A few weeks ago LAB Management and Title Sports Group merged to form LAB MGMT, a sort of super agent team that represents athletes like Justin Medieros, Mat Fraser, Brooke and Sydney Wells, Danielle Brandon, Scott Stallings and heaps of others too. LAB MGMT is joined in that athlete representation space by Bakland Management who cover elite athletes such as Sara Sigmundsdottir, Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson, Ricky Garard and Kelsey Kiel and Strength in Numbers which represents Khan Porter, Lucy Campbell, CrossFit Oslo and more. And of course there are other smaller and growing athlete representation entities.
As the sport of CrossFit continues to grow, so too (we hope) will the earning opportunities for athletes. Cash-rich companies like Monster, TYR and Samsung entering the space also drive up the potential revenue for competitors in the sport. I, for one, have always been wildly curious about how agents and managers operate and the nitty-gritty of athlete representation, so I decided to delve into the world of athlete representation.
Jason St. Clair is the founder of Lab Management. He earned his chops in baseball and was one of the first to bring athlete representation to CrossFit. “We follow the baseball model with our athletes, you eat what you kill. If we bring the deal in then we get our percentage but competition earnings and anything else like that is off limits,” he explains.
As you read this, I imagine you might start asking, “How do athletes and their agents start working together?” St. Clair shed a little light on what he looks for in a potential client. “When I first sit down with an athlete, I lay it all on the table. I explain how I make my money. Expectations are set out with my job being everything business and the athlete just worries about eating, sleeping and training. If they get an email or DM I want them to send it my way”. It’s not always as straight forward as wading through emails with offers as he explains, “I remember seeing Danielle Brandon walk by at an event, nudging Cooper (Marsh, LAB Mgmt co-owner) and saying she’s going to be a star. We invest time and money for maybe two years first, she was no exception.”
One of the most experienced and well-known agents in the CrossFit space is Snorri Baron. Snorri, founder of Bakland Management, began working with his clients more by chance and believes in getting to know the person before committing to working together longer term. “This is usually a 3-6 month process where I will be working on the athletes behalf trying to score some business for them and engaging as I am their manager, but there is no contract yet and if there is an income that is generated it is 100% theirs. This is time that I am willing to invest in seeing if this is going to work or not and there have definitely been instances where I have realized that I do not want to represent that person or do not think that there will be success from our collaboration.”
How do athletes get noticed?
Is it performance? Is it social media following? Is it a balance of both? St. Clair answered by saying, “Camille Leblanc-Bazinet was my first athlete in the space, I told her she never needed to win the Games, she was small, cute and marketable, so, yes, following matters. She did end up going on to win as it happens. Bridges is the same, following is important.”
Benji Hull, of Strength in Numbers, eyes up similar qualities a client brings to the table. “I look for a combination of things, marketability and social comparability. Who are they in the space? Do they have opportunities to grow and tell a story? Are they in the community? Are they someone who is loved and respected? When they’re in a large group do they stop for fans?” said Hull. If you have ever met one of Benji’s longest running clients, James Sprague, you’ve seen proof positive of Hull’s hierarchy of importance when it comes to working with someone.
A new kid on the block of athlete representation, Twenty3 Management, is headed up by Nikolaj Ronnow. Niko just launched Twenty3 this week and so is a newcomer to the agency world. The main trait he looks for in an athlete is passion “and commitment, that does it for me…athletes not in the first or second tier also deserve respect and help, they work just as hard.”
Joseph Somakian, founder of Hypemachine Sports Group, has found himself working with people he has spent prolonged periods of time with and shares outlook and world view with. “We’re a smaller operation than most and the athletes I work with are people I am friends with and have surrounded myself with, spent time with and developed a relationship with.”
What do agents do? Is it just contract negotiation and signing on the dotted line?
