Conflict of interest for sports agents contract

Just like every agent in commercial industry, sports industry has the possibility of the conflict arising between the principal and the agent. An Agent is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another to create a legal relationship with a Third Party. The relationship between the athlete and the agent is contractual in nature; the agent is subject to common law agency requirements throughout this relationship. The agent thus owes a fiduciary duty of loyalty, obedience, and reasonable care to the athlete. The duty of undivided loyalty requires that the agent must avoid actual or apparent conflicts of interest and the sports agent would be no exception. The conflicts of interest created by the trend of consolidation in sports industry will lead to conflict of interest for athlete clients, especially the multiple representations of players on the same team under the “salary cap” and it will potentially harmed both the athlete and the agent. The agent can cure the conflict if he “reasonably believes” that he can provide competent representation to each affected client and if the attorney obtains each client's' express informed consent. However, this solution may be inapplicable to conflicts in which the agent represents multiple athletes on the same team, particularly in a league with a “salary cap” and the risk of harm to the athlete can be substantial. In this research paper, mainly with Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) , Uniform Athlete Agent Act (“UAAA”), Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act of 2004 (“SPARTA”) in the United States, the methodic approach and possible solution to for conflict of interest regarding two or more athletes on the same team. Appropriate measure by the players association to avoid the conflict of interest, such as request of a list of all athletes represented by the agent, would be one of main issues.