A revealing guide to a career as a sports agent written by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Gary Rivlin and based on the real-life experiences of several top agents—required reading for anyone considering this profession. Becoming a Sports Agent takes you behind the scenes to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a sports agent. Bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Gary Rivlin shadows some of the best agents in sports to show how this dream job becomes reality. Behind every high-profile athlete—in football, baseball, basketball, and more—is an agent. Learn the ins and outs of scouting, contract negotiation, licensing, brand building, and more. Takeaway invaluable lessons as you follow the paths of top-tier agents, from legendary pioneers like Leigh Steinberg, who represents star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, to Don Yee, who represents Tom Brady, to Matt Sosnick, whose client list includes baseball rookie sensation Pete Alonso. Rivlin uncovers the realities of this cut-throat business, from discovering unknown talent to securing multi-million-dollar deals.

This book is a culmination of my three decades (wow, that sounds like a long time) of being a sports agent. It's not that I woke up one day and decided to become a sports agent. My entire life has been encased in football, and I'm happy it turned out that way. I feel like I've actually lived three lives; one as a coach's kid, one as a coach's wife, and one as a sports agent, but, really, all three have been and continue to be a massive part of who I am as a human being. Representation without taxation must remain central in the ever-changing and evolving world of athletics, both amateur and pro. Sports professionals need fair representation without it costing ridiculous sums of money and that's why I stand for protection, advocacy, and trust.

In the forward 2021, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) will significantly innovate the figure of one of the most important protagonists of the football world: the football agent. Inside the World of a Football Agent provides a series of practical cases, experienced first-hand by the author, that will help the readers to immerse themselves in the reality of a football agent that interacts with presidents, CEO, sports directors, supporters, footballers, and their families. In an ever-increasing need for professionalization, the author, thanks to his background in representing footballers, presents a clear analysis of the current international regulation and its latest regulatory innovations. The audience for the book is represented by all the current or aspiring professionals involved in the football industry: from football agents who want to keep up to date with the latest legislation, to aspiring agents, sports directors or media, who want to understand what is often behind a yes or no in a complicated transfer negotiation. The book will also be of interest to graduate schools of business, sports, marketing, and MBA programs in law.

For fifteen years, sports agent Josh Luchs made illegal deals with numerous college athletes, from top-tier, nationally recognized phenoms to late-round draft picks. Flagrantly flaunting NCAA and NFL Players Association rules, he made no-interest loans to players in exchange for the promise of representation on their lucrative pro contracts. After cleaning up his act in 2003, he moved to a new agency, only to be targeted and pushed out of the business for a new violation-one he arguably did not commit. Then, in October 2010, Luchs wrote a confessional article in Sports Illustrated, telling the truth about what he did and didn't do. Since then he has taken on a new role: whistle-blowing, truth-telling reformer. And in telling his own story, Luchs pulls back the curtain on the real economy of college football: how agents win players legally and otherwise, the staggering sums colleges make from an unpaid workforce, the shortfalls of supposed full-ride scholarships, and the myth of a college education given to scholarship jocks. Including new information about major players and scandalized programs such as USC, Auburn, and Ohio State, this book pulls no punches. It's a stunning and necessary read for anyone who loves the game, and the first step toward fixing a broken system. Praise for Josh Luchs' Sports Illustrated story: "There are no innocents in all this-including Luchs. The difference now is Luchs isn't claiming to be innocent." -John Feinstein, Washington Post "[Luchs pulls] the inner workings of an oily business out of the shadows."-Pat Forde, ESPN "A must-read."-New York Times

A revealing guide to a career as a sports agent written by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Gary Rivlin and based on the real-life experiences of several top agents—required reading for anyone considering this profession. Becoming a Sports Agent takes you behind the scenes to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a sports agent. Bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Gary Rivlin shadows some of the best agents in sports to show how this dream job becomes reality. Behind every high-profile athlete—in football, baseball, basketball, and more—is an agent. Learn the ins and outs of scouting, contract negotiation, licensing, brand building, and more. Takeaway invaluable lessons as you follow the paths of top-tier agents, from legendary pioneers like Leigh Steinberg, who represents star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, to Don Yee, who represents Tom Brady, to Matt Sosnick, whose client list includes baseball rookie sensation Pete Alonso. Rivlin uncovers the realities of this cut-throat business, from discovering unknown talent to securing multi-million-dollar deals.

This thoroughly updated second edition of the Encyclopedia of Sport Management is an authoritative reference work that provides detailed explanations of critical concepts within the field.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Steinberg had a very successful sports agency, but when his life fell apart, he was forced to declare bankruptcy. Now, he is rebuilding his practice, and is currently representing Mahomes, the Chiefs’ star quarterback. #2 Steinberg, who was a lawyer, first became friends with Steve Bartkowski, who was a football player and future NFL draft pick. Steinberg was assigned to a dorm housing some of the school’s football players, including Bartkowski, and they became friends. Steinberg eventually became Bartkowski’s agent. #3 When Bob Woolf started out as a sports agent in the 1960s, teams would not allow agents into their locker rooms. Steinberg had to move back to his parents’ home in Los Angeles and set up a card table in a spare room, where he searched for data points to support his argument that his client deserved a raise. #4 Steinberg initially figured the Bartkowski contract would be his first and last. He experienced the thrill of representing the NFL’s top draft pick. He flew with Bartkowski to Atlanta for the contract signing. Though they landed past midnight, Steinberg said, There were klieg lights flashing in the sky, like for a movie premier, and a huge crowd pressed up against the police line.