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The Reality of Life as a Sports Agent

Published on Sunday June 27th , 2010

Many young boys have the same dream: to become a professional athlete in their favorite sport. When this dream does not become a reality, they look to the next best career, that of a sports agent; this way, they can remain within the sports community even though they won’t be able to play the sport. Jerry Maguire helped to romanticize the notion of the sports agent career, and while it may seem like the perfect career choice for many young adult men, there are many aspects of the career which they should know about before leaping into it.

Many young men are more than fans of a certain sport, and truly hold a passion for the sport and the athletes who compete within it. It is this type of passion that helps them begin a career in the business of sports. They no longer care about playing the sport, but have moved on to the career behind the sports business. Jerry Maguire did get the basic concept of the career correct: sports agents are involved with much of the behind-the-scenes aspects of sports and help their clients turn their game into a career. However, unlike the movie, sports agents typically do not spring into huge firms, and when they do, it is difficult to land as big of a client as Tom Cruise was able to in the movie.

Becoming a successful sports agent takes a great deal of work, as well as an outstanding background knowledge of the sports industry itself. While this seems easy to any sports enthusiast, there are many intricacies of the sports industry that remain hidden to every fan unless they are part of the business. Sports managers and agents must have a complex understanding of contract law and the ability to successfully negotiate and manage their clients and their subsequent contracts. This part of the industry is not as glamorous as Hollywood would make it seem, and many successful sports agents and managers are in fact previous contract lawyers who graduated at the top of their class.

However, this trend is beginning to change as sports agents are able to grasp a more thorough knowledge from individualized degree programs and classes. Sports agents degrees were previously unheard of through most public universities, but are now beginning to be offered in many large campuses, as well as online universities. This encourages many sports fans to get a jumpstart on their dream career as a sports agent, and helps ensure that they have the proper background to achieve such a dream.

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