So I got a lot of e-mails from people who have been reading this blog since day one saying how suprised they were about the myriad of rules that the NFL has for aspiring Sports Agents. But the rules don’t end when you finally become a registered Agent…
If you pass the written exam, you will receive some SRA’s (Standard Representation Agreements) and you can start to sign players at that point.
Once certified, the NFLPA requires compliance with its regulations. Compliance, defined by the NFLPA is:
Compliance includes but is not limited to paying an annual fee (currently $1,600 if you represent less than 10 active players and $2,100 if you represent 10 or more active players) immediately following certification, obtaining professional liability insurance from an approved carrier, attending one of three NFLPA seminars held each year for Certified Contract Advisors, providing an updated application on an annual basis, and negotiating at least one player contract within a three-year period.
The last part of compliance is a part of the regulations that is receiving a lot of criticism. Such a rule was implemented in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to weed out the many registered Agents that sit around with no clients. Instead, it is forcing many Agents who are complacent with their list of clients to go out and try to gain more clients within each three-year period even if they have absolutely no desire to represent another person. When you first start off as a Sports Agent it is very tough to boost your client list, and this may serve as a roadblock to many future agents unless the rule is repealed.
I know that the first post was a wake-up call to a lot of future Agents. If the NFL is the domain in which you have always wanted to operate, though, please do not be detered. These posts are intended to give you background knowledge that most people do not realize when they are telling their friends that they want to represent NFL players. I will be highlighting the other pro sports as well, so keep in touch!
[tags]NFL, NFLPA, certification, sports agent, cba, clients[/tags]
