Celebrating Nine Years Of Sports Agent Blog

As I sit in my apartment in Miami, Florida, procrastinating from completing a syllabus for a Sports Law class I will begin teaching in Fall 2015, I am reflecting on the past nine years and feeling an overwhelming sense of pleasure and pride. Nine years ago today I saw an opportunity to create this website, which was originally titled, I Want to Be a Sports Agent (because that was my dream career), and eventually morphed into Sports Agent Blog. I was thirsty to learn more about the sports agent industry, create meaningful connections to those already entrenched in the business and let the world know of my passions. For a while, only my family and closest friends followed along. Nine years and 9.34 million page views later, I look back and realize that starting this website was the smartest business decision of my life.

It all began with an article titled, Show Me The Money!!!…Blog. I look back at that article and realize how crazy I was when I typed those words. And that’s why I love it.

This blog is intended to revolutionize the way we look at the Business of Sports Agents . . . I want to be a Sports Agent, and I want to revolutionize the industry . . . This is my passion, and I want all those that are interested to come into my world through this blog . . . Let us re-define the world of Sports Agents and let information reign.

I was a Junior at the University of Florida. I had no reason or basis to be writing those words, and that is why they are so special. Since writing that article, I have had the unique opportunity to travel across the country, speaking at and moderating numerous sports-related panels, including serving as the Keynote Speaker at my alma mater. I have created a sports agency and consulting company, my own law firm, and a book on Sports Law published by the American Bar Association. I have become a writer for Forbes and served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University Bloomington for three years. And I will soon announce new business ventures, as well as a new teaching gig . . . unless I fail to complete my syllabus on time! Of course don’t worry, with my experience and knowledge I have everything covered for my new upcoming business ventures, I have asked all of the relevant questions like “why use a registered office address?” and “how do I register my trade name?”, so I will be good to go soon and I can share it all with you guys!

I am often asked for advice from aspiring sports business professionals. Among the words I spread are the following: Nike’s slogan is “Just Do It,” my advice to you is “Just Do Something.” I find that too many people have amazing ideas and fail to act. They do not even get to the faults of their execution, because they fear failure. This website could have been a waste of time. There was no reason for anyone to come here and read what a Junior at the University of Florida had to say about the complex sports agent industry. But people came. Sports agents offered to be interviewed. Some of those agents even referred me my first clients when I decided to give it a try as an agent.

However, the most rewarding part of providing this resource to you is what it has done for some of the amazing individuals who have contributed content over the years. Most recently, I was thrilled to learn that Mark Burns, a long-time contributor to Sports Agent Blog will be leaving the site to focus on a new job with sports and entertainment agency CSE. This has special significance to me. My first taste of the sports agent industry came in Summer 2005 when I interned at CSE in Atlanta, Georgia. It was that experience, which inspired me to stay focused on sports agency and create this website. Nine years later, Burns will take a full-time job with that same agency under the leadership of Lonnie Cooper.

Burns is not the only person to find success after writing for Sports Agent Blog. Benjamin Haynes started his own law firm and became a Contributor for Sporting News, Rand Getlin writes for Yahoo! Sports, Nicholas Shwayri is Special Counsel, Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Samyr Laine has done it all — athlete, entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, attorney and educator. This is simply a small sample of the many miraculous people who have graced Sports Agent Blog with their contributions over time. If this website helped any of them with their endeavors, then the nine years of operating it has been worthwhile for me.

We all have our own definitions of success. We set our goals and hope that we will achieve them with time. I can honestly say that this ninth anniversary of Sports Agent Blog almost brings me to tears, because it has far outgrown my expectations and benefited so many individuals, many of whom I would have never met but for the creation of Sports Agent Blog.

My New Year’s Resolution nine years ago was to create this website and keep it constantly updated with fresh content. I was wholly unprepared to do it. I’m glad I did.