Categories
Headline Internships

The Road To Getting A Sports Agency Internship

zdg

The following guest contribution was written by Richard Pallarino (@rpallarino).

zdg
New York Law School (pictured) is the site where the author made his first contacts in the sports industry.

What’s the best way to get your foot in the door? Getting an internship. You can’t be picky either. If you want to have a career as a baseball agent and the only opportunity you receive is an internship in a football agency, then you take it.

The path that took me to getting my first internship included: years of waiting, cold-calling, and cold-e-mailing.

Last November, I received my first internship and it was with Jason Belzer of GAME, Inc. He then set me up with an internship as an assistant at Wilhelmina Models in the Artist Management division. This summer, I interned at Beverly Hills Sports Council. I guess the third time is the charm; I landed an internship in the field that I want to make a career out of.

I first realized that I wanted to be in the industry as a baseball agent at the age of 15. No, it wasn’t because of Ari Gold, Jerry Maguire, or even Arliss Michaels. It was due to a personal experience.

I had no idea where to begin, so I just started to search “sports agent” on the internet. And of course a variety of different answers came up. None of them were exactly the same, but some had facts that made sense. The first result that appears when “sports agent” is searched on Google is SportsAgentBlog.com, which is exactly where I started.

I browsed through the website and found it extremely helpful — especially the interview section of where experienced agents gave their honest opinions. Then I came across a few agencies and did some research on them — which clients they represented, what services they offered, management team, etc.

I got on the phone and started making cold calls. I introduced myself to the secretaries and asked if they would answer some questions I had or point me in the right direction. The amount of hang ups I received was astronomical. I’d literally be on the phone for 8-10 seconds and then hear the phone slam in my ear. That was a great learning experience (I’ll get to that later).

From the phone calls to e-mails and then constant research. Researching the latest movements in the industry, researching collective bargaining agreements, researching top agents, and an infinite amount of other information pertaining to the industry.

In September of my freshman year in college, I came across a sports symposium notice in the New York City area on SportsAgentBlog.com. It was held at the New York Law School in downtown Manhattan. I registered for that right away. At the symposium there were panels about different topics in sports: whether college athletes should be paid amongst other topics. That’s where I made my first contacts in the sports industry. It was held at the New York Law School in downtown Manhattan.

I kept in contact with some of the contacts I made that day and then boom. My first internship came exactly a little over a year after the symposium. I gained such valuable experience interning for Jason Belzer. I learned what goes into some contracts, how to market his clients, what leverage actually meant, and developed my writing skills.

During my internships, the one thing I really worked on the most was marketing myself. Every day I would make lists of my pros and cons and work on moving the cons to the pros side. I would update my resume whenever something important happened. I’d write to agencies to get their opinions on certain topics.

This past spring, before Beverly Hills Sports Council, I applied for internships for the summer. I applied for a grand total of 88 internships. I received 2 offers to intern out of 88 applications! That is a terrible percentage, but that is the actuality of the business.

When I mentioned earlier that it was a great learning experience when I had the phone hung up in my ear, this is what I was referring to. This business is a “no” business. There aren’t many times you will hear “yes”. So, if a career in the sports and entertainment field is what you’re thinking of, be prepared to hear the word “no”.

A career in the Sports and Entertainment industry is evidently a dream job for many and a reality for a select few.

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.

2 replies on “The Road To Getting A Sports Agency Internship”

It’s been my dream to be a sports agent since I was thirteen. I’ve been calling and applying for internships everywhere I can!

Working in an internship is a good way to get your foot in the door to be a sports agent. It is important to not be too picky initially. Even if an internship is not exactly what you want, it may provide a good opportunity to learn and to build a network of connections. One internship could also lead to another internship, which may be a more specific match with what you want. To break into the field of being a sports agent, making cold calls and sending cold e-mails may be necessary. Be prepared to have people hang up on you and to not respond to your messages. Use the internet to learn about internship and job opportunities, as well as to learn from experienced agents who have shared their honest opinions about the field. Many people dream about having careers as sports agents, however, it is a very demanding field and only a select few are able to succeed.

Comments are closed.