Business Strategy: The Modern Sports Agency

From a strategic viewpoint, businesses are always emphasising the importance of putting customers and consumers first. From a sports agency strategic viewpoint where the emphasis lays is always interesting to assess and I’m going to speak frankly about this in my blog like you should all come to expect.

Firstly, what is a client – are they the customer, the consumer or in their own category? The complexity of categorising their role in the chain fluctuates dependent on the type of deal; whether it’s a sporting contract or a commercial contract.

Is there a club, as often there is, willing to pay agency fees on behalf of the player? From this question, I want you to extract the point a player may go through his career never physically paying anything to their agent because a club is prepared to on their behalf (and beyond). From that viewpoint, the agent may view the client as what their selling, to put it crudely, their ‘product’.

There are times, however, that the player will pay the agent directly for his involvement in organising his transfer or negotiating his contract, he may also do this or have the percentage due extracted from his earnings sourced and/or negotiated for their commercial deals. From this viewpoint, the agent may view client as their actual customer, not their ‘product’.

Then what of the 15-year old turning 16 soon an agency signs up? Yes there are exceptions that already have real market value at that age such as Dan Crowley who recently moved from Aston Villa to Arsenal. However, the majority don’t and won’t for many years and likewise the 2-year maximum representation contract means an agent may not be guaranteed to have those clients by the time they do have real market value. So what of these clients then? are they customers, consumers, just clients or investments? Is this where a typical company might categorise what they do as research & development, investment or still long-term business development?

Certainly what I hope I’ve explained is how defining a sports agency within a typical business framework is more complex than one may think – and beyond close relatives like recruitment agencies.

Prioritizing who and what is most important to focus your efforts on is key and also to fundamentally understand their complex role in the chain of income generation and in cost of sales. Otherwise an agent could happily spend 24 hours a day on the phone to clients, they may be a councillor to their players, friends, parents, spouses but when it truly matters negotiating that deal, helping a club bring in a player that is equivalent of 6 months running costs of your agency or getting your client that sponsor can the agent deliver when it counts – or has the agent been distracted by what isn’t important – even if they mean well. The client after all needs the agents instruction also about what’s important or frivolous, this is often forgotten by the agent. Maybe also at times by the client too. 

Priotizing and understanding a client’ true role is the be all and end all of the success of the modern sports agency. It is not merely as I hear all the time about finding a young gem, sticking by the family for years and getting rich. An agent won’t survive like that, it’s the wrong impression and if you an agent yourself or are looking to become one please heed my message. Of if you're an everyday sports fan, I hope it gives you a little more insight into the agency world.