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Sports Agents

Light My Fire

My friend linked me over to a blog he came across, which has a post titled: An Open Letter to Sports Law and Sports Management Students.  If you do not feel like clicking the link and heading over to read the post, this is what it says in its entirety:

Get ready to work for the PGA, NCAA, or a college’s compliance office. You will not be an agent. I’m not trying to be a jerk, but seriously, letting people say “I’m going to be a Major League Baseball Agent” and acting like this will happen is the law school equivelent of letting a college student go “I’m going to be president.”

Unless you have a relative that owns or is a high ranking member of an agency or a relative/close family friend that is a pro athlete, you have no chance. Get over it now. Its not going to happen. Call me negative if you want, but seriously, I’m right, we will meet again in 10 years, I’ll buy you a drink and you call tell me about the anti trust issues related to the NCAA’s latest regulation of players lives and schools mascots.

File this goal right next to win to lotto and move on.

End Rant.

Now Chris, you have an interesting perspective on the industry.  I am not sure what your Pi Kappa Phi brothers over at Bradley University are telling you, but you may want to take a look at the plethora of Sports Agents who do not have a relative that owns or is a high ranking member of an agency or a relative/close family friend that is a pro athlete.  If this post bothers you as much as it did to me, head over to this kid’s site and leave him a lovely comment.

I am looking forward to my free drink in 10 years, though.

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.

One reply on “Light My Fire”

I disagree with this. I had zero contacts in the sports agent industry when I started college. I made contacts by cold calling a few people and met an agent through one of them. I kept in contact with him and during law school I told him I was serious about the agent thing. After many unanswered phone calls he gave me a chance to intern. During my internship they realized I knew my stuff and kept me on after I grad law school. Just make phone call after phone call, take a junior agent to lunch to pick their brain. The key is you need to know your shit. I am currently starting out as an agent at a top baseball management firm and didnt go to an ivy league law school, nor did I play ball past HS. So it can be done. Just work your ass off.

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