How can a Sports Attorney Help a Team or Athlete?

Andrew Rhoden • February 2, 2022

Sports law, sports consulting, legal strategy, and sports marketing are all becoming increasingly important areas of practice for attorneys. But how can a sports attorney help a team or an athlete?

Here’s an overview of how the process typically works:

A client has a need: They want to hire an agent, find out whether the NCAA is going to allow them to enter their sport for the upcoming college season, negotiate a sponsorship deal with an existing sponsor.
An attorney wants to help: The attorney needs to understand what that client really needs, so he or she can offer advice and guidance. The attorney also needs to understand what the client is capable of doing on his or her own. This must be done without putting any preconceived notions in their head (e.g., “my client is too old”).
The first step is getting acquainted with the client. A lawyer should not just look at your file and go through it; he or she should spend time getting to know you as a person first before making any conclusions about your abilities as an agent.
How does an attorney determine whether you are practical enough for the project? Is your knowledge about issues in this area helpful? Are you currently involved in this industry? If you are not already working as an agent, how will you get there? What experience do you have at that level? Do you have any former experiences that would make it easier for clients who aren’t accustomed to dealing with agents? What areas would make it more difficult for clients who don’t have experience dealing with agents? How knowledgeable are your previous clients about this type of work? Are they comfortable talking about specific topics that relate specifically to agents and sports marketing issues? Try asking these questions yourself and see if you can answer them without having a preconceived bias against working directly with agents or sports marketers.

Based on those answers, the next step depends on what kind of work your potential client really needs. Typically, an agency will hire one person per area (e.g., one full-time lawyer focused on NCAA compliance). Once those people have been found and hired by the agency, they will function independently — meaning they will be responsible only for their assigned area of expertise, such as NCAA compliance or marketing — and handle individual cases according to their respective skillset and job description (e.g., one full-time lawyer focused on NCAA compliance).

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