The Best Sports Management Degrees and Schools

If you enjoy sports, becoming an athlete isn’t the only career path you could take to work in this industry. Getting your degree in sports management opens a number of career doors, one of which is to become a sports agent. When most people think of sports agents, they think of Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire yelling, “Show me the money!” Obviously, this is a very fictionalized account of what a sports agent really does, but in reality, a career as a sports agent can be just as exciting as in the movies.

As a sports agent, your job will be to secure deals for your clients and negotiate contracts for both employment and for endorsement opportunities. Needless to say, you’ll likely be working with some big personalities on both sides of the table, and this is a very high-pressure job, sometimes with millions of dollars on the line. Your job is to make you client’s career as successful as possible, and to be the main spokesperson for this person so that he or she can concentrate on being the best player possible without worrying about business.

When starting out as a sports agent, you can certainly open your own business, but choosing an agent is a very high-stakes decision for a player, so few will sign with someone completely new to the business. Instead, you’ll likely work for a larger sports agency, where you’ll work on salary. As an entry-level sports agent, you’ll likely work on the team of an agent who’s been in business for much longer, and while there, take every opportunity to learn from your boss. You might also work in the scouting and recruiting department, where your job will be to investigate new talent and convince unsigned players to choose your agency.

The best way to move up the ranks in the sports agent world is to soak up as much information as possible from those above you and consider further education in law or finance, since your duties will require you to understanding complicated contracts and federal sports regulations about when and how you can recruit players. At the same time, it is important to follow sports trends carefully. You might specialize in one type of sport, but as an agent, opportunities to represent other types of players could arise, especially as you’re promoted through word of mouth. So, following all sports is important to your career.

The goal of many sports management majors is to someday own their own agency. This is certainly possible, even early in your career, if you excel at communication and are willing to work long hours. Keep in mind, however, that if you decide to open your own agency after working for a larger company, you may be contractually barred from representing players you recruited or represented while at that larger company, at least for a few years.

Once you’re a sports agent, either working independently or working at a larger corporation without another agent above you, you’ll typically earn a commission instead of a salary. Agents usually are paid between four and ten percent of the contract that they negotiate, and you may also have set monthly or annual fees for players you represent, depending on the services you provide.