Sports Agent

The job of a Sports Agent is to market and promote an Athlete, finding them a place to play and lining up endorsement deals. Sports Agents are the middlemen in negotiations with owners, Players, sponsors and Coaches making sure everyone gets enough of what they want to keep them happy. Knowledge of money management will help in this field, but, ultimately, your success as a Sports Agent boils down to great communication skills.

Every sports star has an Agent, and they do pretty much the same thing, though specific aspects of the job vary with the sport. If you’re working with a Football Player, you’ll help find a team and negotiate the highest contract for them; if you’re representing a Golfer, you find get them on a tour that will make the most amount of money. And for any type of sports star you work to find them sponsors for endorsement deals.

The common thread? Money. Sports Agents spend lots of time dealing with their client’s finances, so it’ll be your job to, as Tom Cruise famously said, “Show me the money!” Once your client starts racking in huge paychecks you help them deal with taxes and investment management.

A pre-req for the field, though this may seem obvious, is a good connection to the sport you’re working in. You’ll put in a lot of work to learn about different teams and their futures, and get to know the Coaches in different franchises. If this isn’t your cup of tea, the work required for this isn’t worth the payoff. But if you love the sport you’d do all that anyways—the pay is just gravy on top.