Sports agents are one of the most crucial elements of any sports athlete’s career. Yes, you heard that right, ‘elements’ was the correct word used as sports agents are truly a piece in a well-oiled machine – they’re more than just individuals in the athlete’s life, they’re one of the movers and shakers who get things going to benefit the professional’s career. Just think about LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul, who’s been with him since the beginning, LeBron James often speaks about how he wouldn’t be where he is today if it weren’t for Rich Paul, clearly indicating how crucial a sports agent is.
This article aims to shed light on the areas in which sports agents really make a pivotal impact on the athlete’s lives, first outlining the importance of correct representation, then making strategic collaboration plans, ensuring excellent contractual situations and ultimately leading as a role model.
Correct Representation is Crucial
One of the most important parts of a sports agent job, whether it’s in football, racing, hockey or basketball, regardless of which sport it is, is representation. Athletes are good at one thing, namely the sport that they do. They shouldn’t be expected to be good at a whole bunch of other things.
This is where a sports agent comes into play. When an athlete enters a boardroom or is in a negotiation, it’s not their job to know the ins and outs of the finances. It’s their job to be able to perform at a level that the sports team that’s interested in them desires. The sports agent comes in here, as it’s their job to know about all the goings on in terms of team dynamics and payment plans. Also, teams take you more seriously if you have a sports agent so having someone with you in negotiations also often ups that fee.
Strategic Collaboration Plans
Additionally, once representation has been set, it’s important that during the negotiation phase, there are strategic collaboration plans in place. Just think about one of the biggest contractual things that happened in basketball in the 90s, when Michael Jordan signed with the Chicago Bulls but also allowed for a clause to be in there that he was able to sign with any franchise deal. This is what he signed with Nike and made Air Jordans, one of the most successful shoe companies in the world and a billion-dollar industry.
These collaborations can also include future things like if you’re a soccer player and you are going to be featured on FIFA. It’s important to make sure that a player is actually going to be represented in a way that they truly play on the field in the FIFA game, which is something that you actually have to outline in a contract. Furthermore, the collaborations that athletes make will highly impact the fans that they attract. If there is a ‘cool’ collaboration happening, such as between Mbappé and Justin Bieber’s clothing line, Drew, chances are that a lot of the fans of Justin Bieber will then also become fans of Mbappé because this is how collaborations work. This also impacts how players are bet on because there is a big industry of sports betting behind the players and if there is an interesting collaboration happening then fans are able to look at the ideal UK betting sites and actually place a bet, with knowledge and security in mind.
Contractual Elements Must be Aligned
Additionally, the contract has to be completely up to scratch. Before an athlete signs on to a team, a contract has to be set in stone and implementable. Of course, this is mainly where the legal team will come in, to make sure that all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. However, it is a sports agent’s job to negotiate for their athlete.
The legal team comes in to make sure that there are no issues in the contract, however, it’s the agent’s job to make sure that all the contractual movements, developments and expansion points that the professional can experience in their career are in there. It’s the sports agent’s job to think ahead and to include certain things that could come up in the professional career of the athlete as an opportunity, into the contract.
Acting as a Role Model
Beyond all this, the sports agent also needs to act as a sort of role model. Now, this does not mean a role model like how you might imagine in the traditional sense. A sports agent can’t show a soccer player how to train or wake up super early for runs, however, they can forge a path for them and act as a role model in that.
For example, the sports agent of Neymar in soccer was excellent at getting him into the correct teams, however, the trajectory of Neymar’s career actually went down when he switched between sports agents because the path was no longer clear to him. On the other hand, someone like Cristiano Ronaldo had excellent sports agents because you could see the trajectory going up in his career.
Any athlete who is doing well has an excellent team behind them, including sports agents, physicians and lawyers. Becoming an athlete at the scale of someone like Ronaldo is more than just skill – it’s everything involved in trying to put that player up in the best way possible.
