With every great athlete comes an even better sports agent working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure their client has the opportunity to excel on and off the field, track, or court.
There are endless stories about the biggest and best contracts and deals being signed every day. In fact, just in April, Diverse Representation reported that two of the largest deals in sports history were negotiated by Black female sports agents, Nicole Lynn and Jade-Li English.
As spectators, we aren’t always aware of all the work these agents do to help young Black athletes build their brands and generate and sustain their wealth. However, what we do know is that it takes trust, integrity, and someone who can’t resist looking at the bigger picture.
Navigating Negotiations
Every player is different, and so is every contract signed. What works for one player won’t always work for the other. However, it can be a great benchmark to help agents lock in something similar or even better. Attorney and NFL Agent Arielle Comer says she likes to look beyond the field to help her clients close a deal that’s reflective of their needs.
“I’m always operating with the end in mind and working backward from that,” Comer told EBONY. “I say all the time these careers can be over as quick as two years [and] you’re only as good as your next contract. So, when I’m thinking about what’s going into [the contract], the first thought is what does my client need off the field and what does their legacy look like, because that’s going to dictate a lot of things.”
Likewise, NFL and NIL agent Alvianne Brule: for her NFL clients, it’s all about comfort and fit; for her collegiate clients, she’s very cognizant of their rights. “There’s no real true protection for student athletes, in my opinion,” said Brule, who’s the founder and CEO of full-service sports agency, The Eight Eighteen.
Brule is adamant about checking the language used in contracts to make sure the needle on NIL hasn’t shifted and that her clients aren’t being taken advantage of. “You have some schools that are moving into intellectual property, which is totally different from name, image, and likeness, so the biggest thing is protecting their rights and making sure they’re not overextending their rights [in comparison to] the amount of money they’re being compensated for,” Brule said.
Managing Finances
According to the Stanford Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, most athletes begin declaring bankruptcy as early as two years into retirement. To prevent this, NFL agents and co-founders of Divine Sports Agency, Ryan Williams-Jenkins and Michael De Sane, provide their clients with the necessary skills needed to manage their personal finances.
“I like to meet with a lot of the financial advisors that we work with to build out real customized teachings or informational content for our [athletes],” said Williams-Jenkins. He added, “We are really hands-on with understanding where our [athletes] are and making sure we’re building out information that is digestible for them.”
Both founders are advocates of educating their players on their finances early. They host multiple seminars to help their athletes build a playbook that will ultimately lead to their financial success. “We always look to challenge them, that way they can think about certain things that might not have come to mind,” De Sane stated. “The biggest thing is, we always make sure that our players see themselves as a business, so we look to have them think with a business mindset.”
Similarly, Brule shares that the principles of her agency are built on creating generational wealth, looking towards Deuteronomy 8:18 as their foundational scripture. In return, she feels called to help her players make smart financial decisions.
“If you make money, but can’t keep it in your family, it’s just a huge disservice,” declared Brule, who also hosts an event called Educate The Athlete. “That’s the most important thing for us, you have to educate.”
Building A Brand
By now, it’s no secret that America loves a household name. Which means, what you build off the field can sometimes matter more than what you do on it. Comer, who’s also an agent at Lift Sports Management—which has a growing roster of NBA, NFL, and WNBA athletes—helps her clients figure out who they are beyond their professional roles.
“Before we even get to branding in these deals, they’ve got to build their brand,” Comer explained. “You don’t want to associate with anything and everything, and you don’t want to have anybody guessing.”
Once the player has done some introspection, they have an opportunity to think outside the box and create a contract that’s more favorable down the line. “We look for certain things outside of salary that can be beneficial long term—that can be anything from having the player sit in on meetings and really be able to learn the business, and have influence in some of the decision making,” De Sane said.
Depending on the situation, Brule even believes athletes should be thinking beyond partnering with the biggest and fanciest names. “I think a lot of people really minimize the fact that they now can use their name, image, and likeness to build their own brands and to make their own money,” Brule shared.
“Instead of going to get these huge shoe deals, maybe make your own and put it in [retail].” Emphasizing that investing in yourself as a brand will stretch further than any short-term deal ever can.