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Sports Agents

Tips From A Marketing Agent

Jared Zwerling of Sportz Undercover recently interviewed Burton Chawla, Sales Account Executive for Excel Sports Management.  For those interested in getting involved in the marketing end of the athlete representation business, the interview is a very informative read.  Additionally, Jared notes that this is only part one of a two-part series.  Here are two Q&As that stuck out to me:

Q: When you pitch one of your clients to an advertiser in hopes of getting him a sponsorship deal, what is your strategy? How do you try to “up-sell” your client’s services?
A: The strategy varies from client to client and from potential endorser to endorser. I always try to hear the goals of the potential endorser or advertiser first, and then try to fit the right player in based on the player’s personality, team, interest, etc.

Q: The endorsement game is big business and ultra competitive now. Where do you think are some of the future business opportunities (ex: products, branding) for players to stand out in the corporate clutter?
A: The obvious answer is the Internet. Players have their own websites. Webisodes are getting huge. Digital media is what everyone is plugged into these days.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.