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UCF’s Compliance Office Is Golden

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Sports agents have to comply with many different regulations.  There are state statutes, a federal statute (SPARTA), players’ association regulations, and NCAA regulations.  There is not an overwhelming amount of information pushed towards incoming agents to advise them about all of the necessary rules and certifications.  The easiest rules to violate without knowing it concerns the contacting of student-athletes.  The NCAA and its member institutions (colleges) oftentimes do little to help guide agents.  They all set up basic compliance websites, but who actually bookmarks those and visits them on a regular basis?

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is an exception from the norm.  Not too long ago, I received mail (yes, it still exists separate from email) from Lisa K. Danner, UCF’s Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance.  While my heart skipped a beat when I first saw who the mail was from, I was happy to find out that I had not violated any rules and that Ms. Danner was simply sending a message about the proper way to register with her school.  A school actually taking a preventative measure instead of a reactionary stance…imagine that.  This is how the first two paragraphs of Ms. Danner’s message reads:

Institutional control of athletics is a fundamental requirement of NCAA legislation.  Specifically, the NCAA Constitution provides that each institution monitor its program to insure compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) requests that all athlete agents who are interested in representing its student-athletes provide a copy of their State of Florida agent license, along with copies of professional league players’ association applications for those associations in which they are members to Lisa K. Danner, Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance.

The most important line of the letter: “UCF does this to insure agents are in compliance with the state statute.”  Well, I for one, appreciate it!  Obviously, UCF has its own interests in mind (if an agent violates the statute, it could mean unfortunate financial consequences for UCF), but it is nice to know that at least on the surface, UCF seems to also be concerned about our well-being.

Any agent who wishes to contact a student-athlete at UCF must register by filling out this application:

UCF offers the letter and the registration form on its compliance website, and also provides some other great information, including a Football Agent Calendar, Baseball Agent Calendar, NCAA Rules Concerning Agents, and Florida Statues Regarding Athlete Agents.

More schools need to follow UCF’s lead and take a proactive stance in registering athlete agents with their compliance offices.

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.

10 replies on “UCF’s Compliance Office Is Golden”

This is great but there are a few strange inconsistencies.

The baseball calendar requires agents to be registered with the MLBPA. However, unless there have been very recent changes, the MLBPA does not require agents to be registered until their client is on the 40-man roster.

The football calendar does not require agents to be certified by the NFLPA.

I have one quick question: So say that an agent based in New York wants to represent an athlete playing say at UCF, so he has to pay that $1,000 license fee just to try to recruit him?

It’s a little more than $1,000, and yes. Want to join my crusade to change it to a federal registration system? One payment to a federal oversight agency. Stop the states from profiting on our business.

By Post Author

That is a crusade which I would definitely get behind but states may not take kindly to being deprived of revenue in this climate in which it is literally impossible to pass a tax increase.

That’s ridiculous. Especially for those that have license in different states and can’t even land an athlete. I seriously doubt that agents out there actually have licenses all over the country. There is no point! Enough with the players association!

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