Categories
Recruiting Social Networking Sports Agents

Agents Researching Athletes

It has been a while since I last wrote a post over at Lewis Howes’ SportsNetworker.com, but my most recent piece should be one that you all enjoy reading.  The title is 8 Ways Agents Should Research Athletes Before They Sign Them, and I list 8 nonexclusive methods, with short descriptions for each one.  Yes, believe it or not, sports agents spend a lot of time researching which athletes they will spend their time, money, and other resources recruiting with the end goal of adding them to their client lists.  I talk about some of my methods, which definitely include items that other sports agents do not use at all.  Here is a peak at one of them:

1.    Scouting services:

Some services are free and some you have to pay for.  In basketball, one of my favorite services is DraftExpress.com.  A site developed by a fellow Gator grad, Jonathan Givony, DraftExpress provides up to date scouting reports on a variety of talented basketball players and hits up almost every showcase on the planet.  In baseball, my pick is Perfect Game Crosschecker (pgcrosschecker.com).  They provide thorough rankings of future draft classes, break it down state-by-state, hit up the major showcases, and provide detailed information for top prospects.  Want to know a prospect’s parents names?  They have you covered.  BaseballAmerica’s Prospect Plus program is also strong, but it stops covering players once they graduate from high school.  In football, I am a fan of the old NFLDraftScout.com.  Since it was acquired by CBS Sports, I have been looking for a suitable alternative.  While it is not strictly a scouting service, I enjoy Neil Stratton’s InsideTheLeague.com, which highlights player movement, which agencies are going after which players, and provides draft expectancy for the next class of players, by school.

Read the other 7 items here.

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.

3 replies on “Agents Researching Athletes”

I believe it’s football. Even players who have no chance at getting drafted have double digit number of firms trying to rep them. Plus, it is very expensive to recruit and then pay for their training leading up to the All Star games, combine, etc. And then after all of that, you are making 3% at most on the team contract.

Comments are closed.