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Draft Stock Rise Thanks In Part To YouTube

Andy StudebakerDidn’t go to a big Division I school? Haven’t had the chance to put up big numbers on the field? Maybe you just have not had the opportunity to be seen by the right scouts, but have a lot of potential at the next level. Do not fret. A few years ago, you might have been out of luck. In today’s web 2.0 world, though, you and your agent may be still be able to impress a team enough to draft you.

Don’t believe me? Check out Andy Studebaker, who played at a DIII school and was injured at the end of his senior season, but still got drafted this summer by the Philadelphia Eagles. His first thank-you card should go to Google for its YouTube product. Here is a quote from his agent:

“It would be a complete fabrication to say the YouTube videos had any role in exposing Andy to NFL teams, because all 32 teams knew exactly who he was. But I do think it was a tipping factor at the end.”

To think that YouTube had any role in Andy’s eventual selection is a revolutionary thought. It is hope for those out there who think in a Sports Agency 2.0 mind-frame. As an agent, you must always think outside of the box, and if that means putting your client’s highlight reel on YouTube, then you better be doing just that.

“Teams were already in their [draft] meetings, and many of them asked [for the tape] to be overnighted to them,” Wright said. “I said, ‘I’m just going to post it on YouTube and you can see it right away.’ They said, ‘Cool.’ So we shot out the link to everybody within an hour of the workout being over.”

Next, a player will find out that he is drafted by a team because its GM posts the news on his Facebook wall..

By Darren Heitner

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.