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.
What are your rights if you wish to become licensed by a players’ association and the union rejects your application? Sometimes there is hope. Other times, not so much. I had the honor of representing Cleodis Floyd in an arbitration matter against the NFL Players Association roughly a decade ago after the NFLPA denied Floyd’s […]
Every so often, I log in to Neil Stratton’s Inside The League website to check in on the latest news and rumors in the football business. Today, I decided to do just that and I was surprised by a new “phenomenon” that Stratton says is “concerning” with regard to signing NFL prospects. Stratton says that […]
Sports agent David Falk’s agency F.A.M.E. LLC, which conducts business as Falk Associates Management Enterprises and FAME, has initiated a lawsuit against former NBA player Evan Turner as well as his owned corporate entity EmTurn LLC. The Complaint filed in the Superior Court of Delaware includes causes of action for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, […]
Providence Equity is in as an investor and Redbird Capital as well as Madrone Capital are cashing out. Brendan Coffey at Sportico had the coverage yesterday, and it was supposedly a big buyout. Per Coffey, RedBird was believed to have purchased a 30% to 40% stake in Wasserman in 2020, and Madrone, the family office […]
Damarius Bilbo, along with Evolution Sports LLC (formerly Revolution Sports Agency LLC), has been sued in a Georgia federal court. The Complaint says that they failed to make the required payments on a massive amount of debt and then rejected signing a settlement agreement that would have peacefully resolved the matter. The action was initiated […]
Excel Sports Management is launching a Coaching and Executives division and has acquired football coaching and sports broadcasting representation agency Harlan Sports Management to provide it some staff support and clientele right away. Over twenty head football coaches at the NFL and NCAA level, as well as front office executives, are now Excel clients. The […]
Remember the lawsuit that Nerlens Noel filed against Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group a little over a year ago? You know, the one where Noel claimed that Paul interfered with his preexisting relationship with agent Happy Walters, promised Noel that he was a “$100 million man,” told Noel not to accept a $70 million […]
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who is suspended for the 2022 NFL season after being found to have gambled on games in 2021, has made a change in representation. Ridley was previously represented by SportsTrust Advisors, going back to when he was selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. However, the […]
Vanguard Sports Group Adds Veteran Agents. Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Raleigh-based Vanguard Sports Group has added to its football division by bringing in veteran NFLPA Contract Advisors Tony Paige and Chitta Malik, who had co-founded agency Dream Point Sports. Those two agents will assist with the football operations at Vanguard and add many NFL clients […]
You never want a court to conclude that you committed fraud. But that is exactly what is said about a prominent NFL agent in the middle of a newly released decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. According to the Court, perhaps the “easiest conclusion” in the case, “even under […]