Athlete Agent Still Faces Felony in Alabama

Darren Heitner of SportsAgentBlog.com provides us with an update on the case of Raymond Lee Savage Jr, who had a misdemeanor charge dropped, but is still facing a felony charge for failing to register as an athlete agent in Alabama. For more, check out Darren's post - Raymond Lee Savage Jr. Has Misdemeanor Charge Dropped | SportsAgentBlog.com | Sports Agent News

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50 States in 50* Days - Iowa Athlete Agent Regulation

Iowa has taken the next step in becoming the latest state to adopt the Uniform Athlete Agent Act. Last week, the Iowa Legislature passed the Iowa Uniform Athlete Agent Act, which replaces the current Iowa regulations governing athlete agents. On March 23, SF199 passed out of the House of Representatives on a 98-0 vote and now heads to Governor Chester Culver for a signature.

Until then, the current athlete agent law remains in effect. Here is the current registration form and law in one tidy pdf package. As you can see here, there wasn't a rush to register as an athlete agent in Iowa in the recent past. Of the many reasons that explain why this is so may be the requirements that:

1. ALL nonresident applicants must file with their application and consent, an agreement with an athlete agent who is a resident of Iowa. The agreement must meet the requirements of Iowa Code Chapter 9A, section 4.
2. Nonresident applicants who are CORPORATIONS must also:
a) include a copy of the resolution of the corporation authorizing consent to service of process, and b) possess a Certificate of Authority to Transact Business in Iowa, issued by the Secretary of State pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 490, prior to applying for a Certificate of Registration as an Athlete Agent. The Secretary of State will supply the copy of the applicant's Cerificate of Authority, as required of the applicant by Iowa Code Chapter 9A, if the Certificate of
Authority has been obtained prior to the date the application for Certificate of Registration is received. Applications cannot be processed for nonresident corporations who do not possess a Certificate of Authority to Transact Business in Iowa.

Think that had anything to do with the fact that no one was registered? We'll see because the Uniform Athlete Agent Act adopted by the Legislature repeals those sections.

Also repealed are the sections under current law requiring athlete agents to have on file with the secretary of state a surety bond in the sum of $25,000.

The current filing fee is $300 for the one-year registration. No indication yet on whether that will change under the new laws.

Nebraska Uniform Athlete Agent Act Moves Forward

Legislative Bill 292, the Nebraska Uniform Athlete Agent Act, was advanced by lawmakers today on a 40-0 vote. The Unicameral Update, the Nebraska Legislature's official news source, spread the word with Sports agent regulation bill advances.

The bill was introduced by Senator Steve Lathrop who, in his statement of interest, described the bill like this:

The purpose of Legislative Bill 292 is to adopt the Uniform Athlete Agents Act. The Act, which has been adopted by 38 other states, provides for the uniform registration, certification, and background checks of sports agents seeking to represent student athletes who are or may be eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics.

The bill's passage was also covered by the Omaha World-Herald in its article - With Chambers gone, sports agent bill runs up the score. Termed-out State Senator Ernie Chambers consistently prevented the passage of similar passage.

More information about LB 292 is available here.

Agents and the AAU - Yahoo!Sports

Updated 3/12/09 in the AM.

Josh Peter and Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports have a must read article if you are interested in how some athlete agents operate in the world of hoops - Agents and AAU: Unrequited Love.

Some highlights or lowlights depending on your perspective:

• NCAA rules prohibit college players from accepting anything of value from sports agents, and NBA players association rules prohibit sports agents from giving college stars anything of value. But no rule explicitly prohibits AAU basketball coaches such as Barrett from accepting a $250,000 donation from an agency such as Ceruzzi Sports, and then playing semantics by paying for dinner when the agency’s front man is there to recruit a player such as Love.
• Money offered by agents for access to players has empowered AAU basketball coaches and far exceeds sponsorships from companies such as Nike and adidas, both of which have cut back funding in recent years.
• Since it isn’t a violation for an agent to recruit players, the presence on campus of people such as Williams and Brown is an awkward modern reality. The relationship between college recruiters and agent recruiters is rarely adversarial. Especially with the one-and-done rule, the college coach can’t afford to anger a runner, who often has connections to potential college recruits.

Added 3/12 - Marc Isenberg of Money Players weighs in with: The biggest whore Jerry Tarkanian ever met. No holding back in this one. Check it out.

Oklahoma House Moves to Tighten Athlete Agent Rules

Kfor.com reports that the Oklahoma House votes to tighten rules on sports agent contact with student-athletes. The amendment to the existing athlete agent act prohibits an agent from:

"any and all communication with student-athletes who are ineligible to be drafted, with the exception of general promotional brochures. Communication includes, but is not limited to in-person contact, telephonic and electronic communication."

The bill's author is former University of Oklahoma football player Todd Thomsen. In the Kfor report Thomsen acknowledges the NFLPA "junior rule" that puts similar restrictions on NFLPA certified contract advisors but indicates that the "league" (assuming he meant players' association) doesn't have the resources to enforce it.
The bill will next head to the state Senate for debate and a vote. It will be interesting to see what becomes of the bill if the NFLPA decides to eliminate or modify the "junior rule". The rule is largely panned as ineffective and widely ignored. Agents complain that the rule puts those who follow it at a disadvantage and allows financial advisors and marketing agents to take advantage of the situation.
During the combine, the rule was discussed at a meeting with NFLPA staff members, a group of 20 agents and members of the NFLPA’s Executive Committee. The following day, more than 400 agents were told that possible changes in the rule would be considered at the Board of Player Representatives meeting in March.

See also:

Bechta asks - Will The Junior Year Rule Survive?