Ethan Weinstein is an up-and-coming athlete manager in college football from Boca Raton, Florida. He is a rising junior at the University of Wisconsin, but he has not let his age stand in the way of this opportunity. For the past two years, he has served as a Recruiting Assistant for the Wisconsin Badgers football team where he was able to build great relationships with the athletes. Following this position, he interned with Rosenhaus Sports Representation in Miami which gave him a great insight into the agent industry. With the knowledge he acquired during that experience, he teamed up with McKenzie Milton, D’Eriq King and their team at Dreamfield to help better the entire industry by empowering athletes and agents with the necessary resources they need to operate within compliance and the NCAA. At Dreamfield, Weinstein has been able to act as manager for several players including Alabama LB Chris Brawell, FAU QB Michael Johnson Jr and LSU DB Jordan Toles.
Sport Agent Blog interviewed Ethan Weinstein on his journey on becoming an athlete manager:
What would your younger self think about where you are today?
“This is a really good question because it’s something that I haven’t taken much time to reflect on. The business side of football is extremely fast-paced, so I’ve really just taken everything one day at a time without looking back. Less than one year ago, I was accepted as a marketing intern at Rosenhaus Sports Representation and I thought my young career couldn’t get much better. Now I am out there talking to players in the same circle as them. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see myself in this position at some point, but I’ve definitely been surprised with the speed this has all happened. A lot of it is just being in the right place at the right time in terms of the NIL rule changes, but I’ve been really blessed to build relationships with some of the best and brightest people in the industry.”
How do you ensure you maintain meaningful relationships with your clients?
“Maintaining meaningful relationships with these athletes is without a doubt my favorite part about what I’ve been able to do. Most of these student-athletes are the same age as me, if not older, so we’re truly able to build genuine friendships which is the most important part. I tell everyone that I keep my ringer on 24/7 so we could talk about absolutely anything at any time. The number of guys that actually take me up on that is amazing and it has established a level of trust that is pivotal to any relationship. Once you have that trust, it brings out a necessary component from the players which is honesty. I think it’s really important that players only endorse brands and products that align with their vision and interests so that level of honesty is important in having them know that they don’t need to accept everything that comes their way. Making players comfortable enough to voice their opinion is the most important factor in maintaining meaningful relationships with these guys, and I think that a lot of people out there neglect that.”
Who was your first client and how did you sign them?
“The first client that I started working with was FAU Quarterback Michael Johnson Jr. Michael was someone that I was familiar with from his recruiting journey out of high school, as Wisconsin had offered him but he decided to commit to Penn State. Fast forward a couple of years and I saw that he was transferring to Florida Atlantic which is in my hometown of Boca Raton. I decided to reach back out to him to welcome him into town and we immediately clicked. After that, once FAU started educating their team on the new name, image, and likeness law, Michael would frequently hit me up with questions or ideas on how he wanted to capitalize on this new opportunity. As time went on, he asked me to help guide him through the process and I was really excited to do so. Since then, we’ve been able to work with several local businesses and clothing companies that allow Michael to monetize off of his interests while still focusing on football and school. He was actually the first current student-athlete to profit from a menu item after a local Cinnaholic location named a roll after him. It’s little achievements like that which make me so excited to work with him and other student-athletes in this new era of college football.”
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
“In 5 to 10 years, I’d like to have established myself as a prominent figure in the sports business world. Right now, I’m only helping out a handful of players that I’m close with as a manager but my main focus has been working with D’Eriq King and McKenzie Milton on their NIL marketplace. I think Dreamfield.co is going to be a great tool for agents that are looking to get into representing college athletes on their name, image, and likeness from a compliance perspective. I truly think it’s going to change the industry, so I’m just honored to be a part of it. So the plan for 5 to 10 years from now would preferably be building out Dreamfield to help out the entire industry as we solidify the NIL market. I honestly believe that we haven’t even scratched the surface of the potential uses for NIL, so I’m really excited to watch more opportunities unfold in the future.”
