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Leigh Steinberg Blog: How To Be A Great Sports Agent, Part 3

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There are three critical components in sports agentry 1) Recruiting 2) Contract Negotiation 3) Servicing Clients. There are tens of thousands of people with the skill set to represent athletes, but they only will get the opportunity if they can attract clients.

Each year in each major American sport, a new crop of high school or college grads will enter professional sports, generally via a draft. The NCAA regulations regarding agents are very simple. Young athletes can retain their collegiate eligibility if they refrain from two things 1) making an oral or written agreement to be represented by an agent 2) the athlete or his family taking something of value from an agent. Athletes and their families can talk to agents from the moment the young man or woman enters the world until his eligibility is gone. There may be agents hanging out at maternity wards, looking for athletic-looking expectant mothers.

In team sports, an agent must be certified by the players association to be eligible to represent an athlete in that sport. State Labor Regulatory Acts must be complied with in the state where the athlete plays high school or college ball. Colleges have compliance rules that require registration. Each of these bodies have some level of disciplinary power to require agents to follow rules and standards in recruiting.

Having represented 60 first-round draft picks in the NFL, including the very first pick in eight different years, and a number of high-round draft picks in MLB and the NBAhere is what I suggest.

Assemble the greatest resources in terms of staffing and services possible that meet an athlete’s needs. Think through a coherent philosophy as to how you uniquely can add value to an athlete’s life. Prepare printed and/or visual material that describes what you have to offer in the most compelling way. Be creative. Include a biography of everyone who will interact with the athlete in your firm. Lay out a plan that shows the athlete and his or her family exactly what they will be doing from the day they sign with you through draft day. This should include the facility and plan for the pre-combine training (in football). It should encompass your opinion on participation in All-Star Games, the Combine and Pro Scouting Day. Athletes appreciate structure, and specificity is important. Lay out your philosophy and contacts in the endorsement area. Include plans for charity and community involvement. Talk through the process of planning for second career. Delineate whether your services include financial planning and if not, how you suggest they proceed to find a firm.

Think through what type of athlete you feel you will have greatest appeal for–personality, geographical location, character, culture, family structure etc. I found quickly that by profiling athletes and speaking primarily to those who seem to be bright, hard workers, interested in being role models and concerned about building for second career, I would have much greater success. One group of athletes will have their families heavily involved in the process. Their mother or father will be the screener and need to be talked to first. They will have a process that may encompass interviews with a group of agents. They will have done due diligence and have questions prepared. Or they may use other family friends or professionals to help with interviews. Many schools provide facilities for interviews to be done with athletic department personnel. These interviews may be held before, or after the season. Some colleges have “agent days” in the spring when athletes can meet with agents on campus for brief interviews. Try and research the athlete as a player and a person so you are familiar with his unique interests and needs and how he is ranked as a prospect. Know what the scouts think he needs to work on in the scouting process.

As you interact with an athlete and his family, you need to be well prepared and an expert on facts and dates that are relevant. Be an encyclopedia of information on pro teams, economics, the collective bargaining agreement and facets of the scouting process. Remember to include everyone in the process. The athlete may make the ultimate decision, but he will be influenced by family, friends, athletic alums, coaches, trainers, academic counselors and pro players. It is helpful to have current clients that will vouch for your skills, but if you are just starting that may not be possible. As a newcomer, you have one unique asset–time and focus. If an athlete believes in you, he may be attracted to being a pioneer in a new practice.  He may appreciate that he is not grouped as just another client on a massive client list.

The athlete who has no familial assistance and does not use the athletic department assistance may use very different criteria in agent selection. This is where the NCAA violations are most likely to occur. Make sure that you know what considerations the player is relying on and what his process is. The fiduciary responsibility to communicate clearly is even higher and the need to understand the sincerity of the player’s interest is vital.

As an athlete narrows his focus and starts eliminating agents, negative recruiting rears its ugly head. Some agents think of recruiting as war and that the end justifies the means. In political campaigning, everyone rails against negative ads. Politicians continue to use them, because they very often work. I remember a father being skeptical of me because he was told by a competitive agent that I had been fired by a client for substandard work. I had never met the player in question and certainly never represented him–but this is where malicious agents do their worst.

I recommend that you spend your time ignoring the negativity and focusing on your own positive qualities and plans for the client. I did not want my former wife to choose me because I convinced her that all other men were cretins. In an extreme circumstance, correct the erroneous facts, but don’t waste your time on other agents.

More to come next week.

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