New Sports Agent Law in Tennessee

There is a new sports agent law that took effect July 1st as reported in Business Insider.Com.

The new Tennessee law requires all sports agents recruiting in the state to register with the Tennessee Secretary of State.  Failure to even register can result in an agent spending 6 years in prison, in addition to paying a $25,000 fine.  The law also changes the definition of “sports agent” to include runners, managers, marketing representatives, financial advisors, and others working on behalf of an agent.  Further, Tennessee’s law takes into account the Cam Newton Loophole and states that “Athlete agent” does not include a parent or legal guardian, unless the parent or legal guardian of the student athlete accepts a form of a financial benefit or gift on behalf of the student athlete.  If you are going to have an athlete agent law on the books, which I am not totally sold on, at least have it reflect current issues.  In this regard, Tennessee does a good job of including runners, financial advisors, and even parents who are accepting benefits under the scope of regulation.

Doubtful that agents or so called sports boosters would change simply with a bill from Nashville, but it is good to see that the direction of this legislation is right.