Seven years ago I had just wrapped up the Fall semester of my Sophomore year at the University of Florida. I was well on my way to earning my Bachelors of Arts in Political Science with Minors in Mass Communications and, of all things, Geography. That past summer, I interned at Career Sports & Entertainment (now simply known as CSE), in the company’s Client Services division. I vividly recall my first day “on the job,” when I was asked to basically come up with a list of teams that Nate McMillan should consider for a head coaching position.
It was tough to leave Atlanta at the end of the Summer of 2005. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CSE and the staff welcomed me and gave me the tools to grow in the world of sports, along with providing me life lessons that I still reference today. It was back to college life, where I was active in my fraternity (Zeta Beta Tau), obsessed with getting strong grades and building my business. My business was immensely profitable (relative to what most college students earn), but not something I was entirely proud of. It was a promotions company, and I served as a promoter for nightlife in Gainesville, Florida. While the money was nothing to laugh at, I did not see the job leading me to anywhere I wanted to be in the future.
And then I decided to create this website. Well, not exactly this website. My experience at CSE convinced me that I wanted to be a sports agent. Nay, I knew I was born to be a sports agent (at least that is what I believed at the time). But as a Sophomore at the University of Florida, I had a lot of waiting to do. So I started building the foundation of Sports Agent Blog, which was originally titled, I Want to be a Sports Agent (I never changed the title of the analytics provider Site Meter tracking page, which still evidences the original name of this website).
I would be lying if I said that Sports Agent Blog (originally found at DHPromo.com/Blog – DHpromo.com was my promoting company website) received more than 50 page views per day when it was launched. In fact, it took months before anyone other than my family and close friends had any clue that it existed. Roughly seven years later, Sports Agent Blog has logged approximately seven million page views.
To remember “the old days,” I picked ten stories that were written in the past at any point in time since December 31, 2005. Enjoy the following articles.
1. Show Me The Money!!!…Blog (12/31/2005) – The first article ever posted on this website. Have I accomplished my stated goal – to revolutionize the way we look at the Business of Sports Agents?
2. The Arbitration Battle: Advatange – Team (2/20/2006) – Baseball’s final offer arbitration system has always been something I was fond of following. Here is an article from 2006 discussing the advantage teams have had in the system. Think things have changed much over time?
3. Leinart Ditches Steinberg (4/14/2006) – Matt Leinart was supposed to become the best quarterback in the NFL. He signed with super agent Leigh Steinberg. But Leinart never became a trusted starter in the league and left Steinberg, who also found his world crumble. Meanwhile, CAA has grown quite a bit since 2006, no?
4. IMG’s IMaGe (3/28/2007) – IMG used to be the king of representing team sport athletes. Then CAA came along and IMG reinvented itself.
5. Agent Spotlight: Master P. (6/12/2007) – Believe it or not, Master P. was once a sports agent, and some may say he pushed his talents to the limit. The former agent of Ricky Williams and Larry Johnson could not last in this tough industry.
6. Sports Agents Power BusinessWeek’s 100 (9/26/2007) – How would this list differ five years later?
7. Sports Agents Interfering With Contractual Relations (6/17/2010) – Because it is good to know these types of things when you hear all the rumors about client stealing in this business.
8. Need Sports Agents Who Are “No Men” (7/13/2011) – A good lesson for those who wish to be more than trust funds for their clients. And the lesson is by way of Deion Sanders!
9. Ted Forstmann Of IMG Passes Away At 71 Years Old (11/21/2011) – Remembering a very influential leader in this field.
10. Football Agent Ashley Millerick Knows She Has To Be “On Her Game” To Compete In A Male Dominated Industry (11/29/2012) – A recent article shows that the sports agent industry is dominated by males, but there are a few brave females trying to push their way to the top. Go get ’em, girls!
