Sticker shock is probably the biggest issue facing the modern NFL agent, and that’s especially true of new contract advisors sorting out the financial expectations of their recruiting quarry. Even players barely on the draft radar have come to see training as an expectation, and the entitlement doesn’t end there.

We’ve done plenty of writing about the costs of the business in the past. About three years ago (January 2015), the number we came up with was $10,000 to represent a player who could be drafted in the seventh round, but who would likely wind up as a priority free agent. Of course, that’s three years ago in a business where the dollars spend quickly and desperate knows no bounds. On the other hand, if you’re in the market for a top-100 pick, the number is 3-4 times that, according to our conversation with a top player rep in November 2014.

Both costs have risen. This week, the answer we got back on the first question was that it’s closer to $30,000 for a player slated to be drafted in the latter rounds (“we set aside 20k for training, 1500 a month in per diem, then another 2k in random expenses,” said one agent who typically signs late-rounders and undrafted free agents but always eschews top-50 prospects). As for those in the Top 100, by the time signing bonus, per diem, training (including lodging and food), marketing guarantee and/or other costs, we can only guess.

Still, it’s not the upfront costs but the back-end costs we’ll be focusing on later today in our Friday Wrap. We asked 13 contract advisors this question: How much does your monetary investment in a player grow over the draft cycle? In other words, once training costs and other considerations are set upon signing, what percentage (if any) does that total grow with unplanned, ‘out of pocket’ costs?

Based on spending about $30,000 on a typical prospect, here were some of the responses.

• “Depending on the level of player i plan on spending around 5 to 15k. It usually ends up around 10 to 20k at least.”
• “I mean, it always happens. It can be as little as a $200 flight, or it can be thousands of dollars. When i budget for each guy i usually add at least $7,500 in “misc. costs.”  If i stay under, great…but it usually tips the other way.”
• “Maybe 2-3k.”
• “We’re pretty strict so maybe 5%.”
• “Overall, we know that the promised expenses are probably about 90% of the expenses. Sometimes we need a few extra flights, rental car, or an additional loan, but the main expenses are known upon signing. And of course, we know our own expenses like all-star games, visiting client while training, etc. Very true. Plan is to keep things as clear as possible when they sign in order to avoid the issue later. Usually works but not always!”

For more responses, and a more rigorous look at the ‘out of pocket’ expenses associated with signing and representing budding NFL players, make sure to register for our Friday Wrap. It’s free, and chock-full of notes on the business of pro and college football. Register here.

Merry Christmas!

While we prepare for Hurricane Harvey here in West Houston, here are a few thoughts to wrap the week.

