Editing Sports agent (section)

==Description==
Because of the unique characteristics of the [[sports industry]], sports agents are responsible for communications with team owners, managers, and other individuals. In addition to finding income sources, agents often handle [[public relations]] matters for their clients. In some large sports agencies, such as [[International Management Group|IMG]], [[Creative Artists Agency]], [[Roc Nation Sports]] and [[Octagon (Sports Agency)|Octagon]], agents deal with all aspects of a client's finances, from investment to filing taxes.

Sports agents may be relied upon by their clients for guidance in all business aspects, and sometimes even more broadly. For example, hockey agents start recruiting clients as young as 15, allowing the agent to guide the athlete's career before the [[National Hockey League|NHL]] [[NHL Entry Draft|draft]], which happens usually at 18 years of age.

Due to the length and complexity of contracts, many sports agents are lawyers or have a background in contract law. Agents are expected to be knowledgeable about finance, business management, and financial and risk analysis, as well as sports. It is important for a sports agent to follow trends in sports. Other skills an agent must possess are excellent communication and negotiation skills. Agents must be highly motivated, willing to work long hours, and capable of multitasking. It is very common for agents to be in negotiations on behalf of several clients at one time.<ref>[http://www.jobprofiles.org/artsportsagent.htm Job Profiles.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109035912/http://www.jobprofiles.org/artsportsagent.htm |date=January 9, 2010 }} – description of roles of sports agent and some educational programs to prepare for the field</ref>

Some agents are part of large companies, and some are on their own.<ref>[http://www.sportsagentblog.com/2007/07/16/an-industry-of-conglomerates/ An Industry Of Conglomerates] Sports Agent Blog, July 16, 2007</ref> The number of clients an individual agent can handle and how many clients his or her employing agency can handle in total are interdependent variables.

Before the 1990s, most [[association football|football]] players did not use agents. In some cases, they used their parents as agents. Because of most parents' naivety about the football business, these footballers were often given less-than-stellar contracts by football clubs, which yielded lower salaries than they thought they deserved.<ref>[https://archive.today/20110629112710/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article396507.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 "The Big Interview: Neil Webb"] ''Sunday Times'', November 28, 2004, interview with soccer/football player</ref> In Sweden, there were only three licensed agents in 1995.<ref>[http://sydsvenskan.se/sport/article18746/Marknaden-mattad-pa-agenter.html "Market Saturation of Agents"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810181903/http://www.sydsvenskan.se/sport/article18746/Marknaden-mattad-pa-agenter.html |date=August 10, 2011 }}, May 23, 2002, note: source can be translated into English on the website</ref> As of 2002, there were 33.  According to [[FIFA]], there were 5,187 licensed association football agents worldwide, with 600 agents in Italy alone.<ref>[ FIFA – Players' agents list – by country]</ref> Since 2001, agents have not been licensed by FIFA. Instead, agents are now licensed directly by each association.

Sports agents generally receive between 4 and 15% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, although these figures vary. [[National Football League|NFL]] agents are not permitted to receive more than 3%, and [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] agents not more than 4%, of their client's playing contracts.