A new television show following four NFL agents will premiere on Esquire Network on August 11 at 10 p.m. EDT. It will provide an inside look at the tasks these agents perform and provide people with a true feel for what days for a real life Jerry Maguire entail. The agents participating in the show absolutely took a risk by allowing cameras to surround them as they recruited athletes and provided services to their clients. I spoke to Sunny Shah, sports agent of Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe and one of the agents on the show, about that and more as The Agent, a 10-part documentary series prepares for the release of its first episode.
"I looked at it as an opportunity for growth, to get some exposure," explained Shah. "As an independent agent, I think I've done very well over the last few years. Agents are going to make stuff up regardless. It's just the way the business is. I wasn't afraid of that."
Shah, a graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Economics, founded sports agency 320 Sports after a short career as a successful investment banker on Wall Street. He left Wall Street for the world of athlete representation in 2009 and soon thereafter landed Monroe as a client, who was selected eighth overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2009 NFL Draft. That solidified Shah as one of the youngest agents to ever represent a top 10 NFL Draft pick and guaranteed him a better chance of recruiting future clientele.
"I started down this track in college when I started a marketing and entertainment business," said Shah. "I played basketball at the junior varsity level at Virginia, which helped with recruiting, because it provided 'unofficial visits.' I was living and eating with the athletes. When I graduated, I still had a lot of those relationships. One of my strongest was with former NFL running back Thomas Jones. His little brother Julius was a running back with the Cowboys for a couple years and I started working with him initially on the marketing and entertainment front."
Shah maintained his marketing business while working on Wall Street. He finalized a couple of capital raises to try to enter the sports agent world full time without ever working for another agent. Shah taught himself the business, which is a nontraditional and very tough path to take.
"You can lose a tremendous amount of money trying to recruit kids, traveling the country, telling them all about yourself," said Shah.
Now Shah represents 12 NFL players including the aforementioned Monroe, who signed a 5 year, $37.5 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens in March 2014. Shah believes that the stars aligned for him in 2009 when he received the opportunity to represent Monroe. Monroe put his faith in Shah after witnessing the work that Shah put in for his former teammate Keenan Carter, a nose tackle at Virginia that did not make it in the NFL nor the Canadian Football League. Shah kept grinding for Carter until he received an opportunity to play in the AF2 -- the Arena Football League's developmental league.
"Eugene saw that I would not quit. Once I got Eugene, it was sort of a show and prove," explained Shah.
Despite establishing himself in the difficult, cut-throat business of being a sports agent, Shah decided it was worth his while to let the cameras into his life and show the world what it looks like when he is out working to find new clients and assist those already signed to Standard Representation Agreements.
"I think a lot of times the mainstream doesn't really understand what agents do. A lot of stuff we do outside of contract negotiations," said Shah. "This is a great opportunity to shed some light on that. The exposure itself will be an advantage to me, because it shows who I am as an agent, how hard I work for my clients. Being seen on this stage, especially comparative to other agents . . . I think just the way I conduct myself in this environment, that the exposure itself will benefit my business."
Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.
