Students must secure (purchase, rent, or borrow) and view a copy of Jerry Maguire to answer the following questions
1. Describe Jerry Maguire’s job and describe what this type of position entails.
Jerry Maguire is a sports agent a person who negotiates employment and endorsement deals for an athlete. For their services, the agent receives a commission, which usually runs between 4 and 10 percent. The agent also may assist in public relations and all aspects of his client’s finances.
Our text states a few of the other responsibilities of the agent are;
• Determines the value of the players services
• Convinces a club to pay the player the aforementioned value
• Develops the package of compensation to suit the player’s needs
• Protects the player’s rights under contract
• Counsels the player about post career security, both financial and occupational
• Finds a new club upon the player’s free agency
• Assists the player in earning extra income from endorsements, speeches, appearances, and commercials
• Advises athletes on the effect of their personal conduct on their career (p 26)
According to Wikipedia, a sports agent helps market athletes or products associated with that athlete to promote an athlete’s career. Agents are responsible for communications with team owners, managers, coaches, and other individuals. Primarily, agents are used to broker and negotiate contracts for their clients. Also, they are responsible for making recommendations in regards to the athlete’s options. In addition to finding income sources, agents often handle public relations matters for their clients. In some large sports agencies, such as IMG, Creative Artists Agency, and Octagon, agents deal with all aspects of a client’s finances, from investment to filing taxes.
The Business plan on Sports Agents
... the athletes they represent, a number of agencies within the sports field have set up regulations to govern sports agents. The National Football League Players Association ... client pool, the competition to represent players is vigorous and at times unprincipled. Often an agent will need a substantial number of professional athlete clients ...
Sports agents may be relied upon by their clients for guidance in all business aspects, and sometimes even more broadly. For example, hockey agents start recruiting clients as young as 15, allowing the agent to guide the athlete’s career before the NHL draft, which happens usually at 18 years of age.
Due to the length and complexity of contracts, many sports agents are lawyers or have a background in contract law. Agents are expected to be knowledgeable about finance, business management, and financial and risk analysis, as well as sports. It is important for a sports agent to follow trends in sports. Other skills an agent must possess are excellent communication and negotiation skills. Agents must be highly motivated, willing to work long hours, and have the ability to multitask. It is very common for agents to be in negotiations on behalf of several clients at one time.
Some agents are part of large companies, and some are on their own. The number of clients an individual agent can handle and how many clients his or her employing agency can handle in total are interdependent variables.
Before the 1990s, most soccer players did not use agents. In some cases, they used their fathers as agents. Due to most parents’ naiveté about the football business, these young footballers were often given less-than-stellar contracts by football clubs, which yielded lower salaries than they thought they deserved. In Sweden, there were only three licensed agents in 1995. As of 2002, there were 33. According to FIFA, there were 5,187 licensed association football agents world-wide, with 600 agents in Italy alone. Since 2001, agents have not been licensed by FIFA. Instead, agents are now licensed directly by each association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_agent
2. Why has the bargaining power of athletes increased so much in the past 40 years?
The sports industry is experiencing tremendous growth, and sports’ marketing is playing an important role in this emerging industry. Sports marketing will continue to grow in importance as sports become more pervasive in the U.S. culture and around the globe. The growth is identified in a number of ways; the number of spectators, the growth of media coverage, increase in sport participation, rising employment opportunities, and the growth in sports internationally. (p31) Based on this it is my opinion that the bargaining power of athletes have increased because demand has increased.
The Business plan on Sports Agents Agent Athlete Players
People have been entertained by sport since before the gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. In the 20 th century, the publics' passion for sport consumes more and more of their free time. As sports figures became internationally recognized, athletes began to realize their need for professional representation. Thus, sports agents were born. The field of sports agents has grown since then into an ...
3. The competitive nature of the sports agency business is real. Name five of the top agencies and show the source of your information (i.e. www…).
