A sports agent is a person who works out contracts for professional athletes. This agent is responsible for soliciting contracts from professional sports teams, negotiating terms of those contracts, and ultimately working out a salary for the player. Sports agent jobs can range from the top agent who performs these functions to assistants who work with the agent to ensure all aspects of the contract negotiation and procurement are carried out properly. Some sports agent jobs are specific to one sport, while others may be more all-encompassing, allowing the agent to represent athletes of all kinds.
A hockey sports agent, for example, will work exclusively with hockey players and work to get those players contracts with professional teams in various leagues. Such sports agent jobs will require adherence to specific contract rules and regulations set forth by a league, and the agent must be knowledgeable of said rules and be able to negotiate effectively within those constraints. The rules for a hockey agent may be different than those of a football agent, or baseball agent, and so on.
Money management is a big part of being an agent, so some sports agent jobs focus primarily on financial planning and handling. An agent may, for example, hire an accountant as part of the agent team to take care of money management for players, or to run the financial aspects of the sports agent's business. Due to the nature of the job, many sports agents are lawyers who are familiar with contract law, but in the event that the agent himself is not a lawyer, it is likely that some sports agent jobs will be focused primarily on the law; a lawyer may be on staff with a representation firm to ensure all contracts are written correctly and within the constraints of all applicable laws.
Sports agents may work for a representation firm, or they may work independently. If the agent works for a firm, it is likely he or she will be part of a representation team that includes agents, assistants, lawyers — especially when contract negotiations reach arbitration — and accountants. If the agent works on his or her own, he or she may have to perform many of these jobs instead of hiring others to perform them. A successful agent will very likely build his business quickly, and delegation of more complex tasks will therefore be much easier. An agent will usually represent several athletes at once, which can be difficult and time-consuming; assistants and office managers can help ensure each athlete gets the attention necessary for effective contract negotiation.
