Sports agents, lawyers, or self-representation: the pros and cons

Sports agents, lawyers, or self-representation: the pros and cons

Are you trying to decide between signing with sports agents, lawyers or self-representation for your athletic career and during contract negotiations? 

If you’re a professional athlete seeking lucrative opportunities, you may find it beneficial to work with a professional in all aspects of your career. Sports agents act as buffers, are well-versed in contract negotiations, and could prove to be a great choice. However, some athletes decide to seek help from lawyers or represent themselves in player contract negotiations. 

The goal is to get the best deals possible based on your athletic abilities. What are the pro’s and con’s of being represented by a professional, such as a sports agent or a lawyer. Why do some athletes choose self-representation?

Sports Agents

Pro’s

Sponsorships and future

Athletes earn money from their contracts and salaries, but also from product endorsements and sponsorships. Sponsorships are extremely important because they can provide a longer financial certainty, as athletic careers are likely to be short. An agent can help their clients get sponsorships and other paid opportunities which is essential to a smooth transition into life after sports.

Network

Knowledgeable

A good agent is trustworthy and knows how to work under pressure. Agents are confident, as they ought to be the person that knows the most about the sports industry when it comes to relationships with clients, the law, and finances. The right agent is strong and educated, and will make sure to get what is best for you.

Up-to-date

Agents know all the in’s and out’s, trends, and news of the sports industry. As they are always up-to-date, they will make the most informed decisions possible.

Planning

Also, they have excellent planning skills. Representing an athlete is a time-consuming job. By staying organized, they make sure to help their clients reach their goals as fast as possible.

All-in-one service

Besides, agents make themselves available to their clients for more than only contract and sponsorship deals and needs. They’re the one of the people that you can rely on during hard times. They will always try to be there to help you out, to give you advice, and to make things happen. They are supportive of their athletes no matter what. An agent understands the financial situation of his clients: their expenses, future expenses, and spending habits. With these things in mind, he can negotiate a contract tailored to his client’s needs. 

Get what is best for you

When negotiating contracts, agents make sure that their clients get what’s in their best interest. They will advise you when it comes to bad as well as good deals. Just as important is that they can include provisions for injuries and options to increase your salary. Agents will keep your short term and long term goals into consideration to help you get the right opportunities for now and the future.

Hold a good reputation

Agents can help their athletes hold a great reputation and teach them how to behave. An agent needs to prepare their athletes for their behavior on and off the field, as they will constantly be judged. Likewise, agents know how to talk to the press in a positive way about their clients. You just learned about all the pro’s of having an agent. But are there also disadvantages of being represented by an agent? Let’s have a look.

Con’s

Commission

One of the main reasons for athletes to not get an agent, is that they make money by taking an amount of the money you, as an athlete, earn. However, to better explain an agent’s role and commission, is to compare it to a fundraiser seeking to raise capital for a business or other organization. A fundraiser earns a commission (usually 10-20%) based on the amount that they helped bring in (raise), just how a sports agent does on certain deals.

For example, if a business or nonprofit uses a fundraiser and they raise or bring in $1 million dollars in capital, then the fundraiser will get to keep between $100k – $200k.  Maybe the commission sounds absurd, but remember that establishing the fundraiser, advertisement and managing the program is a service that costs time and requires certain skills and abilities. The main thing to remember is that without the person whether its an agent or a fundraiser, using their own resources to bring in capital for their clients there is no money on the table period. It only makes sense, then, that an agent earns in a similar fashion for going out and bringing (raising) funds for their client.

Not necessarily a lawyer

While many agents are lawyers, being a lawyer is not required if you want to be an agent. That means that not all sports agents have a background in law. In such cases, they cannot provide legal advice, but will assist their clients in handling negotiations. However, when necessary, most (good) agents will advise their clients to seek legal assistance and they might even be able to refer them to a trusted lawyer.

Bad agents

There are many agents on the market; whom you trust and choose to represent you, can have important consequences for your career. The flaw of having an agent is when they see their role as ‘only’ making sure his clients earn the most money, without preparing their clients for their future or life after sports.

Also, bad agents may lack loyalty and try to poach their clients. There might be agents out there that try to persuade you to sign with them, for example by making (false) promises, by giving you gifts, or even money. College students may find this attractive, as they do not yet have an immediate income. However, taking anything from these sources is strictly against the NCAA rules and could make you lose your eligibility to play, and eventually decrease your chances of making it as a pro.

Let’s take a look at sports lawyers. How are they different from sports agents, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of being represented by one?

Lawyers

Some athletes don’t really know that there is a difference between a sports agent and a sports lawyer.  In fact, there is a big difference in the way they both operate. As you might know, sports lawyers manage their client’s legal protection. A sports agent – as we have read about before – will take care of many more things, such as marketing and travel booking. Responsibilities of (sports) lawyers may vary. Sports lawyers can work for law firms, but also for teams, leagues, governing federations, and more.

So what, then, are the pro’s and con’s of being represented by a lawyer, compared to a sports agent?

Pro’s

Provide legal advice

Con’s

No personal assistance

Sports lawyers might not offer personal assistance as they do not represent a player’s career but merely practice sports law professionally. Thus, if you are looking for someone that can manage most parts of your life so you can stay focused on your performance, a sports agent might be a better choice.

So what are the big differences between sports agents, lawyers, or self-representation?

