Dicky Fox: Wise Beyond His Years

The use of social media marketing is common in today's expansive marketplace, as online strategic success is judged quantitatively by Facebook "Likes," Twitter/Pinterest "Follows," etc. Organizations have appropriately recognized the importance and potential benefits of building interactive relationships with customers via social media. However, not all industries have been as quick to bite... The sports agency industry is one such example.  

"The key to this business is personal relationships..." the infamous words of fictional sports agent Dicky Fox from the 1996 film Jerry Maguire. Cliche or not, I severely doubt professionals (young or old) in the sports agency industry would knock the validity of Mr. Fox's statement. 

From the release of the film in the mid-1990s through present day, it was Mr. Fox's intention to accurately speak to the correlation between strong intra-industry personal relationships to agency/financial success. As sports industry jobholders will affirm, the sports industry is often a surprisingly close-knit professional network.

In the age of social media, I believe the appropriateness of Mr. Fox's assertion has gained an even more expansive significance. The importance of personal relationships to a sports agent's success is no longer solely intra-industry, but also has grown to include social network participants, and to an even greater degree than generations past, fans. Increasingly, the barriers between fans and athletes' personal lives continue to fall (i.e. Twitter). Because of this new reality, agencies have an opportunity to create and capitalize on social media strategies to amplify the popularity and publicity of their clients, and in turn, grow revenue. Manufacturing social publicity and satisfying fan desire for interaction with an athlete's celebrity are two such opportunities to help positively build their client's personal brand online. The entertainment industry has repeatedly illustrated the potential for this positive branding to result in profit, be it direct or indirect. 

"If an agent is familiar with the various uses of Twitter, and actively searches for new endorsement opportunities, he will better be able to identify when a client could potentially use social media to earn off-the-field income." - Darren Heitner, Sports Agent Blog

Agency involvement in social is a relatively novel concept, as strategies and their perceived effectiveness are continually debated. Nonetheless, in a marketplace where the vast majority of industries have built extensive social presences, agency participation remains relatively limited, thus leaving a window of opportunity for a first-mover advantage.