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How To Become a Sports Agent
Becoming a sports agent takes some time - you must have a certain level of education, some certifications and time enough to either be an intern or study under a current sports agent. Though there is an investment of time and money involved in how to become a sports agent, the business is a rewarding field. Highly competitive and full of action, a career in sports agency can yield a high return on your investment and lead to other job opportunities within the professional sports fields.
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Education
With or without a college degree, there are some additional classes you should take before trying to get into the business of sports agent.
Education is a key to becoming a successful and profitable sports agent. A sports agent career often begins with a college degree, usually a bachelors degree will do. Though you do not have to have a college degree to become one, many agencies looking for interns or agent advisors will often favor those with higher education over those that don’t have it.
At the very least, you should have taken some kind of “how to become a sports agent” course. These courses can often be taken online so that if you have another job or simply can’t attend a traditional school that may offer such a course, you can still learn. Many allow you to learn at your own pace and don’t even have tests or exams of any kind. There is a fee to take them of course, but it is a great investment in a future where the sky is the limit.
These courses and all of the classes in them are extremely important. Simply reading a book about the business of sports agent will not suffice. Things like avoiding conflicts of interest - this is not something you would get from a sports agent’s memoir or reading just any book on the industry. Courses like these are often written by former and/or current agents and are invaluable in teaching you about the business. As stated earlier, you don’t necessarily need a college degree, but you absolutely must have a course such as this.
Agent Advisors
Agent Advisors are basically interns (some paid, some not) who are trying to become agents while learning under a seasoned, established sports agent.
Once you have graduated from your course, it is time to start looking for a job. Though you can try and do things independently and shop around for clients by cold calling, this is the hard way. Applying for a job at a reputable, well-established pro sports agent agency can boost your career and teach you invaluable lessons about how the industry really works. Taking a “how to become a sports agent” course is one thing, but real world experience and seeing those lessons in action is another.
An agent advisor is basically like an intern who leans the ropes while assisting an established sports agent. Your duties could run from the usual intern duties of getting coffee and running errands to sitting in on meetings, which can give you valuable insight about how to conduct yourself once your sports agent career starts to blossom.
During this time you must also become registered and certified with the player’s unions of all the major pro sports: hockey (NHL), basketball (NBA), football (NFL) and baseball (MLB). Unless you are certified as an agent by these unions, you will not be able to negotiate contracts with players from those sports. Becoming a member also provides you with contacts that can help you later on in your quest to become an agent.
Agent Status
You must be certified and then find your own clients to finally be an official sports agent.
Your sports agent career officially starts once you sign your first client. By this time, you should have been certified and know enough about the ins and outs of a sports agent career to be trustworthy enough for athletes to sign with you.
Many agents start with college athletes and once they become pro, they can then establish themselves as a pro athlete sports agent. Others start with pro athletes, though any good agent always has his eye on the future and is ready to try and represent a client who is making the transition from collegiate to pro athletics.
The minor leagues such as MLB farm clubs and the D-league for the NBA are also great places to look for clients. Many of these athletes are new to the pros and are searching for agents.
Though you may become an agent relatively quickly, you should always listen to those that have been there before you. Every agent is quick to tell you this. No matter how big your client roster becomes or how many “big bucks endorsement deals” you secure them, you should never be too busy to listen to someone older and wiser. This is a recurring theme that all agents cover in their books and interviews about the industry. No matter how many college degrees or certificates of completion you have, perhaps this is the best sports agency career lesson of all.
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