Professional Sports Agents

The world of sports is a very intense place in America. Millions and billions of dollars are at stake on what is ultimately a game.

On the surface, things look simple, but a deeper look at the sports world reveals that there thousands of people besides the players and coaches that make up the sports world and that without them, sports as we know it wouldn't exist. One of the more notable groups of people are sports agents.

Sports agents represent players and help them negotiate the best contract for them. This is much more important than it seems. In fact, it's also much newer than it seems. Sports agents haven't always been around.

History of Sports Agents 

Years ago, the team owners believed that players were more or less commodities, that they bought and sold and traded. A player would be drafted to a team and, unless they were traded, would stay with that team their whole career.

The idea of free agency, or the ability of a player to choose what team he or she plays for, has only been around for forty years or so. If a player thought he was paid or treated unfairly, well, too bad.

Could you imagine if you weren't allowed to quit and work for another company in the same field? This was the plight of athletes until free agency came around.

Once players could become free agents, they had a new problem on their hands. Many of them were undereducated and had little business or legal knowledge, and had a difficult time negotiating fair contracts, even with the teams of their choosing. Sports agents were able to step in to help with that. These sports agents work with the general manager to negotiate, argue, debate and ultimately decide on a contract for all involved.

Sports agents have evolved a lot since then. Sports agents serve athletes in all different ways. Sports agents arrange for many of their publicity and sponsorship deals. Sports agents arrange help with legal and financial issues for the athletes. Sports agents also act as advisors and mentors, helping athletes maintain good relationships with the press, their fans, their teammates and the front office of an organization.

Many people see a sports agent as bad for the sport, because they were so good at negotiating that many of today's athletes seem grossly overpaid to the average fan. But a sports agent are a big reason why the sports world today works so well, and people all over the globe enjoy it so much.

Return from Sports Agents to Sports Fans Net Home Page