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Baseball Agent Jamie Murphy Opened Up To Buster Olney About His Practice

Apr. 12, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis (21) singles to left against the New York Yankees during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. Yankees won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
Apr. 12, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis (21) singles to left against the New York Yankees during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. Yankees won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
According to baseball agent Jamie Murphy, Baltimore Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis was approached by the Orioles about a year before his current deal was reached. Photo Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s Buster Olney recently chatted with baseball agent Jamie Murphy of TWC Sports on his Baseball Tonight podcast.

Notes from the podcast:

  • Murphy represents Nick Markakis, Mark Ellis, David Aardsma and others.
  • Murphy currently lives in Vermont.
  • Murphy is the father of two little boys.
  • About living in Vermont, Murphy said, “this day and age, you can work from anywhere, so we’re trying.”
  • How did Murphy get into the agent business?  He went to law school at Boston College and represented a few players in the Canadian Football League to get some experience.  He managed to turn that into an internship at an agency.  He says it did take him a while to get his career going.  “I didn’t want to be a lawyer, I wanted to be a sports agent.”
  • Murphy said that in any sport, a young agent should lean on the players’ association for assistance.
  • The type of assistance from a players’ association varies.  Murphy says that in a straight arbitration case, the players’ association is going to help, wants to be involved and needs to be involved.
  • He said, “As an agent, you have a lot of information that you have to sort through.”
  • Murphy says he typically waits for General Managers to reach out to him to talk about long term deals for clients.
  • He describes himself as a very easygoing guy.
  • The longest negotiation he had was for Nick Markakis.  The Orioles approached him about a year before a deal was reached.
  • All of Murphy’s clients want to be educated on their negotiations.  They sometimes want updates two-to-three times per day.
  • Murphy says he works more off of referrals at this point of his career, but admits that he used to be a fairly aggressive recruiter.  For him, aggressive meant a handful of guys per year.  Now he does not reach out to more than two-to-three guys per year.
  • Murphy says there seems to be a lot more players changing agents and client stealing in basketball and football.  He believes it is not nearly as big of a problem in baseball and thinks that oftentimes players leave inexperienced agents for more experienced ones.

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.