SPORTS AGENT

Sam Stockhamer

Introduction• Many sport agencies began by representing athletes.• Large multiservice agency firms have evolved to include sport marketing and event management.

• A highly competitive business:– Lots of agents have no clients or are doing agency – work part-time.– Consolidation of smaller agencies led to major firms

History of Sports Agents

• C. C. “Cash & Carry” Pyle often known as the first sport agent

• Until the 1970s was extremely rare for pro team sport athlete to have an agent – Teams generally refused to deal with agents– No free agency until 1976, so little leverage to negotiate

• Agents have existed in individual sports such as golf and tennis for a longer time

Job Overview Make friends with athletes and organizations Sign athletes to contracts and get a

cut of their pay Hire employees to help with day to

day things like paper work Settle contract disputes between athletes

and teams or organizations Work with organization or athletes Talk with athletes about where they want

to play and what amount of money they want to receive

How Agents are Payed

1. Flat fee arrangement – Athlete must pay agent an amount of money agreed upon before the agent acts for the athlete

2. Percentage of compensation method– Often covers negotiation plus all of the work related to the provisions of the contract over its term; most popular

3. Hourly rate

How To Be a Sports AgentFirst Step Education

• Get an education. Most sports agents have at least a bachelor's degree. Some schools will offer a degree in sports management. Also 36 of the 50 states require sports agents to be licensed as a sports agent in order to represent athletes in that state.

• ◦ Study business, negotiation, marketing and law. The skills and principles you learn in these classes will help you develop your skills as a sports agent.

• ◦ Get involved in extracurricular activities. Even if you are not a natural athlete yourself, pay attention to the sports teams at your school and develop relationships with players, coaches and others involved in the teams. This will help your communication and networking skills.

How To Be a Sports Agent Second Step Pay Attention to Professional

and Amateur Sports You will naturally gravitate towards the sports

you love to watch, but watch all sports developments. Golfers and tennis players will need an agent just as much as professional football players.

How To Be a Sports AgentThird Step Learn How Sports Agents Work

• ◦ Get to know how players are recruited, what the toughest parts of contract negotiations are and what brands and companies look for in a spokesperson.

• ◦ Read everything you can in the sports news during draft season and even in the post season. As a sports agent, these times will be more important to you than the regular playing season.

How To Be a Sports AgentFourth Step Look For InternshipsAs in any industry, you will need to get your foot in the door somewhere and pay your dues. An unpaid internship is one way to do this.• ◦ Find opportunities with groups such as the

NCAA on job sites such as the Sports Job Board.

• ◦ Expect to do a lot of paperwork as an intern. You may not be negotiating on behalf of Kobe Bryant, but you will get a chance to see what player's contracts looks like, read scouting reports and develop marketing materials for specific athletes.

How To Be a Sports AgentFifth Step Learn How To Network • This is an important skill for a sports agent.• ◦ Use your internship or other things to

meet contacts. Get used to introducing yourself and staying in touch with people who can help your career.

How To Be a Sports Agent Practice Communicating and Negotiating• . You will need to be very good at these two

skills in order to be successful.

• These are things you will have to do everyday with many different types of people

How To Be a Sports Agent There is no one way of becoming a

sports agent These are just a few of the many

ways to become a successful agent

Related Careers Lawyer Athlete Coach, Manager, or GM Car salesman

Where do sports agents work?

Indoors Offices Meeting rooms Travel when finding clients Hotel Rooms

Drew Rosenhaus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP1BERKLr8o