6 minute read
The ever-changing responsibilities of a sports agent
THE EVER-CHANGING RESPONSIBILITIES OF A SPORTS AGENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Octagon’s Rory Rebbeck, Client Manager at the company, offers an insight into one of the world’s largest sports and entertainment agencies, with 38 years of experience in marketing, sponsorship and talent representation in the player care division.
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Talent representatives and sports agents have become an increasingly important asset to athletes from a number of disciplines as they look to make their name both inside and outside of a sporting context, through marketing and sponsorship opportunities.
Octagon is just one of those agencies. With their vision to have “a people-first mentality”, it confirms that they are committed to respecting, treating and being able to work with every athlete they come across and strive to be proactive in creating the best possible opportunities for those that they care for.
“The traditional sports agent role has changed dramatically in recent years,” stated Rory Rebbeck, Client Manager at Octagon. “As late as the 1990’s, footballers had not embraced the idea of having an agent. The only one out there, as Brian Clough infamously stated, was 007.
“Then players started to realise that family, close relatives and friends acting on their behalf in club talks were being offered unfair deals. Cue the rise of the agent.
“A good agent will go further than just identifying and negotiating a club or endorsement deal but offer career management, critical analysis and development plans, PR and marketing support, and generating new revenue through strategic marketing and image rights plans. They can play the role of a
lawyer, a social media advisor, a wealth manager, day-to-day life coach and therapist.
“As a colleague once told me: you even play the role of a fireman putting out fires through crisis management. And it doesn’t end there. A really good agent can go as far as extending a player’s career through positive nutrition, physical and psychological training programs, in turn helping add years on to an athlete’s projected career lifespan. 38 years within the talent agency space is testament to Octagon’s effectiveness and strategy in caring for athletes now
and looking ahead to towards the end of their careers. Rory believes this is down to their ability “to consider the unexpected, provide learning experiences at the appropriate time and build a players profile so they are ready for whatever lies ahead.”
He added: “Our aim is to provide the right environment to allow the athlete to let their talent do the talking. To minimise time and distractions as best as we can, secure the best people around them and build for the future.
“We have to consider the unexpected, provide learning experiences at the appropriate time and build their profile so they are ready for whatever lies ahead. For example, an emerging 17-year-old player who has been training with the first team needs to be ready for the next step as that jump can be incredibly daunting and filled with huge pressure on and off field.
“As we see it, we start working with players on the understanding that they’ll be the best in the world, and simply adjust accordingly as their career progresses and importantly, as it transitions into retirement.
“Playing careers don’t last forever, so being prepared for what lies ahead postsport is integral and an area we focus on greatly, setting up and aligning a client’s passions to a post-career transition, that is smooth and strategic.
“Take Daniel Sturridge, who during his career has set up numerous successful off the field endeavours, including a record label and food brand amongst other things.
“At the end of the day, we can’t predict the future and the route to success is seldom a straight upwards trajectory line, but we can dedicate the best and brightest minds to help talent make strong moves in uncertain times and set, achieve and exceed new goals.”
Moreover, longevity in the industry also comes from adaptation as the sporting landscape continues to evolve and develop, which has led to Octagon exploring deeper avenues into a variety of sports, particularly football.
“We have a long and successful history in the industry but are always looking to stay ahead of the curve,” Rory explained. “We’re proud to represent many of the greatest names across sports, including the current NBA, WNBA, and NHL MVPs, the most-decorated Olympian & Gymnast of all-time, as well as the current Brazil No. 9.
“In the past 3 years, we have been making a conscious effort to grow our Division in the UK and across Europe. Our values and principles will remain the same, and our focus will continue to be placed on quality over quantity and identifying those unique players ➡
with a story who will value the role and make it, that small difference could Radcliffe who changed her ‘working week’ difference we can make on their careers. make all the difference. to an 8 day-week instead of 7, in turn
Rory defines Octagon as unlike any “If an agent is responsible for 1 per gaining an extra day of training over her other sport agency as it doesn’t focus cent of your career, do you really want competition. Or Muhammed Ali who used on just one sport. Having been built to leave that to someone inexperienced? to start counting sit-ups when he started over four decades, its sporting portfolio You wouldn’t take this cavalier approach to feel the pain. spans across the likes of: football, tennis, if you were having a heart transplant. “All these marginal gains we can pass golf, cricket on to the next and rugby to American football, “You wouldn’t take this cavalier approach if you were having generation and help educate them of how basketball, baseball, ice a heart transplant. You would want the best heart surgeon in natural ability isn’t enough. You need hockey, and the Olympics. the business, not somebody having a go for the first time. So the full-package, and through our
“As we see it, why not have the same attitude towards your agent?” network of elite our experience athletes, we can and expertise use our experience mean that wherever your career You would want the best heart surgeon and learnings to help the next generation progresses, we will not be practicing with in the business, not somebody having a reach similar heights or at least maximise our clients or learning as we go along,” go for the first time. So why not have the their potential.” ◆ Rory continued. same attitude towards your agent?
“Instead, all that experience means “In addition, having athletes in different Visit: https://www.octagon.com/talent/ we can do what’s right and, in a world sports means we can all learn from each soccerfootball or follow octagon.soccer where very few aspiring athletes actually other and our clients can too. Take Paula on Instragam.
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