Travis Ball

AP Literature

Mrs. Corbett

Fall 2011

Sports Agent Senior Project

The typical dream of a child growing up to be professional athlete often guides people

away from sports as a profession in total for the reason that their parents and peers are constantly

telling them it is an unreachable goal. This actually is not true at all. People can find some of the

fastest growing industries in the athletic world. By creating monetary possibilities and protecting

athlete’s assets, sports agents provide a needed task as they also provide other worldly insights

for these young people.

The first step into the world of sports agents is schooling after high school. College is

where these young people striving to become agents receive the knowledge that will set

themselves up for years to come. Knowing that so few agents are truly successful, you have to be

the best qualified. Although not required, it is viewed well by others if the person has a degree in

a field such as business, marketing, sports management, or sports/tax law. Each one helping in

areas that will be needed to support the clients with whom the agents come in contact. Many

people seeking to become an agent take the course of having a law degree. “Is it necessary?  Not

really. But it is an asset, both practically and from a presentation standpoint. Practically it

certainly helps when you are negotiating contracts.  From a presentation standpoint a client

always knows that if they get themselves in trouble, they can call me I can handle it.  It becomes

a one-stop shop” (Tampico). Joe Tampico is a well known lawyer and sports agent. He believes

that the law degree gives him an added quality that steers clients in his direction. His courtroom

expertise helps his clients if they get into legal troubles, monetary disputes, and anything in-

between. The more resources an agent has to offer, the more clients the agent will sign. The

assets of the agent can eventually equal profit for the agent, as well as the client, which can

incline almost any athlete toward a certain agent’s business.

Becoming a sports agent can be one of the hardest, yet rewarding industries to get in to.

There are the highs in the industry such as the pay. “Generally, a successful agent can expect to

earn in-between $150 to $600 an hour, after subtracting dues owed to his or her agency”

(Devantier and Turkington 73). This pay is one incentive for getting into the industry, but these

aspiring agents will never make the high end of this spectrum without knowing the right people

to start their career. While in college, many hopeful sports agents do internships with local

corporations to get a foot in the door. Through this process, skills needed to thrive and possibly

start their own business will be learned by the students. Many agents of today say that this is how

they first got started in the business of sports agency. It gives the agents their first exposure to

the life of sports agency. This will not automatically make you successful on the other hand.

Many people will get easily discouraged when immediate success does not happen. “Don’t take

no for an answer. You must be persistent and do whatever it takes to find your point of entry”

(Slough). Mark Slough speaks of his tribulations trying to become a successful agent. Agents

will have to stay strong to ever make it in the cut-throat industry. It is a business in which only a

few corporations manage almost everyone in athletics. “The sports agent’s primary duties consist

of negotiating contracts and finding endorsements for his or her clients. Contract negotiations

require great communication skills on the part of the sports agent” (Ferguson Publishing 71).

These duties come with a huge responsibility for the athlete’s financial and a lively well-being.

The relationships built during the negotiating period are very gratifying, yet cause many

problems. Many people realize the job is not for them as agents will work long hours especially

during negotiating times and may put a strain on family life.

Another tough aspect of the industry is the demanding travel schedule for agents. The job

demands agents to fly to many cities all over the country to negotiate contracts with clients,

negotiate clients’ contracts with teams, and to do endorsement deals. Though some take the

travel as a rough patch many find it as a relief knowing that they have no idea what they will be

doing the next day. The daily change exhilarates people in a day where sitting in a cubical is the

normality. “There is no such thing as a typical day in my life; everyday is different. I travel about

50% of the time and when I’m in the office everyday it’s different” (Steinberg). Mark

Steinberg’s travel patterns are no different than most. The time away from his office is a definite

with the contract negotiations, but everyday life in the office differs as well. No same person

calls about every client and not every client calls every day. Agents must be on their toes at all

times and ready for traveling or anything else unexpected. Teams only offer contracts for so long

and these contracts need to be acted upon swiftly.

Within all the madness of the career it is a key that agents find time to create a personal

bond between themselves, the client, and the client’s loved ones. Agents who care about the

people held dearest to the athletes are the agents that represent the most clients and who get the

higher cuts of players’ contracts. “You should care about your clients in their professional lives

as well as their personal lives. I’ve seen too many agents not care about the sport and the kids

that play it” (Kauffman). Steve Kauffman understands what it takes to thrive in the industry for a

long period of time. Caring for your clients is a key to both the athlete’s and the agent’s success.

The trust earned by the agent lets the client know that his or her best interests are always on the

agent’s mind. With this trust, unlimited endorsement deals and financial possibilities are

available.

Habitually agents will earn the ever so valuable trust by fighting for the betterment of the

well-being of their client’s health. The health of the clients is almost as vital to the agent as is

their own personal health. If no client is under contract with the corporation, no money or respect

will be earned by the agent. Agents fight to get regulations passed in the leagues that their clients

play in to protect their health. This refers to such things as the new helmet to helmet contact rule

in the NFL. Though it should be obvious that agents want their athletes at full strength, this still

creates a sense of protection created by the agent over the athlete in a world where athletes are

getting seriously injured on the playing field. “Every Sunday has been like an episode of ER.

