• We shall provide the most aggressive, comprehensive, competent representation to our player clients in a manner consistent with the highest level of professionalism, honesty and integrity.
• We shall be aggressive, tenacious, innovative, thorough, perceptive and long-sighted in contract negotiations in order to provide our player clients with maximum salary payout over the entire term of their playing careers.
• We shall strive to maximize the length of the playing careers of our player clients by building respect with team management, mentoring our players and by availing our players of cutting edge training and nutrition techniques. Extending the length of a player’s career not only enhances a player’s future financial security but also enhances the chances of winning a world championship….and earning a Super Bowl ring.
• We shall ensure that our player clients manage their cash so that the maximum salary payout achieved translates into financial security upon retirement from the NFL.
• We shall devote ourselves to the success of our clients and give our players the close personal attention they deserve.
• Our success shall be defined by the fulfillment and personal growth of our players and not by our commissions or the number of our clients.

The sports representation landscape has changed significantly. It has become much more complex. You are fooling yourself and perhaps even costing yourself millions of dollars or even your career if you do not have qualified CPA’s and attorneys assisting you with salary and endorsement contract negotiations as well as other financial and legal affairs.

Laziness, ineptitude, incompetence or lack of integrity on the part of your agent clearly translates into a loss at the negotiating table. But your representation goes far beyond contract negotiations. Remember that you are no longer merely an individual earning a paycheck. Rather, you have evolved into a self-employed entrepreneurship…a mid-sized business operation. You need representatives that have also experienced success outside of the agent world and who are familiar with high dollar finance, the Internal Revenue Code and other financial and legal matters.

You need an agent that PAYS ATTENTION!! For example, we just recently took over representation of a 4 year veteran…a former 2nd round draft choice. We found that the player was entitled to $70,000 in state income tax and other refunds from 3 years ago which went overlooked by one of the largest management companies in the world and were shuffled off by the agent (with a long client list) as trivial. That may not be a lot of money to some but to paraphrase the words of an old United States congressman, “$70,000 here and $70,000 there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” Remember, it’s your money, not the agent’s, and you need a representative that provides professional guidance to you 24/7, not just until the commission check gets deposited.

At New Era Sports Consultants, we pride ourselves on our attention to detail and the personal attention we devote to each and every one of our player clients. We define our success not by the level of our commissions or the number of our clients but rather by 1) the net worth accumulated by our client’s by the end of their NFL career (i.e. the player’s financial security), 2) the preparedness of our player clients for a career after football and 3) the overall happiness, fulfillment and personal growth of our player clients during and after their playing careers. If our player’s are successful, we will be successful as well.

With respect to contract negotiations, your agent must not only be competent, but must also be professional, forward thinking, knowledgeable with respect to salary cap issues and nuances of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and perhaps most important of all, respected by team management. We are not saying that it is necessarily important that team management likes your agent but respect is critical. Some agents consistently take hard-line approaches in negotiations, hoping to maximize their commissions while alienating team management, and ignoring the long-term best interests of the player in the process. Tenacity can be a virtue in this business but there are times when it must be tempered with creativity and innovation in order to reasonably assure that the player gets maximum payout over his entire career. Selfishness, greed and obstinance on the part of an agent can cost a player a lot of money and perhaps even cut a player’s career short. Do not let that happen to you.

Also, do not let yourself get lost in the crowd of a long client list. An agent should never be excused for incompetent mistakes or lack of attention because he has more important clients to take care of!

In order to determine a player’s market value, a good agent will evaluate not only past negotiations for players of that caliber at that position but will also take into account anticipated future NFL revenue sources, the current salary cap structure and management style of the team and other intangible factors. More simply, we must be able to create our player’s value, sell that value to the team and then creatively work with the team on how, in what form and over what period to transfer that value into the player’s bank account.

An athlete’s professional sports career is relatively short, averaging less than four years. That makes it critical for you to seek marketing opportunities early in your active playing career in order to maximize your endorsement earnings and exposure. We have close relationships with the marketing arms of Nike, Anheuser Busch and others.

• Endorsements
• Image Management / Public Relations

Many athletes desire to give back to the community and become involved in a variety of charitable endeavors. Under the appropriate circumstances, this desire can be formalized by setting up a private charitable foundation. If it makes sense for one of our player clients to set up such a foundation, our attorneys will file all the necessary documents, set it up and even help manage and operate it if desired.

• Private Foundations
• Charitable Trusts

For better or worse, a player’s NFL draft level is increasingly based upon NFL Combine and Pro Day performance. In addition, intense competition and the rigors of the NFL make it imperative that you utilize an off-season strength, conditioning and nutrition program in order to maximize your professional success and your tenure in the League. Extending a career by even one year can translate into millions of dollars in salary and benefits. New Era Sports Consultants offers these programs at a variety of selected qualified facilities throughout the United States.

• NFL Combine Preparation
• Pro Day Preparation
• Off Season Program

It is critical to the long term financial security of our player clients that they recognize that their years in the NFL are limited and that they have but a moment to take advantage of what they have worked so hard for and the gift that they have been given. Players must learn to spend money wisely rather than lavishly and to save and invest some of their discretionary income. Many athletes are not sure where there cash is flowing or even if their cash flow is positive or negative. We can help the individual with budgeting and determine the amount of discretionary funds available for investment. Players should also be interested in investments that produce the highest rate of return and produce the smallest amount of tax. We can approach the area of investments as unbiased observers since we do not sell or take commissions on the sale of any investment products. We have established a relationship with A.G. Edwards, a respected investment firm based in St. Louis and licensed by the NFL Players Association.

Income taxes are typically a professional athlete’s single greatest annual expenditure. To give you a common example, one of our player’s who has earned approximately $3 million over a 4 year NFL career, [has] paid over $1.2 million of that in city, state and federal income taxes and social security taxes. As you can see, a million dollar signing bonus is, in reality, more like ½ a million! And if the player manages to save that ½ million until he dies, he may wind up paying ½ of that or more in estate taxes!! The good news is that income and estate taxes are the expenses most susceptible to planning. We advise the athlete of available tax planning techniques for accumulating income and their effects on the player’s personal financial situation. Ideally, the recommendations will enable the athlete to accumulate additional net worth through tax savings. We have a tax attorney on our team and a CPA who managed the wealth management of top corporate executives while at one of the most prestigious tax consulting firms in the world.

• Income Tax Preparation and Planning
• Estate Planning, Wills and Revocable Living Trusts

In this litigious and turbulent society, athletes are particularly susceptible to lawsuits and legal accusations of wrongful conduct, paternity, etc. It is imperative that you have an attorney ready to act on your behalf should the need ever arise. We provide that benefit.

Every athlete should plan for life after football. This includes not only accumulating and preserving the wealth amassed during his professional career with sound financial management and taking maximum advantage of all benefits offered through the NFL Players Association, but also includes preparing for a career once his playing days are over. We have resources to find internship and employment opportunities for players and to assist with college degree completion where appropriate.