During his senior year of high school, Michael Swenson thought he would eventually become a team doctor or perhaps an athletic trainer working with professional athletes. After a six-month stint in England a few years ago as an assistant trainer with a soccer club — where he was surprisingly exposed to much of the business of sport — Swenson altered his focus.
He returned to California and began researching various sports management programs. During his Master’s program at the University of San Francisco in 2010, Swenson gained marketing experience with mega agency Octagon.
“I was hooked,” Swenson said of his early experiences in the agency business.
In that time, he made good first impressions with then-Octagon football agent, CJ LaBoy and Octagon’s Head of Football, Ken Landphere. Even once Swenson and Octagon parted ways, and Swenson formed his own sports agency a couple years later, he remained in touch with those at his former company.
His name and resume remained ‘top of mind’ with the folks in San Francisco, so it was no surprise when in early March, it was announced that Swenson would be joining the Octagon Football Division. The addition of Swenson comes just a few weeks after Octagon lost a pair of agents in CJ LaBoy and Doug Hendrickson to Relativity Sports.
“I’m ecstatic about the opportunity to be joining the Octagon Football family,” Swenson said. “I look forward to representing them on and off the field when recruiting the future generations of exceptional talent within such a great sport. Under the leadership of Ken Landphere, being an agent at Octagon means that I am now a part of an entity that has the opportunity to impact the game. Football is the greatest sport there is, and Octagon is one of the best within the industry. I feel nothing short of blessed to be among them.”
As a sports agent with TRU Sports Group in 2013, Swenson ranked No. 1 out of 131 first-year agents regarding the number of clients in NFL training camps. For the upcoming NFL Draft in May, Swenson is currently representing one client, whom he declined from mentioning by name.
Swenson noted how important and necessary it was for him to gain an early internship in the agency business. He suggested for those aspiring sports business professionals to try and get a foot in the door somewhere as well.
“Keep trucking because the weak ones fall,” he added. “Keep your head above water. There’s always ups and downs in this industry.”