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SPORTS AGENTS.
Term Paper ID:25173
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Essay Subject:
Examines economics, ethics, functions, competitiveness of agents, comparing reality with film [Jerry Maguire] & focusing on pro football.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
4 sources, 7 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Examines economics, ethics, functions, competitiveness of agents, comparing reality with film [Jerry Maguire] & focusing on pro football.
Paper Introduction:
This research examines the profession of being a sports agent in the National Football League. How to start a business of being a sports agent will be discussed, along with popular myths and the hard realities of the profession.
There is a moment in the Tom Cruise movie, Jerry Maguire, where Cruise's rival, a predatory sports agent with the ethical code of a stepped-on scorpion, glibly assures a promising young athlete that there is nothing he is not prepared to do to make the boy happy. "I will kill, maim, rape and pillage for you," the agent solemnly swears.
Which is close to the public's perception of agents, slick-talking wheeler-dealers who make their living off the sweat of their celebrated but fiscally hapless protégés. "Sharks in suits" is how the eponymous Cruise character describes the profession in
Text of the Paper:
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In Sunseri's view, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Gilbert isa victim of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement between team ownersand players, which allows each club to have one "franchise" player on itsroster. B1). Steinberg does not deny that it is his highly competitive nature thatdrives him to achieve ever more astronomical deals for his clients, but hebelieves that it is just as important that the athletes he represents givea portion of their good fortune back to the community. Fenech has even found himself in the middle of criminal disputes.While representing a baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, the pitcherwas charged with statutory rape, a felony. M6). (1997, February 23). Andguys would sign them!" (Snider, 1997, p. If public opinion about sports in general and sportsagents in particular continues to decline, additional restrictions maybecome necessary, particularly as they relate to salaries and fees. Which is close to the public's perception of agents, slick-talkingwheeler-dealers who make their living off the sweat of their celebrated butfiscally hapless protégés. Fenech then had to wage a massivepublic relations campaign to help repair the pitcher's image and avoid athreatening public backlash. "I will kill, maim, rapeand pillage for you," the agent solemnly swears. Fenech, relying on hisbackground in criminal law, helped the pitcher plead to contributing to thedelinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. (1998, April 17). Sports superagent Leigh Steinbergnegotiates without selling his soul. "The agents were really sharks back then," Cooney says with achuckle. To that end, heinserts a clause into every contract he negotiates that requires theplayer, and often the team, to contribute both time and money to charitablecauses. Sunseri demanded $5 million a year with a $1 million bonus. No prior experience is necessary to becertified as an agent. (1997, January 12). B1. Though many agents fit the cocky, high-fiving image portrayed inJerry Maguire, some are serious, soft-spoken and lawyerly in theirapproach. Klapisch, B. Somemight be surprised how corporate an agent's world really is, where dealsinvolve not just lawyers but tax specialists, real estate experts, andmarketing gurus. He did say that themost important things to him in life are Christ, family, friends and thenbusiness (Snider, 1998, p. Sunseri, 39, has been anything but conservative during hisnegotiations for the Redskins' Gilbert. References Bamberger, M. B1). More importantly, however, a potential sportsagent needs to have a unique character suitable for the profession--namely,personal aggressiveness--and have connections within the sport community. Casserlyrejected the demand. Sports Illustrated, pp. It is a lucrative business, atleast for agents with star clients. There is a moment in the Tom Cruise movie, Jerry Maguire, whereCruise's rival, a predatory sports agent with the ethical code of a stepped-on scorpion, glibly assures a promising young athlete that there is nothinghe is not prepared to do to make the boy happy. The image of the brash, overbearing agent, sniping at team officials,insisting his client is terribly underappreciated and horribly underpaid,has been part of the American sports culture since the 196 s when athletes,in increasing numbers, began hiring representatives to do their bidding.And as player salaries have soared, leagues have expanded and theirprofession has been glamorized by the Tom Cruise movie Jerry Maguire andHBO sitcom "Arli$$," agents have become an increasingly dominant andvisible force in pro sports. There were guys theycalled "street agents' who couldn't even write a contract; they'd steal acopy somewhere and white out the names, xerox them and hand them out. M6). In February, the Redskinsmade Gilbert their "franchise" player. 