Group (IMG) was forced to sell their sports academy business and complex in Bradenton after the Group was hit hard by the mortgage meltdown of 2008. Faced with the total collapse of their core financial businesses, IMG used the sale of the entire complex – athletic fields, gyms, training facilities, classrooms, dining rooms, and dorms, to help fend off federal intervention. At the time (2009), the facility was sold to a ‘land-management trust’, who over the course of 13-years, failed to garner the civic and financial support to capitalize on the facility.
The ‘land trust’ in-turn sold the academy complex in Bradenton, located along the Florida Gulf Coast, between Tampa/St. Pete and Sarasota, to a Greek-American businessman, Anderson V. Komtae, and a group of VC’s who have since remained behind the scenes, allowing Komtae to be the soul voice for what became Global Baseball Academies, a privately held venture. Growing slowly at first, targeting American athletes, by 2027, GBA had begun accepting players from all over the globe. They were to have had their first graduating ‘class’ in just a few weeks.
The allure of GBA was much like it’s predecessor, IMG Academies, offering both a quality education and high-end coaching. The costs were steep, but players and parents alike were expected to commit to a six-year plan, beginning at 15-years of age and graduating the program at 21. And it was this commitment that was their ultimate downfall.
When a family signed-on to be part of the GBA program, they pledge to pay (on top of the Academy’s tuition) a $100,000 ‘Sponsorship fee’ – which could be spread over time, as a guarantee that their child would complete the program. In return, families were promised that upon graduation, athletes would earn themselves a spot in the PEBA amateur draft and the fee would be returned. Any athlete failing to complete the program – say, opting to go to a more established college or university, would forfeit their fee payments. Embedded into a family’s contract with the Academy was the guarantee that 20% of any signing bonus a player gained from signing with a major league team, would be paid to the Academy as a ‘Conveyance fee’.
With all that, it brings us to today’s news. Here’s what we know. Court documents have come to light, where the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance has asked for a ‘cease and desist’ order against GBA, multiple times, demanding that GBA stop using the promise of a place in the PEBA amateur draft as a carrot to drum up business. A low-level executive in PEBA Commissioner’s (‘Harry’ Castle) office, asking for anonymity, has told me directly that there never was, or to be, a draft agreement between GBA and the PEBA. But those were not the only documents that have recently been filed in court. Thus far, three families of graduating players have filed complaints over a lack of action centering upon the return of the ‘Sponsorship fees’. Those documents state that families were recently told that those fees would be returned in part upon a players signing with a pro team, less the ‘Conveyance fee’. The PEBA amateur draft is scheduled for June 7th, with player signings of bonuses not even a guarantee - and often taking a week or more before they do. Their claims are that this action is a direct violation of the contract they had signed.
What does this smell like to you? To this experienced reporter, this smells of fraud.
Attempts to reach Anderson V. Komtae have failed, with an anonymous executive at GBA stating that ‘Mr. Komtae is abroad on a recruiting trip’. And now, the doors have been closed, athletes sent home, families told their contracts have been voided, 100’s of players suddenly free of commitments, and a lot of families out of a lot of money.
For their part, the PEBA has stepped up to assist these ‘defrauded’ families and have certified any interested, former-GBA, athlete who wishes to declare himself as an eligible free agent - immediately. When asked why the League would not sanction inclusion of these players into the upcoming draft, the following statement was released. In part, it says, ‘We have felt from the beginning that the business model put forth by Global Baseball Academies bordered upon that of a player agent, charging fees for representation of each of their ‘clients’, with future payments expected upon pro contract signings – as in a traditional player-agent manner. We made this abundantly clear with each of our requested court orders’.
And so, in the end, we suddenly have a large cluster of previously committed players who are now available to sign with the PEBA – or with any of the other Independent Leagues around the globe, for that matter. Meanwhile, their families, lawyers and the authorities begin the search for Anderson V. Komtae , his unknown VC colleagues – dare I say, conspirators, and the paper trail of money, as they attempt to recoup millions of dollars in ‘fees’. The former-players of the GBA, on the other hand, will have to hope that the training they have received during their time at Global Baseball Academy will be sufficient enough to launch a pro career.
Something to do with money, I think.