| Free agency has been called the ruination of | | | | Management agencies and individual agents are the |
| professional sports, though it has done little to curb our | | | | power brokers of the sports world. Ever wonder how |
| nations appetite for all things athletic. If anything, free | | | | an athlete’s stats match up to others in his or her |
| agency has managed to attract more attention to the | | | | salary range? Just ask an agent. Sports management |
| team sports we love, with individual salaries and | | | | has become such a popular field that there are now |
| performance being scrutinized almost as much as | | | | college degree programs devoted to it, which says |
| team play. | | | | something not only about its popularity within our |
| There was a time when baseball writers would praise | | | | society but about the financial gain that can be |
| the opposing team instead of lament the performance | | | | garnered from the field as well. |
| of individual players. Bill Buckneresque errors aside | | | | Some agents are as popular as the clients they |
| aside, if the home team was behind a run with a man | | | | represent and through their savvy deal-making abilities, |
| on in the 9th inning of a baseball game or down by | | | | have become household names in their own right. |
| three on the opposing teams 40 yard line in the in the | | | | Sports management agents are like any other talent |
| fourth quarter of a football game, the onus wasn’t | | | | management agents or business representatives, yet |
| on who failed to drive the man on base in or kick the | | | | are separated by the variables that surround their |
| tying field goal. | | | | clients. Age, previous performance, projected stats, |
| Free agency put an end to those days, and now the | | | | injuries, the status of comparable player’s salaries |
| media and consequently we, the public, demand to | | | | and the market for their player’s position are the |
| know why high paid players aren’t capable of | | | | tools of the trade. When those variables favor the |
| producing when they’re needed most. If one ever | | | | athlete, they’re all that matters. When they |
| wonders how or why free agency changed the way | | | | don’t, agents are the first to tout the intangibles |
| we view players involved in team sports, the first point | | | | such as leadership, a team oriented attitude, media |
| of investigation centers around the lucrative business | | | | presence and personality. |
| of sports management. | | | | |