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- Negotiate employment contracts for their clients
- You'll need excellent communication and negotiation skills
- You could set up your own sports agency
As a Sports agent, you might work for a sports agency, a law firm that specialises in sporting contracts or you could also be freelance. Some sports agents are employed by football clubs to recruit players on their behalf.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Scout for new and talented athletes and players at sports matches and events
- Find opportunities with organisations for athletes and players
- Manage your client's marketing and endorsement activities
- Represent your client if there's a dispute with the organisation that employs them
- Act as a media spokesperson for your client
- Handle contract and salary packages
- Support your clients during times of personal difficulty, loss of form, or when they're under pressure
- A lot of your work will involve contract negotiation and making sure contracts meet legal guidelines. You might use a solicitor to carry out the legal contract work.
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You'll often work long hours and may need to work 7 days a week during busy periods. You'll work in an office and you'll also need to attend many of the events your clients compete in. You'll usually need to be available at short notice to give advice to clients and to represent them to the media. There can be a lot of travel, and you'll need a driving licence for most jobs.
You'll need
This role would be ideal for someone with excellent communication and negotiation skills, the ability to get on with a wide range of people, the ability to promote yourself and your clients, and excellent business skills, maths skills.
There are no set entry requirements to be a football or sports agent. To get started, most agents usually have work experience with a sports agency.
You can contact agencies to see if there are voluntary placements or internships available, contacts within sport. It can be beneficial to build up your contacts by watching games and matches and getting to know club officials, players, and their parents and friends, legal knowledge.
A lot of your work will involve looking over legal contracts, so you'll need a good understanding of contract law, and it may help if you're a trained solicitor and business knowledge. This is very important to the role, so you may also find it useful to study for a degree or postgraduate course in international sports management or business management.
A qualification in law or business may also be useful, although it's not essential.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience and contacts, you could set up your own sports agency.