Sports Agents
Overview
Introduction
Sports agents act as representatives for professional athletes in many different types of negotiations, providing advice and representation concerning contracts, endorsement and advertisement deals, public appearances, and financial investments and taxes, among other areas. They may represent only one athlete or many, depending on the sport, the size of their agency, and the demands of the client or clients they represent. There are approximately 17,060 agents and managers employed in the United States. However, that figure includes...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Sports agents can earn phenomenal amounts of money by representing a single star athlete like LeBron James, Venus Williams, or Tiger Woods. Athletes of this stature earn $50 million a year or more in salary and endorsements. A 5 percent commission on such earnings would net the agent approximately $2.5 million a year. Agent commissions, or percentages, at top management firms run anywhere from ...
Work Environment
Sports agents work with athletes in various stages of their careers, often before those careers even take off. Agents may spend time with the athlete at practice, hours on the telephone in the office, a day or two scouting out new talent, and lunches and dinners with potential advertisers or employers of the athlete.
Sports agents spend most of their time on the telephone, arranging meet...
Outlook
The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that employment for agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes is expected to grow by 10 percent, faster than the average for all careers, through 2028. The coronavirus pandemic has stalled the sport industry, with many sports teams either in lock-down or with competitions limited to fewer teams and fewer locations. Later in 2021, whe...