• The NFLPA sent out results from the 2017 contract advisor exam Thursday. For agents, there’s no better time than draft day when players get to realize their dreams. For me, ‘results day’ is my draft day, because I get to hear from so many newly minted contract advisors. So far, we’ve heard from about 15 people with good news (some of it on Twitter) and a couple with bad. Of course, that’s a fraction of the people who used our resources, but it’s a good sign. Exciting stuff.
• Speaking of exams, our practice baseball agent exam is up and running. For those people planning to becoming MLBPA-certified, it’s worth a try. And this year, as we debug this thing, it’s FREE! What have you got to lose? All we ask is that you give us fair feedback on how our exam compared to the real one. The test will next be offered Wednesday in New York City.
• The word ‘enigma’ is thrown around a lot, but the word was really invented with Al Davis in mind. That’s why a book about the former Raiders owner is something I’m really excited about. Al Davis: Behind the Raiders Shield is coming in September, and it’s already getting some positive buzz in major places. It’s co-written by a longtime friend, Jon Kingdon, who got washed out when Davis died and the new regime came in. Jon was Director of College Scouting under Davis, who was not your average owner who makes the big-picture decisions and leaves the details to others. I’m a firm believer that if you know history, you know the future. Reading about Davis, who was such a factor in the AFL merger as well as the key subsequent decisions in the life of the league, should be incredibly insightful.
• One thing that we’re going to try to focus on more at Inside the League is developing trends, especially as it comes to new technology. With that in mind, I’ve asked my friend Ric Serritella of NFL Draft Bible to help find interesting items to pass along. Not only does Ric have a very thorough eye for talent (he helps assemble the rosters for the College Gridiron Showcase and puts out a widely respected draft guide every year), but he’s also a wizard of video production (he has filmed and produced the last two ITL Combine Seminars for our YouTube channel. In other words, he’s perfectly placed at the intersection of football and hi-tech. One thing he turned me onto this week is the new Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Complex, which will be shared by the Chargers and Rams. Located in Inglewood, Calif., the $2.6M sports entertainment district is scheduled to open in 2020 and spreads over 298-acres (three and a half times the size of Disneyland). Fans will be able to see the action from just about anywhere; it will include 70,000 seats, will be open-air, and will feature an oval-shaped, dual-sided Oculus jumbotron that will stretch 120 yards. The compound will also house 2,500 modern residences, 300 hotel rooms, 890,000 square feet of retail space, 25 acres of public parks and a 6,000-seat performing arts venue. While naming rights have yet to be sold, 125 of the 260 luxury suites have been made available—they include all Chargers and Rams home games, in addition to the right of first refusal to all other events. The LA Sports and Entertainment Complex is scheduled to host Super Bowl LVI in February 2022 and the opening ceremonies of the 2028 Olympics. To view a virtual tour of what some are calling the eighth wonder of the world, click here.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that, at Inside the League, we try to help the football professional succeed at his trade. That’s whether you’re an agent, trainer, financial advisor, coach, scout, marketing professional, parent of a player, player or anyone else associated with the game.

Our help for some people starts before they are even officially part of the game. For example, you’ve probably heard about our practice exam for NFL agent hopefuls. You might also have seen our short video on it. Maybe you’re even sick of hearing about it. But the bottom line is, for seven years, we’ve been helping people get ready for one of the tougher written exams in sports (it has a less than 50 percent passage rate). Say what you will about the NFLPA (and we’ve said plenty), but the players association takes its certification of contract advisors seriously.

Perhaps as a tip of the cap to the NFL, Major League Baseball recently started testing its would-be agents, as well. In fact, in just about 10 days (Aug. 30), the MLBPA will offer one of its two annual testing dates. Two tests will be offered: a General Certification exam with 50 questions and a Limited Certification exam with 40 questions. Applicants will have up to three hours to complete either exam. The test is open-book (though no electronic devices will be allowed), and will be preceded on Aug. 29 by a seminar introducing the basic concepts to be tested, a la the NFLPA exam.

For the first time, this year, we’re offering a practice exam for those fine folks who’ll be  trying their hand at MLB certification. Our test has 30 questions, and it’s written by someone who recently took (and passed) the exam, so it’s authentic. Still, it’s new, so it’s not nearly as polished as our time-tested football agent exam. As such, there are still a few trims and edits we have to do, and those who complete it won’t yet have access to the same explanation of how we arrived at the answers (though that’s coming later).

Still, we feel it will be helpful for everyone taking it, and the best part of all is that, for the next couple weeks, it’s totally free. Of course, there are caveats. If you take us up on our offer, we’ll ask you for a little feedback on our exam before (and after) you take the actual test in New York. Our aim, as always, is a seamless practice test that gives you a much better chance to pass than others, as our football exam does (our passage rate is about 70 percent, vs. about 45 percent for the at-large test-taking population). We’re not going to pester you and not going to spam you — just a few questions about how we did, before and after, is all we ask.

Ready to sign up? Register here. Make sure not to make your username and password too crazy or long (for some reason, our database prefers five characters or less, and hates the # character). Once you get to the pay wall, you’re done — just drop us an email (nstratton at insidetheleague dot com) to let us know. Since there’s no payment protocol set up, we won’t get a notification otherwise. Then we’ll activate you, and you’ll be ready to go.

