The men’s and women’s basketball teams at the University of Connecticut are elite college programs that regularly produce pro talent. And now that UConn’s football program has powered its way onto the national scene, fans aren’t the only ones taking notice of the school’s Rentschler Field athletes.
An increasing number of sports agents are eyeing UConn’s new- found success, as evidenced by the sharp increase in agent registrations this past year.
As of August, there were nine registered student-athlete agents in Connecticut and four applications pending with the state Department of Consumer Protection. In addition, the Hartford-based law firm Robinson & Cole recently announced plans to pursue a sports business practice.
This comes less than a year after UConn’s football team won its first Big East Conference title and finished 9-4.
College football analysts project that three or four UConn players will be selected in the 2009 NFL draft. Senior cornerback Darius Butler is expected to be a first-rounder. That sort of talent has opened the eyes of sports agents.
Peter Billis, a 27-year-old New York attorney and registered Connecticut sports agent since February, knows it would be practically impossible to break into UConn’s basketball program. Football, however, is still open season.
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“Basketball is the big thing, but personally, football is what I’m concentrating on,” Billis said. “If I establish myself, maybe I can expand to basketball.”
Janet Fink, a UConn professor who teaches sports management, said college programs with a history of producing pro talent already have long-established, virtually impenetrable sports agent networks. Fink said she saw this firsthand as a former professor at Ohio State University, which is known for its football and men’s basketball programs.
“Ohio State has had success for so long, people there may not be the best agents or the smartest, but they’re established,” Fink said. “It’s hard for other people to get in, even when they have the qualifications.”
‘Kissing Frogs’
Kevin Cleary, a Connecticut-based sports agent and strength and conditioning coach, is certified with the National Basketball Association, the International Basketball Federation and the Canadian Football league, and he will apply for an NFL certification in January.
With just three years in the business, he knows he doesn’t have the background to approach UConn basketball players.
“I knew I was going to have to kiss a lot of frogs before I got the big prize,” Cleary said. “Going to UConn right away, it’d be an extreme long shot. There are agents entrenched at that school. Football is another thing. There’s going to be more guys going into the NFL.”
In just the past five years, 19 UConn football players have made it onto an NFL roster. Five of those 19 were taken in the draft, none higher than linebacker Alfred Fincher, selected in the third round, 82nd overall, by the New Orleans Saints. This past year, cornerback Tyvon Branch and guard Donald Thomas were both drafted.
Since UConn football joined the Big East in 2004, the program has been gaining national recognition and has boosted its profile by announcing upcoming matchups with some of college football’s powerhouses.
Next season, UConn and the University of Notre Dame begin a 10-year agreement for five home games at each school, though UConn’s home games will be played either at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., or Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N. J.
Earlier this month, UConn and the University of Tennessee agreed to a two-year home-and-home series starting in 2015.
Despite the growing popularity of the sports agent field, the payoff is often unsatisfying, said Gil Fried, chairman of the Sport, Hospital and Tourism Management Department at the University of New Haven.
“In terms of billables with athletes, it’s once every few years when they get a new contract, and then it’s only 3 to 5 percent of the contract,” Fried said, adding the nature of the business tends to be cutthroat and its practices can often be unethical.
“There are so many cheats and scum out there, you can do everything right to attract a player and it still wouldn’t work out,” he said.
That hasn’t scared away Robinson & Cole from jumping into the mix.
In July, the firm said it was looking to establish a sports agent presence, with attorney Kevin Henry leading the way.
Henry said he’s been looking to get into the business since he graduated from college in the mid 1990s, but he knew it would take time to build the proper contacts.
“It’s a cutthroat business. The number of perspective clients is small and everyone’s vying for that type of business,” Henry said. “As long as I can stay true in terms of what my morals and values are, I don’t have to worry about outside stuff.”
Though Henry said the firm has not yet developed a sports management strategy, Fink said Robinson & Cole would be well positioned to attract UConn athletes because of its reputation in the state.
“If I were a kid’s parents, I would think I would like to go with a law firm that’s well established,” she said. “I would do that rather than go with some sports agency where there might not even be a lawyer on board.”
Getting Coach’s OK
Agents wishing to talk with UConn athletes must first register with the university, but the university can’t always control agents who break the rules. In some cases, agents contact the athletes directly without the coaches’ knowledge, which is generally frowned upon.
“For the most part, agents know they really need to be in the good graces of the head coaches,” said Alicia Alford, head of UConn Athletics’ compliance department. “We tell the athletes if someone’s calling you behind your coach’s back, would you want that particular person to represent you?”
Sports agents working in Connecticut must renew their state license every two years at a cost of $200, and they must also register with respective sports leagues, each of which has differing costs and qualification requirements.
Agents don’t necessarily have to be lawyers, but many are also practicing attorneys who handle an agency business on the side until it becomes more established.
