The foremost task in becoming a sports agent is to decide your career of expertise. Most sports agent wants to go for the NFL and NBA, but the competition is high in these leagues. To stand out, you have to be successful and well known to be an agent in these two leagues. Before narrowing down to one sport in which you wish to become a sports agent, you must do complete research. After that, you can compare how many sports agents get in all the leagues and then you can get to choose which suits you the best and join that league. The main leagues are:-
- the National Football League (NFL)
- National Hockey League (NHL)
- National Basketball Association (NBA)
- Major League Baseball (MLB)
If you find this blog interesting, you can read more such blogs to get the right career advice.
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Who are Sports Agents?
Sports agents are professionals who are responsible for hiring sportsmen to a team. They help players in negotiating and endorsing contracts with sports clubs. In fact, they also approach major corporations for sponsorships. Sports agents render their services for a percentage on the income their client gets towards their commission.
How Long Does it Take to Become a Sports Agent?
Despite all the required qualification, it might take years to get the experience right. For the ones who complete a sports management degree takes approx four to six years to enter the workforce of becoming a sports agent. But, to do well in the profession, one must have a sound knowledge of all the rules of the industry.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Sports Agent
After becoming a sports agent, they usually work under sports management or consulting companies. They could be an agent for one player or a group of players. Sports agents can perform a different range of tasks, such as:-
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accounting
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negotiating contracts
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taking care of legal
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market and advertise players for better sponsorships
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advice players before signing deals, etc.
When Players begin their careers, they are usually inexperienced to face perplexing situations. Moreover, they even make certain decisions that they lack knowledge about.
Hence to be careful, players hire experienced sports agents to help them build their careers and make the right decisions. The main job of a sports agent apart from the above is:-
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to keep a record of sponsorship benefits
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of the general expenses of a player, and wages a player that they get for playing
Furthermore, sports agents help players with their tax issues, insurances, and legal matters. They also travel with their players for games or to social gatherings.
Education Qualification to Become a Sports Agent
To become a sports agent, you need a master’s degree in:-
- communication
- public relations
- finance
- business
- sports management
Some sports agents even complete law school, which isn’t mandatory, but this helps them to know about the legal aspects involved in sports. After the completion of your master’s degree, you must sit for the sports agent exam to join a particular league. The application fee for the same is $600 to $1,200 (ranges). If you fail this exam, you need to wait for a whole year to re-apply, as these exams take place only once a year.
In case you do get through the agent exams in the first go, then you can join the league by other means. That is, by paying another registration fee before you start representing players. These degrees will suffice you to become a sports agent in the US. Lots of people think being a sports agent is a great way to be in the spotlight, but they don’t realize the work hard they put in to reach there. They work with full dedication to market their clients and negotiate for the best deals for the sake of their clients.
How Much Do Sports Agents Earn in the US?
There is a familiar saying in the sports agent industry; sports agents get paid only when their players whom they represent get paid. But post becoming a Sports Agent in the US, there are certain salary assumptions they get. If they are working for clients (Players) in major football leagues like NFL (National Football League), they can earn $6,750 to $600,000 per year.
If they work for the NBA (National Basketball Association) clients, they can earn $15,400 to $1,120,000 per year.
Working for the National Hockey League (NHL), they can earn $14,000 to $400,000 per year. If an agent is well established and has built his network of clients (players), then they can earn up to a million dollars a year. But, it takes years to get recognized in the sports arena for your clients to choose you as their personal sports agent.
In fact, the commission sports agents earn is not fixed. Sometimes they can earn more than what they got for the last game in which their client took part. Else, they may not earn anything if their player gets injured and couldn’t take part in a few games. Also, the performances of the player(s) you represent matters. If your players underperforming, no league will hire them, and they will not get any endorsements or sponsorships. So you have to be aware of all these points before choosing to become a sports agent or chosen by your clients to be their agent.