Sound fair? We hope so. It’s all part of our efforts to not only help people succeed in football, but succeed in sports. Good luck!

I spent the better part of the last three days talking to people who took the agent exam last Friday in Washington, D.C. Here’s what I’ve gathered.

• Anyone expecting the NFLPA to take a little off its fastball had to be disappointed. There were no true/false questions, and the questions were said to be even longer than last year (more than one person described most questions as ‘wordy). “There were a few pages with only 2-3 questions on the page,” texted one agent hopeful. “Every question was a paragraph,” wrote another.
• What’s more, the hard questions started at the beginning, whereas we’d been telling people for weeks to focus on the last 20 questions, where the real meat of the test started last year.
• In addition, though we tried to focus on time management with everyone we worked with (about a third to half of the people who took the exam for the first time), several people barely finished on time (or didn’t).
• Finally, the questions weren’t arranged in ‘blocks’ this time. Unlike the last couple years, “it seemed that the questions were random, as in certain topics were not grouped together,” according to one test-taker. Oh, well. Back to the drawing board.
• Two agent hopefuls told me there was a discrepancy with one of the questions, and several people made the NFLPA aware of it. If this is true, I’d expect that question gets tossed. Maybe that makes the test one question easier for everyone.
• Apparently the NFLPA has found a new way to grade the exams, as they told everyone to expect results within about two weeks, instead of 6-8 weeks. That’s good news as long as the players association continues to curve the results. I don’t have any reason to think they won’t have one. I’ve had probably a dozen agents ask me how much the curve will benefit test-takers, and exactly what total one needs to pass. It’s impossible to tell.
• Word continues to get out on our practice exam and study guide. One person said the two people he sat next to and hung out with in D.C. also used our resources. That’s a good feeling. And next year, we’ll be even more prepared to help would-be agents. We’re hoping to add a second complete practice exam next year, and we hope to sharpen up our current one, as well.
• While we’re at it, we’re also working on a practice exam for the MLBPA exam, which will be offered next month and next year (twice annually).

If you don’t mind the indulgence, I’d like to close with a few final words, all unsolicited, from our clients.

• “Hey Neil. Just wanted to say thanks for your help on this process. The review really helped me prepare for the seminar and for the most part the seminar was just a review. I feel really confident that I passed the exam.”
• “(Test was) cake. Was far easier than I anticipated.”
• “You provided helpful tools for me for an important task. I appreciate your services.”
• “
• “
• “

Sunday and today, I’ve been exchanging emails with an attorney who feels woefully unprepared for Friday’s NFLPA exam in Washington, D.C. Based on our exchange, I got the impression she felt she had passed the point of no return on her procrastination, and was headed for a very difficult time in D.C. My message to her was, and is, that it’s not too late.

If you’re an agent hopeful who’s in a similar plight, this is my message to you, as well.

If you read this blog regularly, you know we’ve got a practice agent exam on our site, as well as a study guide we can provide, each of them with a $150 (plus tax) price point. You also know we’ve been offering these for several years, and that our rate of passing (about 70 percent) is 25 points higher than the passing rate of the population at large. At the same time, maybe you’re not sold on these resources as especially valuable. If so, check out these testimonials, all received within the last month, none of them solicited.

• “Thank you for everything during the test process, I really appreciate it and look forward to working with you after the test.”
• “Really grateful that I found ITL.  Not sure if I will be able to master enough of this material by next week but ITL is certainly helping.”
• “I have appreciated these testimonials and the practice exam has been very helpful.”
• “Just wanted to let you know I really appreciate the information you provide that can’t be found anywhere else.  It is an invaluable resource for guys who are crunched for time.”
• “A note to say that ITL has made my life a lot easier. I appreciate the work you put into it.”
• “I don’t know you from Adam (pun), but brother you’re on top of your Shi— 🙂  I love that!”
• “Thank you for being the only true resource on the web to find useful information pertaining to the world of agents, financial advisors, scouts, etc.  The tools and resources you’ve created with ITL have so far been extremely helpful.”
• “I appreciate your help.  You’re amazing. Always stay the Legend that you are!”

