Student Athletes And Educational Institutions - Athlete Agents - Business & Professions - CA

Section § 18897.6

This law says that athlete agents, or anyone working for them, can't give money or anything valuable to student athletes unless it's allowed by the school and follows the school's official rules and NCAA bylaws.

No athlete agent or athlete agent’s representative or employee shall, directly or indirectly, offer or provide money or any other thing of benefit or value to a student athlete, unless it is authorized by, and is in compliance with, an official written policy of the elementary or secondary school, college, university, or other educational institution of the student athlete and the terms of the contract comply with the bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

athlete agent student athlete NCAA bylaws

Section § 18897.63

This law states that athlete agents cannot contact student athletes or their families for recruitment unless strict conditions are met. If the agent sends written materials, they must also send these to the athlete's school. If the athlete or their family reaches out first, the agent can continue the conversation but must inform the school promptly. Schools can directly contact agents without restriction, and all materials must include certain notifications as outlined by another specific law.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no athlete agent or athlete agent’s representative or employee may make or continue any contact, whether in person, in writing, electronically, or in any other manner, with any student athlete, or any student athlete’s spouse, parent, foster parent, guardian, grandparent, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, or first cousin, or any of the preceding persons for whom the relationship has been established by marriage, or any person who resides in the same place as the student athlete, or any representative of any of these persons.

(b) An athlete agent or athlete agent’s representative or employee may send a student athlete, or any of the other persons described in subdivision (a), written materials, provided that the athlete agent previously has sent, or simultaneously sends, an identical copy of the materials to the principal, president, or other chief administrator of the elementary or secondary school, college, university, or other educational institution to which the student athlete has been admitted or in which the student athlete is enrolled.

(c) If a student athlete, or any of the other persons described in subdivision (a), initiates contact with an athlete agent or athlete agent’s representative or employee, the athlete agent, representative or employee may continue the contact and make new contacts with that person. No later than the first regular business day after that person first initiates contact, the athlete agent shall notify in writing the principal, president, or other chief administrator of the elementary or secondary school, college, university, or other educational institution to which the student athlete has been admitted or in which the student athlete is enrolled, of that contact. The notification shall describe the nature of the contact.

(d) Any written material described in subdivision (b) and any notification required by subdivision (c), shall include the notification required by Section 18896.6.

(e) This section does not apply to any contact between an athlete agent or athlete agent’s representative or employee and a student athlete or any of the other persons described in subdivision (a), if and solely to the extent that the contact is initiated by an elementary or secondary school, college, university, or other educational institution to which the student athlete has been admitted or in which the student athlete is enrolled.

athlete agent student athlete contact recruitment restrictions

Section § 18897.67

This law prohibits athlete agents and their representatives or employees from giving money or valuable things, like discounted legal services, to schools or their employees as a reward for referring clients or facilitating certain kinds of contact.

No athlete agent or athlete agent’s representative or employee shall offer or provide money or anything of benefit or value, including, but not limited to, free or reduced price legal services, to any elementary or secondary school, college, university, or other educational institution, or any representative or employee of any such educational institution in return for the referral of any clients or initiation of any contact described in subdivision (d) of Section 18897.63.

athlete agent representative school

Section § 18897.7

If an athlete agent and a student athlete sign a contract together, they need to inform the student's school about it. The agent must send written notification to the school's main administrator within 48 hours. The student athlete needs to inform the school before they start practicing or playing sports, or within 72 hours of signing the contract, depending on which happens first.