There are times that I think I should have gone to Med School instead of Law School”

(Steinberg). It is a disheartening sight when a player lays unconscious and motionless on the

field. Most agents are making it their responsibility to help stop the horrific accidents from ever

happening. The longer the athlete plays, the longer both the agent and the athlete make money.

Though money is a key in the whole business as it is in almost any industry, money can also get

agents into trouble.

With the role of being named a sports agent, comes the responsibility of following rules

for recruiting college athletes for the agent’s representation. These rules get many agents in a ton

of trouble when they violate them. One agent who has had a mishap when it comes to recruiting

a college athlete is Marlon Sullivan. Sullivan, who was once in the news for having his NFLPA

Contract Advisor license suspended for six months after it was found that one of his employees

gave money to a former college football player. (Sullivan) Athletes who have not stated that they

are no longer in collegiate sports are not allowed to take any incentives whatsoever. This is

thought of as illegally convincing a possibly young, poor athlete to come to their agency because

they bought them a new car or luxury item in college. “Almost all incentives in big-time college

sports point to cheating” (Davis and Shropshire 73). All found incentives given to collegiate

athletes will get an agent suspended or even banned from the business if it is a repeat offense or

depending upon the severity of the offense. When an agent gets his or her license suspended, it

completely ruins their business. They have no way to make money because their clients are lost

and in some instances will never come back. Something that many agents try to follow is a code

of ethics. Following this code will almost always prevent the agent from doing something he or

she will regret in the future. If you decide to get a law degree as well to boost your likelihood

that you get a client, that leads to an even harsher code of ethics. “Licensed lawyers who

represent professional athletes may actually be at a disadvantage to non-lawyer agents when it

comes to recruiting clients” (Epstein 15). Lawyers are responsible for telling authorities if a

client has done something illegal, which is different from an agent who cannot disclose certain

information without being allowed by the client. This can often put a strain on the relationship if

the agent is required by law to tell of a certain incident that if the athlete had a choice would not

what to go public, so not all client-to-agent interaction is productive.

The business of sports agents is a very diverse industry that has many aspects which

must be planned for and respected to do well, which is why it is such an interesting career path.

It is an industry that is rapidly expanding with the development of so many professional sports.

Every athlete needs an agent and there will be many suitors for each of these clients. It makes for

a competitive business in which much traveling and hard work will be needed to succeed. Many

will never make it, but if the aspiring agent gets in to the right college courses and finds a good

mentor-like figure they will be able to go a long ways.

Works Cited

Davis, Timothy, and Kenneth L Shropshire. The Business of Sports Agents. 2nd ed. Philadelphia:

U of Pennsylvania P, 2008. Google Books. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.

<http://books.google.com/ books?id=uC2Lq8aTKhIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=

%22sports+agent

%22&hl=en&ei=HESOTqPGNaLZ0QGt5fUu&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnu

m=1&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22sports%20agent%22&f=false>.

Devantier, Alecia T, and Carol A Turkington. Extraordinary Jobs in Sports. New York:

Infobase, 2007. Print. Extraordinary Jobs.

Epstein, Adam. Sports Law. Clifton Park: Delmar Learning, 2003. Google Books. Web. 15 Nov.

2011. <http:///books.google.com/ books?

id=WrH89Nm0tbUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Ferguson Publishing. Ferguson’s Careers in Focus: Sports. 4th ed. New York: Infobase , 2008.

Print. Ferguson’s Careers in Focus.

Kauffman, Steve. “Steve Kauffman.” Interview by Sports Agent Blog. Sports Agent Blog. N.p.,

2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sportsagentblog.com/ interview-with-the-agent/

steve-kauffman/>.

Slough, Mark. “Mark Slough.” Interview by Richard Kimsey. Sports Agent Blog. N.p., 2011.

Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sportsagentblog.com/ interview-with-the-agent/ mark-

slough/>.

Steinberg, Leigh. “Leigh Steinberg.” Interview by Sports Agent Blog. Sports Agent Blog. N.p.,

2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sportsagentblog.com/ interview-with-the-agent/

leigh-steinberg/>.

Steinberg, Mark. “Mark Steinberg.” Interview by Sports Agent Blog. Sports Agent Blog. N.p.,

2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sportsagentblog.com/ interview-with-the-agent/

mark-steinberg/>.

Sullivan, Marlon. “Marlon Sullivan.” Interview by Darren Heitner. Sports Agent Blog. N.p.,

2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sportsagentblog.com/ interview-with-the-agent/

marlon-sullivan/>.

Tacopina, Joe. “Joe Tacopina.” Interview by Sports Agent Blog. Sports Agent Blog. N.p., 2011.

Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sportsagentblog.com/ interview-with-the-agent/ joe-

tacopina/>.