I quibble with the ‘legend’ description (sorta), but you get the point.

On the other hand, maybe you have questions about the practice exam. If so, check out this video we recently commissioned. It’s kinda cool, and I think you’ll find it helpful. Our tweet containing this video garnered us a positive RT or two.

We’ve even got a newsletter series that has dozens of testimonials from agents who took the test over the past two years, and have passed along their recommendations on what they did to pass it since the NFLPA really ramped up the difficulty of the exam. We’ll be happy to send that as a third resource to anyone who uses either of our other two; dozens of agent hopefuls have already been receiving it for the past couple months.

Still have questions? Hit us up. Happy to field all of them. I promise, you don’t need to be afraid of us, and we won’t spam you.

Still not sold? No problem. Even so, I wish you the best of luck. At Inside the League, for as long as we are around, we will be hoping everyone succeeds in football.

There’s less than two weeks until the draft. If you’re reading this, there’s a great chance you’re an agent, and an even-money chance you’re puling out your hair. It’s a crazy time. Here are a few thoughts that might help you preserve your sanity.

• Your clients may be panicking because nobody is talking about them in the media. The thing you have to remind them is that the draft media is really only interested in the top 30-40 picks. Unless your client believes he’s a first-rounder — I mean, really believes it, not some total pie-in-the-sky wish — no one on Draft Twitter, the NFL Network, or whatever is going to talk about them, and they shouldn’t expect it.
• When a “league source” is cited on Twitter, it’s always (every single time) an agent. Every time you hear about a team conducting a private workout with a low-ranked player, or inviting in a lesser name for a Top 30 visit, it’s because an agent called his buddy in the media to give his client some buzz. The irony is that often an agent will give a writer a tip on his client, then immediately call his client and tell him about the ‘buzz’ the kid is generating. Bottom line, there aren’t scouts working out players, then immediately calling the media to brag on the sleeper they’ve found.
• For my next point, a quick story. I made it into the Naval Academy out of a small town in West Virginia to great fanfare (at least around the Stratton household). Four years later, I’d failed out in grand fashion. I remember coming home on a rainy day in June 1991 hoping to lick my wounds a bit. Instead, my parents were loving, but hurt, embarrassed and scared. I realized I would have to be the strong one. There’s a great chance your client is going to have to be strong when his parents are demanding answers from you on why he’s not getting phone calls, why he’s not getting workouts, and the like. Communicating that to him might not be easy, but if you can get that point across, your life will be a lot easier.
• There is no league-accepted clearinghouse for draft rankings. Your guy is probably Googling NFL Draft Scout (the closest there is) every day, but whatever he finds doesn’t really matter. If your guy isn’t rated in the top 200 players, there is no earthly way that a team knows when, or if, he’ll be drafted or signed. There are too many players that will fall on draft day, and others that will rise, that will create chaos in undrafted free agency. I know that’s not what anyone wants to hear, but tis true.
• If at this point you’re not hearing from teams, start thinking CFL. Right now, even if your client isn’t draft-worthy, teams should be calling to persuade you to send your client to them in free agency. If that’s not happening, it’s OK, but it’s probably time to start walking back expectations.
• Remember, it’s a relationship-based business, so it pays to know the alma maters of scouts and coaches. We’ve already done the work for you on scouts, and today, we posted colleges of active NFL coaches, from head coach all the way down to quality control. Coaches are becoming a bigger and bigger part of the selection process. this info  might come in handy in conjunction with our email frames. Just a hint.

Try to stay sane over the next two weeks. It won’t be easy. Good luck.