A Career as a Sports Agent
What is a sports agent?
So you want to be a sports agent (also called Athlete Representation)? A sports agent acts as a professional athlete’s representative in negotiating contracts, salaries, endorsements, and other business arrangements. You will have to market an athlete or products that are related to that athlete, and to promote the athlete's career within his or her given sport. It can be extremely lucrative for those who establish a solid client list.
Qualifications
The education required to become a sports agent includes a four-year college degree in business or a related major. The future sports agent may then also follow that with a law degree. The sills that are required for a successful sports agent is excellent negotiating skills, sales ability, and ability to work under pressure.
Payments
In the table below is some good evidence that if you can get into this very competitive market, you can do very well for yourself. This table shows the minimum and maximum salaries for athletes in a range of sports, and an estimated commission that a sports agent may receive. This data is from around 2010, and would be expected to increase each year.
| Sport | Min. Salary | Max. Salary | Agent 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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