A Social Media Savvy Life Coach

One of the key functions across sports is the representation of athletes. Since U.S. college athletes got the legal green light in 2021 to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL), one of the key questions is: How should the function of an agency that represents college athletes change? Will a social media savvy agent like Trae Smith be the new Jerry Maguire?

The traditional sports agent, depicted in the old movie Jerry Maguire, has represented athletes as they searche for a college or professional team, but the agent of today and of the future needs to master competencies that the traditional agent didn’t have to worry about, such as how to build fans across social media platforms and how to monetize influencer status.

To picture the sports agent of the future, it helps to examine up and coming agencies that support college athletes in their search and negotiation of endorsements, sponsorships, public appearances, and brand deals. One example is PowerHaus Agency. Launched in 2022 by Trae Smith, a former UCLA football player and Pepperdine Graziadio Business School alum, it has already landed representation for more than 40 athletes in just a year of operation. Most are college football players, and the agency has landed a couple high school athletes and a tennis player. Then, during the NFL draft weekend on April 29, PowerHaus broke into the NFL, by signing Oklahoma State’s football player Lamont Bishop to the Seattle Seahawks and University of Wisconsin’s Jay Shaw to the New York Giants.

I talked to Smith. He identifies the following four emerging services and agency features for successful representation of athletes in the NIL era. They are:

• Social media presence: NIL valuation is closely tied to social media presence. The number of followers is key for the modern athlete to be considered for top NIL deals. Trae states, “We provide support as athletes build their personal brand across social media platforms. This is the precursor for success in NIL deals.”
• Personalization: One size does not fit all in combined NIL and sport representation. The services that will lure athletes along these two dimensions of representation can no longer be cookie cutter style. Smith states: “We pay close attention to the personal brand that the athlete wants to create, based on intimate conversations. The right advice on social media posts and presence happens when our clients express their needs and desires regarding their personal brand and reputation.”
• Financial literacy: Most athletes won’t have a clue about how much they are worth and how to manage their finances when a deal comes through. Smith states: “Financial training and advice is necessary for an athlete to succeed in the NIL era, especially since many won’t know how to manage an NIL deal early in their college years.”
• Evidence-based representation decisions: The value of representation for an agent should be more than ever built on evidence and data. Smith states: “It’s not just about player stats and predictions, but also about NIL value and growth potential. It’s this combined evaluation that will allow the agent to make the best representation choices.”

Alicia Jessop, Associate Professor of Sport Administration at Pepperdine University and founder of Ruling Sports, who researches college athlete well-being, agrees with Smith’s take. “NIL presents an unparalleled opportunity to reposition the relationship between agent and athlete. More than ever, athletes are looking to their lives beyond the game. The top agents of this generation will be ones who not only negotiate top playing contracts, but help their clients build generational legacies beyond their respective fields of play.”

Top agencies are already providing both professional and NIL representation, such as WME for LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who is not only a top athlete but also enjoys a massive following in social media. She has landed major deals, including a photo shoot in the Sports Illustrated 2023 swimsuit issue, which she celebrated over the weekend. Matt Hand, a Pepperdine Caruso School of Law student who just launched Alta Sports Management, states: “Top agencies are offering both NIL and professional athlete representation already, so I believe over time most agencies will offer both services as a one stop shop for athletes. We are starting with NIL representation but eventually will offer both.”

This all makes sense. The sports agent of the future does not only care about athletic development and growth, but also about personal brand and NIL potential, which is manifested through social media. Also, they play a more holistic role by helping to develop the athlete as a person and as a public figure. Laura St. John, co-founder of Strong Confident Living, which specializes in mindset coaching, coaches elite teen athletes globally and has mentally coached Dunne since she was 12 years old. She states: “Athletes need to develop a much clearer identity of who they are and what core values they represent that extend beyond their sport, so they can expand their potential for success and carve a path that leads to their future career goals. Like in my work with Olivia, NIL opportunities become a magnetic match when that vision is crystal clear.”

In the end, the sports agent of the future will need to be more social media savvy and supportive of athletes’ personal growth than ever before. And from an industry perspective, it seems that sports, media, and entertainment are more intertwined than ever before.