An athlete agent and a student athlete who enter into an agent contract, endorsement contract or professional sports services contract shall provide written notice of the contract to the principal, president, or other chief administrator of the elementary or secondary school, college, university or other educational institution to which the student athlete has been admitted or is enrolled. The athlete agent shall provide the notice in writing within 48 hours of entering into the contract. The student athlete shall provide the notice before the student athlete practices for or participates in any interscholastic or intercollegiate sports event or within 72 hours after entering into the contract, whichever occurs first.

athlete agent student athlete agent contract

Section § 18897.73

This law requires that any contract a student athlete signs with an agent or for endorsements must include a prominent warning near the signature. The warning advises that signing such a contract could make the athlete ineligible for school sports, and that they must notify their school within 72 hours. The athlete has 15 days to cancel the contract, but cancelling might not restore eligibility. The law doesn't apply if the contract aligns with both school policy and NCAA rules, and if it ends when the student opts to return to school rather than go pro. Schools can set stricter rules about athlete agents if they wish.

(a) Every agent contract, endorsement contract, or professional sports services contract entered into by a student athlete shall contain, in close proximity to the signature of the student athlete, a notice in at least 10-point boldface type stating:

“WARNING TO THE STUDENT ATHLETE: WHEN YOU SIGN THIS CONTRACT, YOU LIKELY WILL IMMEDIATELY AND PERMANENTLY LOSE YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO COMPETE IN INTERSCHOLASTIC OR INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS. YOU MUST GIVE THE PRINCIPAL, PRESIDENT, OR OTHER CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR OF YOUR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION WRITTEN NOTICE THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO THIS CONTRACT WITHIN 72 HOURS, OR BEFORE YOU PRACTICE FOR OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY INTERSCHOLASTIC OR INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS EVENT, WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST. DO NOT SIGN THIS CONTRACT UNTIL YOU HAVE READ IT AND FILLED IN ANY BLANK SPACES. YOU MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT BY NOTIFYING THE ATHLETE AGENT, OR OTHER PARTY TO THIS CONTRACT, IN WRITING OF YOUR DESIRE TO CANCEL NOT LATER THAN THE 15TH DAY AFTER THE DATE YOU SIGN THIS CONTRACT. HOWEVER, EVEN IF YOU CANCEL THIS CONTRACT, THE FEDERATION OR ASSOCIATION TO WHICH YOUR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION BELONGS MAY NOT RESTORE YOUR ELIGIBILITY.”

(b) This section shall not apply to a contract described in subdivision (a) that meets all of the following requirements:

(1) The contract is authorized by, and is in compliance with, an official written policy of an elementary or secondary school, college, university, or other educational institution of the student athlete.

(2) The terms of the contract comply with the bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

(3) The contract terminates if the student chooses to not seek employment with a professional sports team or organization as a professional athlete and instead returns to school.

(c) This section does not preclude an educational institution from adopting and enforcing stricter policies, rules, or regulations addressing athlete agent solicitations or athlete agent interactions with student athletes attending their institution.

student athlete contract eligibility warning cancellation rights

Section § 18897.74

If a sports agent gives money or anything valuable to a student athlete, they must report it to the athletic director of the school the athlete attends or plans to attend. This report must be detailed and submitted by the fifth day of the following month. Schools can also create and enforce stricter rules about how sports agents interact with their student athletes.

(a) An athlete agent who provides money or any other thing of value to a student athlete as authorized by this article shall file an itemized report of those payments with the athletic director, or their designee, of the student athlete’s educational institution or the educational institution where the student athlete intends to enroll. The report shall be submitted by the fifth day of the month following the month the athlete agent provided the payments. The reporting of payments shall be in the format required by the educational institution.

(b) This section does not preclude an educational institution from adopting and enforcing stricter policies, rules, or regulations addressing athlete agent solicitations or athlete agent interactions with student athletes attending their institution.

athlete agent student athlete itemized report

Section § 18897.77

If a student athlete signs a contract with an agent or for endorsements or professional sports services, they have 15 days to cancel it by sending a written notice to the other party. The athlete cannot give up this cancellation right.

Within 15 days after the date a student athlete enters into an agent contract, endorsement contract or professional sports services contract, the student athlete may rescind the contract by giving written notice to the athlete agent, or other party to the contract, of the student athlete’s desire to cancel the contract. The student athlete may not under any circumstances waive the right under this section to rescind the contract.

student athlete agent contract endorsement contract