SPARTA stands for “The Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act,” and along with the UAAA (Universal Athlete Agent Act), it is an important document to become accustomed to.

Of SPARTA’s three primary objectives, I find the second objective to be the most important. Its second objective places violations of the act under the jurisdiction of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). This is important, because many of the regulations in SPARTA are general regulations that are seen within the UAAA. By establishing the FTC as a regulating agency, power is transfered to a federal bureau for regulation instead of leaving all issues up to the players’ unions. Agents should feel more threatened from action by the FTC over a slap on the hand from a union.

Theoretically, SPARTA should have achieved great gains in regulating Sports Agent activity, but those gains have still not been realized. Many existing state and federal laws actually implement strict penalties that would supercede FTC involvement, but even those Acts are often not applied often when they should be.

The FTC maximum civil penalty is $11,000…and that is after a warning is offered to an Agent. For moderately successful Agents, the $11,000 fine is certainly not enough money to deter one from using illegal practices to obtain clients (that is, of course, if one were inclined to do so…which is not a smart idea in the first place).

So as an ethical and law-abiding Sports Agent, you may be at a disadvantage when entering this business. That is why it is your responsibility to help pave the way for increased oversight and stricter regulations on Sports Agents at a federal level. If the playing field is leveled, and those who gain an unfair advantage are prosecuted for their crimes, the actual Superstar Sports Agents will reign, and players, Universities, and professional teams will benefit. The image of the Sports Agent will rise as well.

[tags]sparta, sports agent, ftc[/tags]