Agassi getting 5 mill for his memoirs

NEW YORK (AP) -- The memoir of tennis sensation, gossip column favorite and philanthropist Andre Agassi, a book strongly desired by numerous publishers, has been acquired by Alfred A. Knopf.

Financial terms were not disclosed Wednesday, although bidding reportedly topped $5 million as publishers flew out to see Agassi at his hometown of Las Vegas, touring his Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a charter school for at-risk youth, and then meeting with him at his office.

David Hirshey, senior vice president and executive editor at HarperCollins, one of the publishers that competed for the book, said the deal was more in line with what a former U.S. president would get.

"This is White House money," Hirshey said. "I can't remember the last time a sports figure got more than two million."

The 36-year-old Agassi, one of the greatest players of his generation, retired after last fall's U.S. Open.

His book is not yet titled and no release date has been set.

"I recently had the privilege of meeting with top executives and editors from eight publishing houses," Agassi said in a statement released Wednesday by Knopf. "Everyone was very impressive, but in the end, I felt the strongest connection with (Knopf head) Sonny Mehta and his colleagues at Knopf."

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_y...Y4v7YF?slug=ap-books-agassi&prov=ap&type=lgns

amazing, that really underlines how big a loss tennis suffered from his retirement.

I just don't see this book becoming a huge national hit. It will definitely be a best seller, but 5 million advance seems disproportionate. Then again, Agassi has international appeal, something that can only be said by 2 or 3 American athletes.

teedub said:

amazing, that really underlines how big a loss tennis suffered from his retirement.

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For me, he was the last to go. I think Courier was the first and Agassi's the last. :sad:

I'll probably buy it.......anyone else?

35ft6 said:

I just don't see this book becoming a huge national hit. It will definitely be a best seller, but 5 million advance seems disproportionate. Then again, Agassi has international appeal, something that can only be said by 2 or 3 American athletes.

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American NBA stars have huge international appeals.
For the past few years, Tracy McGrady's jerseys were selling better in China than Yao Ming's. Of course, that's before Yao Ming became a real star.

carrwash13 said:

I'll probably buy it.......anyone else?

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I'll buy it. I've always admired him as a tennis player and a decent person.

His dad's book was really interesting - reading Andre's perspective will be even more interesting.

wow, that's a lot of money. i will definitely want to read this book when it comes out.

35ft6 said:

I just don't see this book becoming a huge national hit. It will definitely be a best seller, but 5 million advance seems disproportionate.

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You have gotta be kidding!!! All the 8 top publishing executives all courting and bidding for his bio. Agassi will continue to be a marketing goldmine because he has dedicated his next career to give back plus other business ventures. For every public appearance, he has the charisma to sell hundreds if not thousands more books. Why have Agassi sign a ball when you can have him sign the book?

His rock and roll image, marriage to Shields, friend of Streisand and eventually matured to married again to the greatest of all time, Graf... all are stories Hollywood can dream of. OMG, and should there ever be a movie or TV show of his biography, the $5 mil will be chunk change.

Are you sure you didn't confuse him with Sampras?

mellofelow said:

Are you sure you didn't confuse him with Sampras?

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Agassi is the black guy, right?

Depending on the reviews, as much as I like Agassi, I may or may not check this book out. If it's a straight up biography written with a co-writer, a no holds barred, almost journalistic retelling of his life, then I'm down. If it's Agassi glossing over his past, using each incident merely as a springboard for new agey philosophical life lesson rants then I'll skip it. If he talks a lot about his opponents, breaks down their games, and there's a lot of super technical tennis talk, I'm down. If he spends chapter after chapter about his spiritual growth and his opinions about philanthropy, I'll skip it.

He could publish something of quality from a tennis purist's standpoint, but that might not sell as many copies as a corporate-friendly, new age-fest. I know Alfred Knopf is top-shelf, but so were the others in the bidding war, and you know they are gonna want to sell some copies. That's the danger in taking $5M. Here's hoping Dre does it right.

Aw who'm I kidding? I'll buy the book either way.

carrwash13 said:

I'll probably buy it.......anyone else?

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Count me in. Agassis's life, both on and off the court makes for an interesting read. His slow and tortuous climb back to the top of the tennis rankings despite seemingly insurmountable odds serves as an inspiration to all of us.

I'll read it if it comes out here in Australia. I mean, I'm not particularly a fan of Agassi, but the impact his retirement had on tennis itself was overwhelming.

Moose should start a poll to see if the audience are willing to read/buy the Agassi memoir book.

I can't wait and I hope it comes out soon. I predict it will have a HUGE impact to the sport (Tennis, by gosh we need it...). And parents of small children like me will put rackets in their hands and hopefully, American tennis will thrive again.

mellofelow said:

Moose should start a poll to see if the audience are willing to read/buy the Agassi memoir book.

I can't wait and I hope it comes out soon. I predict it will have a HUGE impact to the sport (Tennis, by gosh we need it...). And parents of small children like me will put rackets in their hands and hopefully, American tennis will thrive again.

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I like your optimism, but it is a sad day when we place American tennis' hopes on a book release.

slice bh compliment said:

I like your optimism, but it is a sad day when we place American tennis' hopes on a book release.

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We gotta!! What other options do we have? IMO, the latest William sisters fiasco will continue to degrade any optimism...

We gotta!! What other options do we have? IMO, the latest William sisters fiasco will continue to degrade any optimism...

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what do you mean? slam finals involving the williams sisters have been the highest rated tennis matches of the last 10 years. if serena continues to do well this year, interest in tennis in the US will go up, if that's what you want.
that's pretty much the only thing that can help the sport in the US, other than Agassi unretiring(Roddick isn't a ratings guy compared to Agassi or Serena, he has limited appeal)

The book will be on my Christmas list. I'll get it new in hardcover, too. Likely some proceeds will go to his foundation. This book will be read by tennis fans, sports fans, and people -- and there are many -- who just like to read about interesting, dynamic, successful, talented people.

I've met so many people who, when tennis comes up as something I do, and they comment on their level of interest, say, I don't really play, or I used to, or a I play a little -- but so many say, Oh, yeah, I used to watch Andre Agassi. He's great. My mom loves him too. And so on.

The book will sell truckloads. But 5 mill is surprising, profit margins in books being pretty slim. And Knopf is surprising too. They are not necessarily known for sports bios.

It's likely I'll end up working with this title. I buy reprint rights from publications for use in other publication formats. Maybe I'll get a complementary copy.

Moose Malloy said:

slam finals involving the williams sisters have been the highest rated tennis matches of the last 10 years.

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Really?! I find that hard to believe. And for all the news/stats I have read, it contradicts your statement. If you are referring to the recent Aus final, I'll bet you the majority of viewers tune in to gawk a gander at Sharapova. Serena was the fortunate recipient of the audience... and the trophy.

Back to the topic. All pro athletes are 'Sport Figures'. Not many graduate in the profession to become 'Role Models'... Agassi is one of them.

I suffered through Becker's biography, so I'll pick this one up for sure. McEnroes book did huge worldwide, this one will easily top it! Too bad Sampras didn't have the overall popularity to warrant something like this...