Becoming an agent

My first task was to research how to become an agent, requirements, work/life balance, degree of difficulty, and different levels. looking up all this information and reporting back to Mr. Greene helped me realize this career was not all Jerry Maguire made it out to be. There is a lot of behind the scenes work committed in order to get players the deals they want and deserve. The certification for each league is different and membership of agents is actually controlled by the Player’s Association. Basketball, the sport Mr. Greene primarily works in was a little bit easier than the NFL in regards to requirements. For example, it only takes a bachelors degree to be a basketball agent compared to a masters degree to be an NFL agent. Both sports required a certification exam in order to become an agent. Although they are vastly different, the exams are centered around knowing the collective bargaining agreement, managing salary cap, and rules and regulations for players and agent. Since the NBA only requires a four year degree it is naturally tougher to sign athletes because there is a bigger pool of agents competing against one another. Although it is important to note when becoming a Federation of International Basketball Agent, it covers not only the NBA but also foreign professional teams as well. This also makes basketball a lot tougher because it is a foreign sport, whereas American Football is primarily played in only our country. Knowing basketball was tougher to get into, I decided to apply for the National Football League's Player Association Agent program. I think this research helped me define my short term goals a lot easier because I able to compare and contrast the two sports.