Proposal To Revise Arkansas’ Athlete Agent Law
by Darren A Heitner[1]
Arkansas is one of the forty states that has passed the Uniform Athlete Agents Act (UAAA), which requires sports agents to become licensed in the state in order to act as an athlete agent and recruit student-athletes with aspirations of going pro. One of the main goals of the UAAA is to prevent agents from providing any type of benefits to athletes while the athletes retain eligibility to perform in intercollegiate athletics. States have been attacked for not enforcing their athlete agent laws, and many people are currently focused on what kind of punishment, if any, North Carolina’s Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, will hand down on NFLPA Contract Advisor Gary Wichard.
Certain states are known for their veracity in hunting down agents who violate their athlete agent laws. Florida has a history of enforcing its regulations, and Alabama is certainly not a state to mess around with. Arkansas may also soon put all sports agents on warning.
Representative David Sanders (R-Little Rock) has proposed The Arkansas Player and Fan Protection Act.
The bill would make it a felony in Arkansas for an agent to provide or arrange for anything of value to be provided to a college athlete (it’s currently a never-prosecuted misdemeanor), fine the agent at least $250,000 (it’s now $50,000 in pocket change), and revoke his or her license to practice their craft in Arkansas for up to five years (they currently face no revocation at all). The bill also would penalize anyone acting on behalf of an agent.
The penalties may scare off some unscrupulous agents from recruiting in Arkansas, but until the new law, if passed, is enforced, it will not be completely effective. Passing the laws with teeth is only half the battle.
[1] This article was written by Darren A Heitner. Darren created SportsAgentBlog.com, on December 31, 2005. It was the first site on the internet devoted to exploring the sports agent niche. Darren is also the founder of Dynasty Athlete Representation (www.dynastyreps.com). He is a 2007 Political Science graduate from the University of Florida and a recent graduate of the University of Florida Levin School of Law. He was a 2 term President of the UF Entertainment and Sports Law Society. He now practice law in South Florida.
