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Know Your Percentages

This protects you, your deals, and your money

Although there are not standards (yet) on how much agents can take from athletes on NIL deals, there are some general guidelines:

• Collective deal: 3-5% (similar to a pro playing contract)

• Marketing deal: 10-20%

The reason for the smaller percent on the collective deal is that these are generally much larger dollar amounts than marketing deals.

For example: $100,000 for a Collective deal equates to $3,000-$5,000 for the agent, and a $35M NFL contract comes out to $1,050,000-$1,750,000 for the agent.

The reason for higher percentages on marketing deals is generally two-fold:

• The payouts are smaller than Collective and playing contract deals.

• The agent tends to do more legwork on Marketing partnerships than playing contracts.

NIL percentages gone wrong

A story circulated within the NIL community last week regarding NIL agent Noah Reisenfeld stating “pretty much every NIL agency charges 20%” on NIL deals. (With Noah referring to Collective payouts - and giving his rationale as to why.)

• This is predatory behavior

  • Taking 20% on Collective deals is being greedy. As an agent myself, I get it - we all want to get paid and be rewarded for our hard work. However…

  • Agents who take large percentages like this (excluding marketing deals) are looking out for their own best interest and not their athletes.

• Athletes: Do your homework before signing an agent

  • When athletes are selecting agents for college or pro sports, they should speak with them and address all their questions, including the percentage a potential agent will take from any deals.

  • Once percentages are agreed upon, get these numbers in writing so both sides are held accountable.

  • In full transparency: I take 5% on Collective deals and 20% on marketing deals.

• In Noah’s defense

  • I (kinda) feel bad for him as he’s being raked over the coals by the industry, so I’m speculating here…

  • If he is A) being upfront with the athletes about his percentages, B) the athletes are in agreement with said percentages, and C) he executes a contract with these numbers that both parties sign, then technically, he’s just fulfilling his contractual obligations.

    • I’m not saying I agree with his rate, but I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

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^{I discuss insights and news related to NIL and personal branding for athletes every Wednesday at 12p ET/9a PT.}

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