Most lawyers charge an hourly rate, which makes it cheaper and therefore more attractive for athletes. The reason for this is that they do not operate the same for a client as an agent does. An agent’s job is to search for and get deals for his clients. This requires a budget and in some cases years of networking with decision makers in both the sports industry and business marketing world. A sports agent is specialized in sports-related deals and sports- and post-sports careers.

On the other hand, a lawyer’s job is to ‘simply’ review and negotiate deals that are brought before them. In this case, the client is the one responsible for finding deals. Sometimes clients even have to gather the necessary documents to send them over to the lawyer. A lawyer isn’t worried about maintaining contacts with companies like NIKE, Gatorade, or any scout, coach, nor GM necessarily. Especially since it’s the client that is primarily responsible for bringing in deals. Lawyers generally specialize in a specific area of law, that in most cases isn’t even sports-related. That means that their knowledge and expertise in negotiating sports contracts might be limited. A good sports agent – on the contrary – will understand how things such as future salary cap increases, a client’s jersey sales, or even how performance bonuses can impact a contract that’s under negotiation.

Those are the in’s and out’s of being represented by a professional, whether it’s a sports agent or a lawyer. Some athletes, however, choose to represent themselves, without hiring an intermediary. That choice, too, comes with its pro’s and con’s.

Self-representation

Working with a sports agents, lawyers, or self-representation are the most common methods of managing ones’ athletic and professional career. There has been a shift in professional sports that has seen some of the biggest stars deciding to represent themself. One of them that has been in a lot headlines lately is QB Lamar Jackson of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. Let’s dive in and look at the pros and cons of self-represented athletes.

Pro’s

An unfocused agent is useless

An agent becomes useless when unfocused and with no network. Agents are expected to handle the needs of each client, not all agents are actually able to fulfill these duties. The agent’s primary role is to keep their clients employed and negotiate the best deals possible. However, over the years an agent’s role has expanded. They’re also their manager, friend, motivational coach, and even act as a personal assistant in some cases.

The sports agent business nowadays is competitive, but also extremely lucrative. The most successful agents are the ones that can take care of everything. But the question is, are these agents really able to take care of everything? 

Unfortunately, not always agents meet our expectations. Agents may be way too busy to give you enough personal attention. Bad agents may give you poor advice when it comes to important decisions, or they do not have a plan for handling legal or financial issues.

TOP 4 SPORTS AGENT SCANDALS

Therefore, before signing with an agent, you should first ask yourself: does this agent seem honest? Will the agent be spending enough time marketing me? What can this agent do to protect my future and deal with problems that may arise?

Only if you are willing to spend time finding the right agent for you, will it be an advantage to have one.

Freedom of choice

If you choose to represent yourself, you can embrace the freedom of choice. As you get to choose, try to find the projects that attract you the most. You could seek other self-represented athletes and create a supportive community. An outside eye can sometimes be very helpful in finding opportunities and making the right choices. Besides, it can make you feel less lonely.

Do the costs outweigh the benefits?

Many athletes believe that they will not go anywhere if they do not have an agent. While working with an agent can make you have very lucrative deals that you would never get by yourself; you should always consider the costs versus the benefits for your situation. However, remember that the commission of a great agent can almost never outweigh the benefit of any amount added onto the contract value.

You can keep all your income

Needless to say; if you choose self-representation, all the money that you earn will be for yourself. It may still benefit a self-represented athlete to consult with tax professionals to limit their personal tax liability and remain complaint to the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).

Con’s

Time consuming

You need to train and stay competitive. You need your time to work on your craft. Contract negotiations, networking, and self-promotion take away a lot of your precious time that you could be spending on the field, in the gym, or to take rest.

No knowledge on how to find opportunities

Agents are experts at networking. You, as an athlete, probably don’t even know where to find opportunities or how to promote yourself. Agents know exactly who they can reach out to and how to talk to these individuals. Also, keep in mind that the player-agent relationship is not a win-lose relationship. A good agent might be able to get a player more money than this person can ever get for himself.

No industry specific knowledge

Contract negotiations are complex. When negotiating a player, pro sports teams consider many things, such as the player’s age, his injury history, statistics, personal history, etc. Agents negotiate contracts by comparing similar players with high incomes. Also, industry specific knowledge is required for contracts of different positions, and agents know what type of arguments to use when discussing with the team’s negotiators. 

If you do not feel comfortable negotiating agreements by yourself, you should consider hiring an agent. To be able to understand and negotiate agreements, industry-intensive knowledge is necessary. Choosing self-representation means you do not benefit from hiring a professional with the right negotiating skills to get you the best deals. An agent may have years and years of experience in negotiating contracts, so he surely knows how to do it.

Also, choosing self-representation means there will be no one fighting battles for you, and you will probably not have the same resources available compared to an agent.

Mental health

Thus, being a self-represented athlete is a time consuming job. A self-represented athlete has to do everything by themselves: build and maintain relationships in the sports industry and business world, stay physically (and mentally) in shape to perform, participate in their sports activities, manage a family life, plus find time to plan and work towards a post-sports career. You will need to decide for yourself what works best for you and your personal situation. 

Sports Agents, Lawyers, or Self-Representation

There are many differences between working with sports agents, lawyers, or self-representation. Whether it’s working with a professional that helps manage your entire athletic career such as a sports agent or a lawyer whenever you need legal advice, the choice is ultimately up to that individual athlete to figure what’s most important to them and needs they have. Representing yourself definitely has significant benefits but will take away from the limited personal time that athletes have in their very busy life.