Update 4: Ms. Samet visits

            Today Ms. Samet visited, and got a taste of what it is like to be a sports agent.  While meeting at Panera, we talked to her about all the different aspects of the job, such as legal, marketing, and player scouting.  Now the most surprising thing I found out when I started working with Andy is that while player scouting is the most important part of the job, as you need to represent clients who are successful in order to be successful as an agent, that does not take up the bulk of the time for the job.  In fact, Mr. Simms only hires 5 or 6 new players each year to represent, and the rest of the time is spent tending to his existing players and trying to help them in whatever ways he can.  It’s almost like a never ending cycle, where he scouts players all year and tries to hire them leading up to the draft, and then the cycle starts all over again right after the draft finishes.  I showed Ms. Samet some of the work I have done, such as the spreadsheets I have made of each position for the 2015 NFL draft, doing background research on the players and trying to find athletic backgrounds, hometowns, etc.  This is a list Mr. Simms updates all year leading up to next April’s draft, and I am just helping him by starting it.

All About the Money

            For the players, it’s all about the money.  That’s what it comes down to, and the agent’s job is to do everything in his power to make his clients more money.  While most of an athlete’s income comes from his contract, there is also lots of monetary opportunity in sponsorships, which is what Mr. Simms and I focused on today.  It was really interesting when we were talking about it because while we tend to think of these athletes as all being just super-rich, Mr. Simms explained that even at the highest level there are different socio-economic classes.  For example, players that are making multi-millions each year only tend to take sponsorships or do certain tasks like do a weekly call in to a radio show, for a significant amount of money.  On the other hand, there are many players who are making less than a million dollars a year who are willing to sign autographs for an hour for an extra thousand dollars, anything that will support their income.  Even though all NFL players are paid very handsomely, it’s still interesting to think that a lot of them feel they need to create additional income compared to others who don’t.  Mr. Simms explained that most players get sponsorships at places such as car dealerships or jewelry stores, and since he represents two players on the Cleveland Browns, he is looking for sponsorship opportunities for both players.  He asked me to compile a list of potential sponsorships for these players, which he will then be able to reach out to in the future and see if they can strike up a deal.

Update 2: The List

The project I have been working on over the course of the weekend and today has been a spreadsheet of all the clients of Mr. Simms’ company, Players Rep. The information I have to find is the players’ college, high school, and hometown.  Mr. Simms explained to me that a big part of having success in the agent business is having connections.  Now one of the main ways Mr. Simms makes connections is through one of his clients knowing another player in the NFL through either growing up in the same hometown, playing together at football camps, or potentially going to the same college.  If one client knows another player, he can give Mr. Simms some sort of contact with that player, whether it be a phone number or email, and this is one of the main ways Mr. Simms expands his business.  The background information on Mr. Simms clients is key because if he can find any sort of connection with the players who are going to be in the NFL draft in 2015, it can give him a direct in with the new potential clients.  After I finish making the list of Mr. Simms clients, I will begin to make a spreadsheet of the players to be drafted next year with similar background information.  This list is something Mr. Simms said that he updates all year long, and I am giving him a solid foundation.  Anything I can do to help.

Update 1: Meeting the Agent

Today I met with my sponsor, Mr. Simms, at Panera to talk about what he does on a day-to-day basis and what he will generally have me doing for the next three weeks.  It was incredible to hear about all the cool people he meets, all the cool places he goes, and what he does in order to attract clients to his business.  What really struck me as interesting was that he said the most important thing to being a successful sports agent was being personable, as that can take you a long way in life.  As we went over the legal, financial, and marketing aspects of his job, it was crazy when the director of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys called Mr. Simms to negotiate a contract for one of they players the Cowboys had drafted in the NFL draft one week ago, a player whom Mr. Simms represents.  The Cowboys just so happen to be my favorite football team, and I was awestruck at how casual the conversation between the two sides was while trying to determine how much Mr. Simms’ client would be paid over the next few years.  Mr. Simms also talked about how he was already beginning to prepare for next year’s draft, as he had to start recruiting players to his agency who were going into their final season’s in college before they tried their luck in the NFL.  He explained that over the next week or so he will have me doing background research on some of the prospects he hopes to represent, in order to gain a better understanding of both their familial and athletic background.  I can’t wait to get started.