By: Eric Willenbacher
The life of a sports agent is an attractive one for many people
who grew up following professional sports. Numerous young men
and women fantasize about the prospect of spending their time
around professional athletes, living a luxurious lifestyle, and
earning a small fortune collecting commissions on playing and
endorsement contracts. Television programs such as HBO’s
Arliss and movies like Jerry Maguire serve to
further romanticize the profession. Unfortunately, the allure
of life as an agent has created an influx of potential agents vying
for a very limited number of professional athletes and an even
smaller group of superstars.
Aspiring agents have used illegal, unethical, and unscrupulous
methods in collecting clients, and states have been largely
unsuccessful at regulating the industry. The purpose of this
Note is to examine current and proposed deterrents for
athlete-agents who choose to conduct themselves with
disrepute. Part I of this Note will examine the effects that
unprincipled agent conduct has on student-athletes, universities,
and collegiate athletics in general. Part II introduces
Congress’ recent attempt at regulating this issue through a law
entitled the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act while Part
III focuses on pre-existing federal and state mechanisms that are
intended to deter sports agents from engaging in certain
activities. In Part IV, this Note asserts that Congress’
recently enacted statute will be ineffective because its
enforcement provisions are no stronger than deterrents already in
effect. Thus, it is asserted that the new law will be largely
unsuccessful in regulating the industry. Finally, this Note
concludes with suggestions on how Congress can effectively combat
overreaching agents.
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