First, working in the sports industry is a great job. In fact, it is one of the best jobs that a person can have. Therefore there is little employee turnover. In other words, people don’t want to quit their sports job. Not many people want to go from working with athletes all day to working behind a desk all day as a banker, management consultant, etc. So the middle management positions are not opening up for the entry level employees to take in the sports industry like they would in most other industries.

Second, the benefits of a “free market” (e.g., higher wages) are significantly limited in the sports industry because most employees have a “non-compete” clause in their employment contract. So entry level employees cannot accept a higher position at another sports agency because they would have to sit out (1-2 years). This is also one of the reasons why the wages are suppressed. Companies can rarely enter into a bidding war for the services of a sports agent because of the non-compete clauses.

Thirdly, it is common practice for well established sport agencies to acquire talent (e.g., tennis players, snowboarders) by purchasing small sport agencies. The well established agency then appoints the President/Founder of the small agency into a middle management position. So this method of doing business further limits the number of middle management jobs that are available to entry level employees.

But keep in mind that these examples apply mostly to established sport agencies. In other words, companies that are not going to expand much in the next several years. This really does not apply to a “start-up” sports agency. A start-up sports agency will most likely bring on additional staff if it does well and many of those positions will involve very important responsibilities. For example, it could be running a new office or starting a new division. And of course the owner of the start-up will most likely consider the entry level employees for advancement before they seek people outside of the organization.

Another friend of mine got out of the biz, but kind of moved laterally. He got a sales job that gave him lots of flexibility, and now he’s working his way into the marketing field, and I think he has a good shot to fight his way back into the biz that way, though not necessarily as a member of the NFLPA.

I have another friend who left a high-profile agent and stayed in the game, moving to another high-powered agent who brought him in as a partner and not as a minion. Unfortunately, he was so bitter toward his former boss that he wound up getting into trouble, and he’s had a setback with the PA as a result of it.

If you want to get into the game and have success quickly, I recommend three things. First, have LOTS of disposable income so you can ‘play the game’ effectively with other high-end agents; it’s going to cost a lot of money. Second, do your own ‘running.’ Every year agents try to leave the recruiting to others, then find out they’ve thrown away a lot of money on people/services who were only thieves. Third, situate yourself in a ‘target-rich’ environment (i.e., probably the Southeast — Atlanta, Miami, maybe Memphis, maybe Baton Rouge).

I have three subscribers to my service who have been certified less than three years. All three have either (a) one player in the NFL, making money for them on an active (not practice) roster, or (b) will have one after the draft (in one case of an agent who’s been certified less than two years). Of course, I think part of their success was from being a subscriber to my service and never having a problem accepting my humble help/advice/tips/whatever when they needed someone to turn to. But the most important part was that they were in the right place with the right resources.

Anyway . . . that’s my two cents.