ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the structure of the agents market. In parallel, the sheer number of people purporting to be a football agent has also increased. Following the increase in the number of foreign players in the top European Leagues, and the English PL in particular, the profile of football has risen exponentially worldwide. In 2006, Wasserman Media Group, WMG, struck deal with Clear Channel to buy the SFX European subsidiary, making WMG one of the most dominant groups in football and significantly expanding its presence in Europe. This strategy was, for example, adopted by American marketing company Marquee Group that, in 1998, acquired Park Associates, at that time biggest player representative agency in English football market, with client list including David Beckham, Alan Shearer, Dwight Yorke and David Platt. In 2009, CAA Sports, the sport division of leading American media agency CAA, and Gestifute, the European-Portuguese football management company, formed global partnership to represent elite soccer players and managers.
