Heitzman, Kathleen

English

Marquette University Law School

Marquette Sports Law ReviewVolume 3Issue 2 Spring Article 7Book Review: An Athlete's Guide to Agents, 3rdEditionKathleen HeitzmanFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslawPart of the Entertainment and Sports Law CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, pleasecontact megan.obrien@marquette.edu.Repository CitationKathleen Heitzman, Book Review: An Athlete's Guide to Agents, 3rd Edition, 3 Marq. Sports L. J. 237 (1993)Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol3/iss2/7BOOK REVIEWAN A THLETE'S GUIDE TO AGENTS, 3RD EDITIONRobert Ruxin[Boston/London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers 1993]xvi + 192 pp.ISBN 0-86720-779-5 $14.95Author Robert Ruxin is the vice-president and general counsel ofKazmaier Associates, Inc., a firm that invests in and manages sports mar-keting and sports product manufacturing and marketing businesses. Mr.Ruxin graduated from Harvard Law School and serves as vice-president ofthe Sport Lawyers Association.This book is an informative tool for any current or aspiring professionalathlete. It is also an entertaining look at some of the history of sportsagency any sports enthusiast would enjoy. The book presents a number ofvaluable insights for unsophisticated and unwary potential and/or currentprofessional athletes.Unfortunately, this book may have arrived too late (if they have notalready read it). Any star player, like an Emmitt Smith or a Rick Mirer,will undoubtedly have an agent already; they were probably approached bydozens. Current professional athletes, even position players, already havesigned contracts, thus diminishing their need for an agent. Moreover, aposition player is less likely to be able to attract endorsement deals, anotherarea where agents are useful.Further, current professional athletes without an agent are likely mak-ing at, or marginally above, the minimum salary in their respective sport.This leaves little for investments, another service agents perform for theirclients. Mr. Ruxin points to these factors in deciding whether you need anagent. He notes that if you are not a star player and unable to command anabove minimum salary contract, it is not worth paying an agent's fee ofthree to ten percent. If the agent can get you a contract for above the mini-mum salary, is it enough over the minimum to pay the agent's fee and stillcome out ahead?Another major theme of the book is involvement with your agent. Mr.Ruxin strongly urges against a blanket issue of trust to your agent. Heespecially discourages giving your agent the power of attorney. KareemAbdul-Jabbar gave his agent, Thomas Collins, complete control over hisaffairs, including his power of attorney, and twelve years later he was suingMARQUETTE SPORTS LAW JOURNALMr. Collins for that trust to the tune of fifty-nine million dollars. For ath-letes who have agents already, this book could serve as a warning. Even forathletes with the most honest agents, it doesn't hurt to be informed. In fact,it is in your best interest to be involved; at a minimum it prevents misunder-standings, and in the worst case scenario it could prevent fraud andembezzlement.Mr. Ruxin has put together a very useful book for student athletes. Notonly does it warn against agent abuses, but it starts off with a section ofwhat the NCAA allows and forbids. Throughout the book, he reminds thereader that any kind of agreement, oral or written, present or post-dated,will threaten your NCAA eligibility. Mr. Ruxin is not ignorant to theplight of the poor college student-athlete and how an agent's promises canmake the student forget that the agent is breaking the rules and asking theathlete to do the same. However, he presents the trade-off in a logical, com-mon sense manner. He tells the student-athlete to weigh the money theagent is offering versus the loss of collegiate eligibility. It also means theloss of the athlete's education. But more importantly, Mr. Ruxin asks thestudent: why should any student athlete trust an agent to be honest andforthright with them when they broke the rules by approaching the athletein the first place?This book contains twenty relatively short and readable chapters. Thechapters are separated into nine sections that make it easy to use as a refer-ence to answer questions. For more detailed rules, there are references toadditional sources. The chapters start with a history of sports agents, not-ing that before free agency and the rise in salaries, agents were hardly usedor needed. The reasoning is simple. First, salaries were too low to justifygiving anyone else a cut. Secondly, the agent could hardly make a differ-ence because all the bargaining power resided on the owner's side. This isnot the case anymore.As chapter three describes, agents can do more than just negotiate con-tracts. A lot of agents function as personal managers, performing suchservices as investment advising, tax planning, referrals to doctors, arrangingendorsements, and public relations. Mr. Ruxin describes how one becomesan agent and whether you, as an athlete, need an agent. Additionally, be-cause the standard player contracts of the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL dealwith hours, benefits, etc.. . there's nothing left for the agent to negotiate.Part Two is entitled "Matchmaking - Athlete Meets Agent" and in-cludes chapters on finding an agent, making the selection, and whether toturn pro early. Mr. Ruxin recommends identifying your needs, and findingthe agent and/or career path that matches those needs.[Vol. 3:237BOOK REVIEW"Agent Contracts and Fees" is the title of Part Three, which is a usefulsection for a current professional athlete and future professional athletes. Ifnothing else, a current professional athlete could read this section and see iftheir agent is doing a good job.Parts Four and Five are cautionary, warning athletes to beware ofagents' other interests (such as another client who may or may not be com-peting for a spot on your team, or even your position); and agents that haveclients or interests aligned with management or owners. It also discusseswhen and if an athlete should change agents, and how to do so.Part Six, entitled "Regulation", is brief, as is the subject it covers. Thereader will soon find that the leagues do not regulate agents themselves.This was left to the players' unions, who did not exactly jump on the band-wagon to protect their members. Players' unions regulate sports agentsthrough agent registration programs. The NFLPA began the first one in1983 and the NHLPA just began a voluntary registration program foragents in 1991. The NCAA also had a voluntary registration program forabout five years, terminating it in 1989 because of lack of participation.This section is a little disheartening because there are broad assertions andprohibitions, but it seems that there is little enforcement."Preserving the Wealth" and "Marketing Fame" are the titles of PartsSeven and Eight respectively. Rather than how-to's, these sections are fur-ther cautions to athletes in their relationships of trust with professionalsports agents.Part Nine, the final section, is devoted to the special considerations ofathletes in individual sports. Because athletes in individual sports do nothave a team picking up the tab on such things as equipment, travel, coach-ing, and entry fees, management of the athlete is all the more important.The author ends with a conclusion entitled "The Athlete's Responsibil-ity", which is a reiteration of a recurrent theme throughout the book. Inasserting that the ultimate responsibility resides with the athlete, Mr. Ruxinrecommends that the athlete work with the agent, rather than blindly trust-ing him. At the end of the book, there are some helpful appendices thatillustrate previous chapters. The appendices include a glossary, a descrip-tion of the professional drafts, salary information, sample representationscontracts, uniform player contracts, the Collins v. NBPA case, charts onplayer regulation schemes, and a directory of sports leagues andorganizations.Mr. Ruxin has authored a well-written book that speaks to a variety ofaudiences. It is full of anecdotes that are illustrative of tactics to beware of,and, in some cases, failed attempts by athletes themselves to circumvent therules.1993]240 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 3:237In a relatively brief work, Mr. Ruxin gives a rather detailed commen-tary on the industry of Sports Agency that is both informative and useful.From high school athlete to current pro, retired pro, or even armchair ath-lete, Mr. Ruxin's book will be enjoyed.

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Book Review: An Athlete\u27s Guide to Agents, 3rd Edition

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