“I’ve watched Matt O’Keefe carry Fraser’s bags for five years, that seems to have worked pretty well, I’m taking a page out of his playbook,” explains Niko from Twenty3. Somakian and Hypemachine SG have a similar outlook and are bringing in an athlete manager to help with the day-to-day. their main focus is media and helping their clients to build a brand themselves that they can rely on as “athletes are never safe from injury or missing competition, a good brand can help them have something to fall back on if that happens to them…media is key for us, we aim to be quick with reels after events finish as that’s when all eyes will be on the athlete and it’s the time to build.”
Jason, from LAB, explained how there’s a difference between being an agent or manager and a parent, “We advise, weigh up the pros and cons but at the end of the day it’s their decision, their social media, we’re not parents.”
There are also plenty of differences between newer athletes and veterans of the sport. Those differences can play out in the time, money and effort invested between well-know athletes versus an up-and-coming athlete with potential. Benji explained, “If an athlete is at the beginning of their career, they will need a lot more guidance on brand development, socials and all the extra things that help make a partnership thrive. Generally, the vets have it down. With them it’s more about taking their existing reputation and connecting them with the right partners to help continue and amplify their growth and platform.”
Show me the money!
Alright, we’ve looked at how athletes and agents might begin to work together and some of the qualities an agent might look for in a client but we’re all here to talk spondoolies [editor note: this appears to be Irish for cash]. How do agents make their money and what’s the usual cut? Benji explained that “20% is the industry standard…we work purely on commission”. Jason drilled into a more case by case basis they use at LAB “It ranges from 10-20% depending. If we have a short term deal with an athlete then it’s 20% but if we are working with an athlete over a number of years we’ll start moving closer to that 10% mark as it’s more consistent earnings for both.”
Snorri believes “each manager has their own way of doing it. I have amended my method a few times through the years but the formula I have landed on is that the price earnings are 100% the property of the athlete. I only charge a percentage out of the marketing and sponsorships income that the athletes have, and I actually do not start charging anything until the athlete’s guaranteed income through sponsorships has reached $24,000 a year”.
Why do it?
Jason explained how representing athletes and getting the best for them will grow and support the eco system. If an athlete gets an offer made to them on their own, he reckons a good agent can improve the deal regardless of where it came from. “Whatever it comes from, we can make it better”.
Snorri is more of a journey over destination type of thinker. “It’s the journey itself that makes me happy and the hustle that is required before an athlete has reached the status where all the brands want to participate is the most enjoyable part of it.”
Benji Hull explained how he is “a fan of the sport, CrossFit saved my life, I will always be a CrossFitter. It’s a tangible way for me to utilize the gifts I’ve been given to create real change in people’s lives. Athletes need someone who has the ability to foster and manage relationships on their behalf but also have someone willing to walk alongside them through the muck and craziness that is a fast changing landscape.”
I’ve watched them carry bags and rush around after their athletes, I’ve heard them check if they need food or water or body work, I’ve seen them hurry them through crowds and be the ‘bad guy’. The sport is growing. The fans need the sport, the sport needs the athletes, the athletes need help…the fans and the sport need the agents.
But what makes an agent an agent?
In theory, I could announce myself as an agent or athlete manager tomorrow, take on a client and promise them the sun moon and stars. It’s not something that seems to be particularly heavily regulated in the CrossFit ecosystem. So what makes an agent an agent? Does putting it on your LinkedIn profile or Instagram bio make it so? Does taking on an athlete make you an agent? Does being included in this article make you an agent? Who decides who is and isn’t an agent? There’s ambiguity to it and uncertainty. And there’s danger in that, too. What happens when athletes are over-promised and under-delivered to?
I’ll leave the last word on it to Snorri. “Responsibility and commitment are key pieces. I have seen people come and go in my eight years in this business. Come in, make empty promises, fill athletes with hope that their career will finally kick off; that they can finally stop working double shifts and focus on training and then none of those promises get delivered on. The commitment and athlete has to make to training and sleeping, etc…if you have aspirations to do well at the Games you need to have some sponsorships. Someone stepping in, promising to deliver something and then not delivering it is not only failing but also doing a disservice. It’s worse than having nobody because is also quashes the hope the athlete had that there is ever a chance for them.”
