On May 3, 2012, Andrew Bondarowicz, Esq. sent an email to a large group of sports agents licensed by the various American players’ associations, informing them of his idea to create an organization called the “National Association of Sports Agents & Athlete Representatives (NASAAR).”
Bondarowicz, the Founder and President of Aregatta Group and former Chair of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, plans to formally debut NASAAR on July 1, 2012. But he is currently spreading the word amongst his colleagues to generate interest in the organization prior to its official launch.
NASAAR will be geared toward representing the interests of sports agents and others engaged in the representation of professional athletes. “For an industry known for zealously representing the interests of others, it has been shocking to me that we – as an industry – have not banded together sooner to fight for our own common interests,” said Bondarowicz. “Previous attempts have often been shortsighted, lacked proper organization, or did not focus on the right issues. In forming NASAAR, we seek to address the key issues affecting our industry and help promote a more positive public perception of our industry.”
A concern is that sports agents have been the recipient of a lot of criticism in the past few years and that a negative spotlight has been shone on the athlete agent industry. With many NCAA scandals, a lot of finger pointing has been made in the direction of sports agents. This has also resulted in a call for increasing regulation and oversight of the profession. The hope is that NASAAR will at least, in part, help remove the oft unjustified target on sports agents.
Bondarowicz says that more information will be forthcoming shortly, and that if you have any questions about the organization to contact him at andrew@nasaar.org.
