<p>don't some sports agents have a law degree?
BTW, can I get some recommendations on types of undergraduate degrees for law (just wondering)?</p>
<p>Yes, some do, and some don't</p>
<p>what do sports agents usually major in? what kinda academic path do they take to get to become a sports agent?</p>
<p>There is no one major that will definitively lead to a career as a sports agent. While there are some courses in law school that will help, such as sports law and tax law, and practice skills courses that including the art of negotiation, these courses just add to the body of knowledge necessary to be successful.
Here is a link to the NFL Players Association, the organization that certifies sports agents wishing to represent football players. It describes the qualifications necessary.</p>
<p>Tulane Law is supposed to be great for sports law. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Leigh Steinberg (perhaps the best known sports agent in the US) has a degree from Boalt. He was a RA for the Berkeley dorm where Steve Bartkowski lived, who was Cal's star quarterback. A year after Leigh graduated, Steve asked Leigh to negotiate his contract. He concluded a contract worth $650K, then a record, launching Leigh's career at least as effectively as Steve's.</p>
<p>The toughest part about becoming an agent is getting clients. Making friends with star amateur athletes may actually be the surest route. (Agents are regulated under California law, by the way, and probably by other states as well.)</p>
<p>how's the salary like for sports agents? how is their lifestyle like? do they have to constantly communicate w/ their players everyday?</p>
<p>Most of what I know about this is what I read in the sports pages. My understanding is that agents don't work for salaries - they get paid a small percentage of what their clients make.</p>
<p>what i've heard:
the competition is absolutely insane. it's not so much about what degree you have, but your connections. Most sports agents don't have law degrees, so you really have to ask yourself if going to law school is worth the time and money. you can pretty much forget about the career if you didn't play any sports professionally or in college. </p>
<p>also, there are salaried sports agents- the big time ones work independently or have their own agency, but there are agencies that hire.</p>
<p>Being a lawyer gives you instant credibility when it comes to being a sports agent since the most significant task often can be understanding and negotiating an athlete's contract. Among the most important skills, however, does not require a law degree. That skill is the ability to assess the "fair market value" of an athlete's services. When a real estate appraiser determines the value of a house, he usually has a lot of financial data from which to draw conclusions. A sports agent may or may not have adequate data. A common characteristic of sports agents is that they are extremely extroverted.</p>
<p>so is it worth it to become a lawyer if you want to be a sports agent? I am looking into going into sports law, and I dont know much about it, but doesn't it include agents?</p>
<p>I would say it is worth it, for the reason noted above -- being able to negotiate contracts. Just realize you will probably have to hustle in other areas as well.</p>
<p>What do you mean by "hustle in other areas"?
Are there other jobs that sports lawyers can do? If so, what are they?</p>
<p>hmm i actually met a sports attorney last week. he said it wasnt necessary to get a law degree, but his boss told him to go either get a JD or MBA eventually to boost up his credentials. he eventually went to night school and got his JD. he says its a big help that he can say hes a licensed attorney in california. but nevertheless, everything else (connections, personal skills, etc.) still plays out.</p>
<p>What does this guy actually DO though? What does being a sports attorney intail?</p>
<p>"What do you mean by "hustle in other areas"?"</p>
<p>By this, I simply mean you still may have to develop the personal contacts, etc., discussed in the other posts. </p>
<p>"What does this guy actually DO though? What does being a sports attorney intail?"</p>
<p>Someone else can correct me if this is wrong, but I would say being a sports attorney primarily means being an agent -- that is, you negotiate salaries for various atheletes, and oversee the contracts in question. Given the multi-million dollar salaries commanded by many atheletes, you can quickly see this as a lucrative field for some attorneys. And given the focus on contractual negotiation, one can see why having a law degree would be important for a sports agent. </p>
<p>Most agents, I believe, work with larger agencies, especially when starting out. However, cultivating one personal client in college or law school could obviously give you a big boost starting out, as noted above. </p>
<p>I guess if you really want a quick and superficial look at what a sports agent/attorney does, you could rent "Jerry Macquire". This is a hollywood look at a sport's agent's life, and is probably not that representative, but to the extent he is hustling to get his client the best contracts possible with teams, it is probably somewhat descriptive.</p>
<p>It is more than negotiating a player contract. It would also include endorsements and personal apperances, as well as licensing agreements. And, in today's world, it also means a lot of hand-holding and baby sitting, with a dash of public relations and damage controal for good measure.</p>
<p>"It is more than negotiating a player contract. It would also include endorsements and personal apperances, as well as licensing agreements."</p>
<p>Good points -- you're not only negotiating contracts with teams, but with other entities as well. </p>
<p>Imagine getting 5% of some of that endorsement money.</p>