Professional athletes are paid a great amount of money for the services that they provide. Even with the economic crisis, athletes are signing record contracts that are worth over a hundred million dollars. One of the big reasons these contracts are being made is the representation of the athlete by their agent. Sports agents play a crucial role in the business side of sports.
What do agents do? Agents have five main duties that they perform for their client. First, they negotiate contracts for their clients. Agents must have some expertise with contract law. They must know what other players are being paid so they can set a proper amount for their client, and must negotiate the little details of the contract.
Second, the agent markets and promotes the image of their client. This makes the athlete more attractive for sponsors to use in commercials. It can also help the player raise funds in charities.
Third, the agent is a financial planner. The agent should manage the amount of money their client receives, although this hardly happens. The client might hire an accountant for a very rich client.
Fourth, the agent acts as a spokesperson and mediator for their client. If the athlete is involved in a dispute or commits a crime, the agent may be the one who addresses the media or attempts to resolve the issue.
Finally, the agent must travel in behalf of their client. If an agent has many clients, he/she may have to travel across the country multiple times a week. The agent is always on call and may have to travel on short notice to represent a client.
Being a sports agent would be a very excited career for people interested in sports. The pay is another perk to the profession. An agent’s salary is based on a percentage of a client’s yearly salary. The NFL, NBA, and MLB all have different league minimums and salary caps that must be obeyed. An agent can make between $240 to $1,120,000 a year from just one client. Here is a chart to show the minimum and maximum an agent can make in different professional sports.
Athlete's Yearly Salary: | |||
Sport: | Low: | High: | Agent Advisor Commission: |
National Football League (NFL) | $225,000 | $20,000,000 | $6,750 - $600,000 |
Arena Football League (AFL) | $28,000 | $240,000 | $840 - $9,600 |
Canadian Football League (CFL) | $75,000 | $275,000 | $3,000 - $11,000 |
National Basketball Assoc. (NBA) | $385,000 | $28,000,000 | $15,400 - $1,120,000 |
European Basketball | $6,000 | $1,000,000 | $240 - $40,000 |
Major League Baseball (MLB) | $300,000 | $22,000,000 | $12,000 - $880,000 |
National Hockey League (NHL) | $350,000 | $10,000,000 | $14,000 - $400,000 |
Minor League Hockey | $10,000 | $200,000 | $400 - $20,000 |
Major League Soccer (MLS) | $15,000 | $500,000 | $600 - $20,000 |
European Soccer | $45,000 | $7,800,000 | $1,800 - $312,000 |
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The whole sports agent makes me angry. Here you have a person who is lobbying for another person, trying to market for a man to make as much money as possible. But let's take a look at me, I attempt to save lives everyday and have saved some and even aided in giving birth twice in my career. I do not have an agent lobbying for me to get more money and in fact, probably won't get a raise for the job I do each day. What is wrong with that picture?
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