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Chapter 10 Knights of Columbus Rules? Private Sports Agent Regulations With the growth of problems in the sports agent industry, many concerned parties have sought regulatory solutions. Historically, the key entities involved in attempting to formulate legislation as the panacea for the problems that afflict the agent industry have been the NCAA, NCAA member institutions, players’ unions, state and federal law enforcement and legislative entities, and, of course, professional athletes, student athletes , and sports agents themselves. This chapter examines the legislative efforts of private entities, and Chapters 11 and 12 explore public entities’ efforts to regulate agents. The discussion below describes the private entities that have attempted to regulate sports agents and evaluates the relative effectiveness of their efforts to control the activities of sports agents. National Collegiate Athletic Association Indirect Regulatory Efforts The NCAA is the oldest and most powerful governing body in college sports. The NCAA developed as the result of a meeting in 1905 (of thirteen colleges) to discuss safety reforms in intercollegiate athletics. The meeting was convened at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt following deaths and other serious injuries that resulted from the violent brand of football that was played at the time.1 Currently, the association has more than 1,000 members, commonly referred to as member institutions. Although the NCAA sometimes appears to be a monolith, its actions represent the joint decision making of its member institutions. A former executive director defines the organization’s basic premise as “institutional control of intercollegiate athletics.”2 In other words, each institution is ultimately responsible for the governance of its intercollegiate athletics program. Notwithstanding the notion of institutional control, the NCAA, through its promulgation of rules and regulations, sets national standards for the governance of intercollegiate athletics. These bylaw provisions, rules, and regulations, as revised from time to time, are published annually in the NCAA Manual that is produced for each of the divisions—I, II, and III—of the organization. Among the provisions contained in the NCAA Manual are those that establish specific guidelines for governing the relationship between a student athlete and a sports agent. A student athlete who fails to comply with these provisions may lose his or her eligibility. Section 12.3.1 of the NCAA’s Division I Manual articulates the NCAA’s general rule concerning agents: “An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.”3 This provision precludes student athletes from engaging in a contractual relationship with agents. A student athlete who violates this provision will be deemed ineligible to compete in intercollegiate athletics for his or her college or university. A student athlete may also lose his or her eligibility by accepting benefits from agents. Sections 12.3.1.2 (a) and (b) render an athlete ineligible if he or she (or relatives or friends) accepts benefits from “[a]ny person who represents any individual in the marketing of his or her athletics ability” or an agent even if the agent has no “interest in representing the student athlete.”4 For example, payment by an agent of expenses related to sending a prospective student athlete to a summer camp would constitute an extra benefit, in addition to gifts of money, cars, and other items from agents to student athletes. Acceptance of such benefits runs afoul of NCAA rules that prohibit athletes from accepting “extra benefits” that are “not available to the student body in general.” Such conduct by agents and athletes is also likely to violate state statutes regulating agents, which are discussed in Chapters 11 and 12. NCAA rules do not prohibit a student athlete from obtaining advice from lawyers regarding a proposed professional contract. The lawyer may not, however, represent the “student-athlete in negotiations for such a contract.” Despite the huge domain the NCAA is chartered to regulate, the association lacks authority to directly impose sanctions against all of the actors that may be involved in a violation of its rules and regulations. The NCAA has the power to impose sanctions against a member institution for violations of association rules by student athletes and athletic personnel of a...

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