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Sports Agents

Pro Athletes Only…And Agents Are Allowed Too

I just got sent a press release that is a little over a week old, but very relevant to our field of interest. The title, Pro Athlete Media, LLC Announces the Addition of Cathy Rankin as New Host of PAO TV, did not really tell me much, but the first paragraph caught my attention.

This recently launched website satisfies the daily information needs of professional and retired athletes, their spouses, sports agents, sports marketing professionals, and others in their “circle”. This website was developed by former sports agent Scott Helfand. Before launching ProAthletesOnly.com he was the Founder, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of Moves Magazine.

I found this paragraph interesting for two reasons.

  1. The latest edition of Moves Magazine is currently serving as my bathroom reading material.
  2. I was shocked that I had never heard of ProAthletesOnly.com, especially when its description includes being a site geared towards informing sports agents.

Reading on through the press release, I noticed a couple more eye-catching paragraphs.

From the latest professional sports contracts, marketing deals and business listings to current sports news, events and interviews, ProAthletesOnly.com is the preferred information address on the internet for professional athletes.

The ownership group of this unique website includes pro athletes Edgerrin James, Santana Moss, Junior Spivey, Darcy Hordichuk, Kenny Kelly, Sam Marsonek, NFL Players Association President Troy Vincent and former professional tennis player Victoria Hunt.

Immediately, I headed over to the website and was met with a very visually pleasing layout. Here are my thoughts on the actual site:

  • Helfand made a great choice by choosing Cathy Rankin to host PAO TV. The videos are a nice addition to the overall site.
  • The Locker Room section is excellent because you can break news down by type. The problems are that there is a long load time and there is no way to subscribe via RSS to get updated about new stories.
  • Agents should love the complementary player salaries database.
  • The Business Listings/PAO market/Upcoming Events sections are currently pretty bare. These section needs to be beefed up.
  • The Sports News section also has a long load time and only generates Yahoo! News stories. I like the synopses of stories, though.
  • The Special Reports section is very informative. Check out the article on The Agent Selection Process.
  • Last, PAO has a nice listing of professional athletes’ websites.

I could personally see myself use the website to look at player salaries (if they are continuously updated) in the future. I would also like to subscribe to the site’s Locker Room. Hopefully they have an RSS feed in the works.

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.

8 replies on “Pro Athletes Only…And Agents Are Allowed Too”

I just checked out the site and I love the Flash layout. I’m hooked up to Cox high speed so I didn’t notice and of the loading problems.

I totally loved the Out of Uniform TV channel. Great content! In fact all the video content rocks, just wish there was more video available.

Hello everyone. Thanks for commenting on our web site. We have a great team on board and one day we will be the homepage for every professional athlete in the world. We are working hard to fix the minor problems we are having. Updating the site is very important to us. Our business listings are bare because we are searching for quality companies that wont their material advertised directly to the athletes. We were the first to do with Moves, and we recently sold it last yerar. The same ownership here at PAO, were the same before we sold it. Come be a part of future advertising to the athlete. We got into all of clubhouses and lockerrooms through Moves, and we will do the same with this. Thanks for the comments everyone.

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