82-84. It is hardball negotiations like this that have prompted some statesand most schools to place restrictions on sports agents. Recent negotiations in the NFL illustrate how aggressively someagents operate, withholding athletes' services, threatening legal actionand using media to explain their often-unpopular positions. "There was nothing they wouldn't stoop to. But I it is all the public knows and, usually, it paints theagent in an unfavorable light. (No maximum fees are specified by the baseball and hockeyunions.) Significantly more money can be earned for negotiating productendorsement contracts, which are not regulated by the unions. Today there is far more to being a sports agent than simplynegotiating salaries. The Record, pp. 1 pick for Gilbert.Washington Times, p. He believes it is just the right thing to do. S1-S3. In addition, sports agents must also serve as counselors and pressagents. He helps them invest it and lands themendorsement deals. After the East-Westgame, say, a guy would come back to his room and find two women, bought andpaid for by somebody who called himself an agent. These are all important considerations todifferent degrees for different athletes. How to start a business of being a sports agentwill be discussed, along with popular myths and the hard realities of theprofession. Fees of 2 to25 percent are customary (Bamberger, 1996, p. Sports agent Craig Fenech, for example, does more thanjust show clients the money. Dismayed, Gilbert and his wife,Nicole, left their rented house in Northern Virginia, took their 7-year-oldson, Deshaun, out of a Virginia school and returned to their home inPennsylvania (Snider, 1998, p. "Sharks in suits" is how the eponymous Cruisecharacter describes the profession in the movie and, hey, he is one of them(Snider, 1997, p. S1). Redskins get No. Sunseri describes himself as "apretty conservative individual." A 1983 Catholic University law schoolgraduate, Sunseri said he lives with his wife and two children in aninexpensive, very conservative house outsidePittsburgh and drives a "conservative" car. Under the agreement, a "franchise" player cannot test the freeagent market, but his club must pay him, at minimum, a salary equal to theaverage of the top five players' at his position. So, sue me! M6). Redskins General ManagerCharley Casserly said he offered Gilbert a five-year deal that averaged$3.4 million per season with a $4.5 million signing bonus--an offer thatwas rejected. His no-holds-bar tacticsinfuriate NFL executives. Cameron Crowe, who wrote Jerry Maguire, insists that his titlecharacter is an amalgam from a variety of sources, but anyone who knowsanything about professional sports will have no doubt that Leigh Steinberg,of the California law firm Steinberg & Moorad, was the major inspiration.Steinberg acted as technical consultant on the film and Crowe followed himaround the country for three years to observe how a superagent operates.Steinberg began his career with a bang in 1975 by negotiating a thenunheard-of $6 , pro contract for his first client, Cal quarterbackSteve Bartkowski, and he has been dramatically upping the ante ever since.In 1993 alone, Steinberg negotiated a whopping $325 million worth of dealsfor his clients in the NFL, a figure no one else has even come close totouching (Snider, 1997, p. Before going into negotiations, Steinberg, forexample, does enormous amounts of research, checking out such factors as ateam's playing philosophy and off-field policies, the environment of thecity, the history of the franchise, the quality of management and the waythey treat their people. He declined in a recentinterview to say how many NFL players he represents. Hardballnegotiation skills can sometimes cross over into unethical conduct. Working in a reputable agency is like working in a law firm. Many are indeed attorneys. (1996, July 15). Gilbert, who lives in Moon Township,a Pittsburgh suburb, is a born-again Christian and deacon at Sound theAlarm Ministries, a church in nearby Aliquippa, Pa. As professional athletics has grown into a multibillion-dollarindustry, where star players can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars pergame, agents have become, to many fans, the scourge of the sports world--responsible for skyrocketing salaries, high ticket prices, even the won-loss records of their favorite teams. And there are no schools devoted to the professionof sports agencies. San Francisco Examiner, p. Inaddition to limiting agent fees, it is widely considered unethical forsports agents to pay college athletes in cash or in-kind to attract theathlete as a client. In fact, negotiating a contract with a general manageris, in Fenech's estimation, "only about 5 percent of what I do" (Klapisch,1997, p. M6. Snider, B. To start in the business, a person would be wise tohave some legal contract experience and be familiar with the salary scalesof the particular sport. Louis Rams. For some sports agents, it is morethan just show me the money. His hard-line negotiating positionwas formed in January of last year when he and Gilbert fasted and prayed intheir respective homes for three days. 82). This research examines the profession of being a sports agent in theNational Football League. Gus Sunseri is one such example. Frank Cooney, a sportswriter who covered the San Francisco 49ers foryears for the Examiner, and is now a TV analyst with Fox Sports in LosAngeles, remembers how sports agents in the early years were highlyunethical. Gilbert's squabble withthe Redskins began in the summer of 1996, several months after the clubacquired him in a trade with the St. Agents representing NFL and NBA playerscan collect a maximum of 4 percent of any money they negotiate above theminimum salaries. Despite Steinberg'sphenomenal success at the business, Cooney also believes it was agents likeSteinberg that reformed the system and added an ethical dimension to theprofession. In the United States and Canada, more than 1, agents have beencertified to do business by the players' associations, or unions, of thefour major pro sports ruling bodies: the National Basketball Association,National Football League, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League.Agents also are regulated by some states. Snider, R.
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