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UFL Player And Agent Compensation

This past Saturday was the last open tryout for the UFL, a minor league football operation going into its second year of existence.  From what I have heard from plenty of insiders, the talent at these tryouts has been shockingly strong; a lot of previously undiscovered players have been looking better than more established NFL veterans.  But the odds of an open tryout player actually being offered a contract is stacked extremely against him.  That said, what could a player and his agent look forward to should the player be offered a spot on one of the five UFL teams?

For the 2010 UFL season, a player making a UFL team’s roster will earn a salary of $50,000 over a period of eight weeks.  And that is pretty much non-negotiable.  A nice incentive is that if the player makes the UFL Championship Game, he will receive a bonus of at least $10,000 if he is on the losing team and at least $20,000 if he is on the winning team.  And when there are only five teams in the league, those are odds I don’t mind if I am a player.

What about the player’s agent?  The agent can actually execute the player’s contract by signing the UFL Player Contract.  As with the NFL, the UFL mandates that the agent receive no more than 3% of the player’s base salary, signing bonus, and performance bonuses.  The agent can take his commission through a percentage of the player’s compensation, a flat fee, or an hourly fee, but no matter what, the agent cannot take more than a total of 3%.  The UFL team will go ahead and pay the agent his fee if the player authorizes the team to do so.

Someone interested in becoming a UFL certified agent must fill out an agent registration form and submit a fee to the UFL, which will be $250 if that person is already certified by the NFLPA.  Besides establishing the right to get agent fees directly from the team, UFL agents get access to player salary figures, waiver wire transactions, and bonus pool compensation information.

If you are ready to pay your agent registration fee, you can send it along to:

United Football League
ATTN: Matthew Couloute Jr.
501 Riverside Avenue, Suite 904
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phone: 904-598-1031
Fax: 904-598-1032

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

6 replies on “UFL Player And Agent Compensation”

Darren,

Do you know if a postgraduate degree (J.D. or MBA) is required to become a registered agent in the UFL? Also, is there an entrance exam similar to the one that the NFLPA administers to aspiring agents?

I tried the UFL main website to find info but it did not prove to be helpful

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