How To Be A Sports Agent 3Rev Ed Edition

By Mel Stein

Oldcastle Books

Copyright © 2008 Mel Stein & Mark Levinstein
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84344-045-1

Contents

About the Author,
Title Page,
Dedication,
Acknowledgements,
Introduction,
The Licence,
The Football Association Agents Regulations 2007,
The Regulations Themselves,
How to Set Up a Sports Agency,
Recruiting Clients,
The Agency Contract,
Representing a Club,
What to Charge and Who Pays,
More on the Management Contract,
Agent or Lawyer?,
Keeping the Client,
Playing Contracts – The Principles,
Playing Contracts – The Practicalities,
Playing Contracts – Cricket,
Representation of Team / League Sport Athletes Versus Representation of Athletes in ‘Individual’ Sports,
The Player Agent in the United States,
Playing Contracts – Rugby,
Commercial Contracts,
Television and Commercials,
Licences and Endorsements,
Sponsorship and Endorsements,
Useful Addresses,
Appendix,
Standard Representation Agreement,
Copyright,

CHAPTER 1

The Licence

When Dave Nightingale said that an agent didn’t need a licence he was talking about more innocent times. Nowadays several major sports in this country, throughout Europe and in the States, have a licensing system. Until March 2001, certainly as far as football was concerned, getting a licence didn’t mean being qualified. Basically, provided you had enough money to post the security bond, hadn’t murdered anybody (or at least nobody of any note) or were able to con your way through the easiest of interviews, then the Football Association (FA) would grant you a licence. Whether that was a domestic licence (enabling you solely to negotiate transfers in England) or a full FIFA licence (permitting you to deal abroad), merely depended upon the amount of the bond.

From 1 March 2001, the Players’ Agents’ Regulations came into force for people who want to represent footballers. These were replaced by the 1st January 2007 Regulations and these were so successful (not) that The FA introduced The FA Regulations in September 2007 and these really bit for the first time during the January 2008 Transfer Window.

If you are planning to set up a sports agency in the UK, then the odds are that you will be planning to represent, inter alia, professional footballers. That’s where the real money lies in this country and although there are agents out there who are making a good living from acting for golfers, rugby players, boxers, cricketers and tennis stars, there are only a few who limit themselves to one sport representation. If that’s what you intend to do, then obviously your first port of call as far as the requirements for licensing are concerned is the appropriate governing body of the relevant sport (the Rugby Football Union for rugby, Lawn Tennis Association for tennis, England and Wales Cricket Board for cricket – never understood the Welsh bit unless it is meant to apply solely to Glamorgan) the Football Association for football or the relevant international board or association. As far as the USA is concerned my good friend Mark Levinstein, a DC-based sports lawyer who worked with me in jointly representing the US National Soccer team back in 1994 and still represents them in their negotiations with the USSF (United States Soccer Federation) has written a couple of chapters for this edition which contains the basic information.

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