• Creative Artists Agency: “CAA” – acquired various pieces of the sports agency business of SFX (see below), starting with football. • IMG – International Management Group – corporate agency established by entrepreneur Mark McCormack, originally with a specialization in golf and tennis. After the death of McCormack the company was acquired by private equity group Forstmann Little. • International Sports Management – British sports agency run by former European Tour golfer Andrew “Chubby” Chandler.[27] • Octagon Worldwide – Full-service sports agency and event marketing group, traded with advertising and marketing companies in the Interpublic Group. • Priority Sports and Entertainment- Agency representing the most NBA players, run by Mark Bartelstein. • Rosenhaus Sports- sports agency run by Drew Rosenhaus.
• Sports Management Worldwide – (SMWW) – global sports agency founded by Dr. Lynn Lashbrook. • Wasserman Media Group: acquired Arn Tellem’s basketball agency from SFX, and usually represents the most players in NBA lottery draft each year. I don’t know if these are the top five but there are quite a few of these names that keep popping up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_agent
4. Complete an Internet search of the Sports Agent career and describe how one could/should build a career in this industry (include source).
Instructions
1. Pick an undergraduate degree program in sports management. These courses will prepare you for most jobs in the sports agent field. Most professional leagues require at least a four-year degree from an accredited university. Take as many business management and entertainment or sports law courses as you can during your education.
The Essay on Pursuing A Career In Sports Agent
Pursuing a career as a sports Agent Professional sports agents not only handle the business and legal deals for professional athletes but also negotiate contracts and help athletes manage their money. One thinking that the career of a sports agent is a nine to five desk job is seriously mistaken. In most cases, sports agents do much traveling to meet athletes and league representatives as well as ...
2. Determine what sport you want to be an agent in. Understand that the National Football League requires that sports agents hold a post-graduate degree in sports management, human relations, business management, personal finance or a related field. Check with the league or professional sports organization you aspire to work for to understand specific qualifications.
3. Find out about the various qualifications for sports agents in your preferred field. Each potential agent should have information regarding educational requirements, sports league rules, salary information, recruiting information, certification fees and membership costs.
4. Seek certification information on the league or professional organization in which you wish to work. Most leagues require some kind of certification, including the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB).
5. Study for the certification test for the league or organization you wish to join. Each organization will have resources for certification courses that can help you prepare for the exam.
6. Pay the certification fee and take the respective exam of the organization you aspire to be certified in.
7. Obtain liability insurance, as this will be extremely important in your sports agent career. Some organizations require this of agents, while others do not specify it. Having it will be beneficial in searching for clients and ensure your own legal security on the job,
8. Meet as many agents, players, coaches and media figures as you can. Networking is a huge part of the sports industry and the best agents know how to sell themselves to players to gain clients. Get a good business card and give it to anyone that could be a potential client or lead you to a potential client.
9. Search for internships or entry-level positions at an agency or at the sport organization where you wish to work. Internships can be an excellent way to meet potential clients and since you will already be certified, you can immediately start to network yourself as a potential representative.
The Essay on Steroids In Sports Major League Baseball
Kiefer 1 Before the 1990's, athletes were unique. They were able to capitalize on their God-given talents, and make themselves famous based on their skill. But then something happened. Steroids began to playa bigger and bigger role in sports. No longer were the most naturally gifted athletes becoming the stars. Now, it can be said that whoever has the best pharmacist can be the best athlete. As ...
10. Start attending college and even high school sporting events in your area and scouting potential clients who may be in need of representation. Securing a client early will (if they are talented) help you build a name. Make sure you stay within the guidelines of district or National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations for scouting.
Read more: Steps for How to Be a Sports Agent | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6755412_steps-sports-agent.html#ixzz2AWCVixFe
5. Locate and list five of the top sports agents (include source).
Scott Boras – Scott Boras Corporation
Arn Tellem – WMG Management
Tom Condon – CAA Sports
Drew Rosenhaus – Rosenhaus Sports
Don Meehan – Newport Sports Management
The top five that I found were from askmen.com but I do not know trustworthiness of this information. I did read on these five and they do have some big names behind them. http://www.askmen.com/top_10/sports/top-10-sports-agents_10.html
Another site I visited had Arn Tellem, Bill Duffy, Tom Condon, and Tom Reich as the top agents. http://www.become-a-sports-agent.com/career.asp
Shank, D. Matthew. Sports Marketing, A Strategic Perspective. 4th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
