How Much Does a Sports Agent Make?

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2009-11-02T13:47:00-05:00

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1312 5903 <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type" /> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document" /> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12" /> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12" /> <link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:\Users\Mary\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_filelist.xml" /> <link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:\Users\Mary\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_themedata.thmx" /> <link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:\Users\Mary\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_colorschememapping.xml" /><style type="text/css"> </style> To many people who love sports, being a sports agent sounds like a dream job. What could be better than getting paid to place athletes with teams and making a cut of a highly paid athlete’s salary? It’s true that being a sports agent can be an exciting and lucrative career, at least for some agents. But how do you get there and what can you make?<o:p></o:p>    Sports agents get started in many different ways. There are several training courses out there that teach you what you need to know to be an agent; some are better than others. A good training course will give you lots of information and will help you to find clients once the training is over. Before you can represent clients, however, you’ll need to register and possibly test with the sports leagues. In some states, you may have to go through a registration and licensing process, as well. Until you are registered with a professional sports league, such as the NBA or NFL, you cannot represent athletes who are part of those leagues or who wish to be part of those leagues. <o:p></o:p>   Once you’ve completed your education and registration, it may pay to be part of a larger organization at first. Such affiliation can help get you leads on athletes who are seeking representation. Without such leads, it may be quite difficult to get started. Once you have a few clients, however, you may find that a large agency is not as necessary, since you may be able to get new clients through word of mouth.<o:p></o:p>   Good sports agents can make an extremely good living; many make in excess of $1,000,000 per year. Of course, making really good money as a sports agent means representing some very good athletes, who are also successful. Agents are paid on commission. The average is 10-20% of the earnings of the athlete. <o:p></o:p>   Many critics of sports agents complain that they make too much money and are simply leeching off the talent of the athlete. However, the tenacity and expertise of the sports agent has a lot to do with how much money an athlete can actually make. Many of the athletes represented by agents are very young, and don’t have the skills to negotiate a contract. Some are from foreign countries and may not even speak the language in the country where they are being signed. For these athletes, an agent can be a godsend and may be the only reason the athletes aren’t completely taken advantage of by teams and companies seeking athletes for endorsements. <o:p></o:p>   Being a sports agent can be a very lucrative and enjoyable career for the right person. An agent must be knowledgeable in contract negotiation and must have tenacity and good people skills. A sports agent who takes good care of a talented athlete can expect to make a very good living.  However, agents who don’t  look after their athletes and who can’t handle all the details can find themselves without athletes to represent  very quickly, since bad news can travel fast between teammates. Do you have the skills to make lots of money as a sports agent?<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>   <div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt">M. E. Ward writes about how to get a <a title="blocked::goog_1260282323251" href="outbind://324-0000000002A1A8770B4FB346922183072AE172A304C44B00/goog_1260282323251">sports management degree onlin</a><a title="blocked::http://www.sportsmanagementdegree.org/" href="http://www.sportsmanagementdegree.org/">e</a>.</div> 96.246.109.177