Pro Sports Teams Cater To Their Players Needs

Playing pro sports, especially at a high level, comes with obvious benefits: the high salary, the fame, the endorsement deals.

But for pro athletes in South Florida and elsewhere, the perks and services extend well beyond that.

Need your car washed? No problem. The Dolphins, Heat and Marlins bring someone to their headquarters to do it.

Need someone to pick up family members or friends from the airport? Don’t fret. The Marlins or Panthers will rush right over.

Want to book a reservation at your favorite restaurant? No worries. The Heat and Panthers will handle it.

”You’re kind of overwhelmed,” Marlins outfielder Josh Willingham said, describing his reaction when he broke into the big leagues and realized how many mundane tasks are taken care of for players.

The best thing?

”You don’t have to carry your bags,” Willingham said.

So exactly how pampered are our athletes? And how much do they get beyond their salaries?

Step inside the Marlins’ clubhouse, and you begin to get an idea. During every home stand, ”Hugo” the barber comes by two or three days a week to give players haircuts.

Yes, they are expected to pay what they think is fair. ”I give him $40, $50,” pitcher Scott Olsen said. But it’s worth it for the players, who don’t have to be bothered to go to a barbershop.

IT’S AMAZING

The Marlins also will send out and retrieve dry-cleaning orders, select snazzy tire rims for players’ cars and fetch them food in the clubhouse. (Several players weren’t aware of anyone being so bold as to ask the team to do grocery shopping for them.)

”It’s amazing some of the stuff they do,” Marlins outfielder Cody Ross said. “If you need your oil changed, they will do it for you. Say I needed a certain kind of razor or another product. They’ll get it for you. They try to make our job as easy as possible so you can concentrate on baseball.”

And if the clubhouse attendants or director of player services cannot do the job, they will find someone else to do it. Such as finding a maid to clean your house, first baseman Mike Jacobs said.

The flip side, of course, is that, in return, players give team employees generous tips, which can range from $20 for rushing out to buy a razor to $100 to cover a handful of requests over an entire month.

Some of the requests can be, well, unusual.

”Hanley Ramirez is superstitious, and when we were on the road recently, they forgot to pack a certain type of socks he likes,” Ross said. “They had to overnight the socks.”

Bill Beck, who handles the Marlins’ travel, obliges most requests (including players who ask not to be booked on the 13th floor) but couldn’t satisfy the unidentified former Marlin who wanted his meal money given to him in small denominations because he thought $50 bills brought bad luck.

The Dolphins bring professionals to team headquarters to do a few things (wash cars, cut hair) and give players contacts for a nanny service, cornerback Andre’ Goodman said. But NFL teams generally offer fewer life-chore services than MLB teams, a Dolphins spokesman said.

But because football players don’t start earning their salaries until the regular season, the NFL gives veteran players $1,225 per week during training camp. (Rookies receive $800 per week.)

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

Mike Dixon, the Panthers’ manager of team services, has been on the job for more than a year, and he said players don’t take advantage.

”They know we have a pretty stressful job,” he said. “I would never say no to anybody. Even if I can’t do it, I try.”

In his first year, besides the typical tasks — such as booking hotels and rental cars for new players and finding them homes — Dixon also fielded immigration questions and found insurance agents and tax attorneys for players.

Teams give players other perks, too. The NFL, NBA and NHL labor agreements allow each player to get two free tickets for every home game. In baseball, players get four ”family” tickets and two ”guest” tickets per game.

During the season, Dolphins, Heat, Marlins and Panthers players get free food on game days. Dolphins players also get lunch on practice days. On the road, players get per diems — $109 in the NBA, $91 for the NHL, $89 for baseball. It’s less for half days in all three sports. In the NFL, road per diem is split up: $18 (breakfast), $27 (lunch) and $45 (dinner).

Not that they need the discount, but the Panthers give players reduced-price tickets to concerts and shows at BankAtlantic Center and let them sit in the VIP seats. Panthers sponsors also provide perks — for example, South Florida Lexus dealers will bring a new car to a player’s home, instead of him having to go to the showroom, though players pay full price.

For competitive reasons, the Heat declined to speak at length about perks they offer players. They also are careful to make sure the services are in accordance with league and salary-cap rules.

TENNIS AND GOLF

There is no salary cap in tennis, so that’s nothing the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament must worry about. In fact, no sports event in town offers more perks than the annual 12-day event in Key Biscayne.

For starters, all players receive complementary cars during the event, with the top 10 men and women getting Mercedes.

Players get free haircuts, laundry service, Heat and concert tickets, complementary tee times at Doral, $20 daily food vouchers and either a free hotel or $150 per diem. They also receive gift bags — this year’s included hair products and $100 gift certificate to a steakhouse, among other goodies.

Kim Hall Uliasz has fielded peculiar requests in her 17 years as director of player services. Martina Navratilova, for example, always asked for red bananas.

”That took work,” Hall Uliasz said. “We had to go to the farmers market.”

Michael Chang did not want his laundry washed with everyone’s else, so he requested his mother (and laundry) be driven to a laundromat. (The tournament obliged.)

Justin Henin always asked for soy milk in her room, and Stefan Edberg requested Dove bars. Pete Sampras always wanted a room with black-out shades. One time, he couldn’t sleep because birds were chirping outside his window. So Hall Uliasz moved him to a quieter room.

The World Golf Championship at Doral also offers perks, including free rooms for players at Doral and complementary cars during the event. And, last year, every player got a cigar cutter, a Cubavera Guayabera shirt and — no joke — a Waterford crystal keepsake.

For athletes, it’s almost like having a full-time personal assistant, similar to CEOs of companies.

”Anything you don’t want to do, they will do,” the Marlins’ Jacobs said. “That’s something you won’t get anywhere else.”

And when players really think about it, Olsen said, is during the offseason — “when you have to get your own haircut!”

- Barry Jackson, Miami Herald