So says the iconic but fictional sports agent from the movie "Jerry Maguire" to a potential athlete client.

What isn't fiction is that professional sports are a lucrative sector of the entertainment industry. Marquee players earn tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars over their careers. Fees earned by sports agents representing athletes are often based on a percentage of the athlete's earnings, and for top-tier athletes can be extremely lucrative.

Competition to represent high-caliber student athletes with pro potential is fierce. The front lines in the battle for premium student athletes are college campuses with their sports programs and for especially premium athletes, high school sports programs.

This competition for premium athletes puts additional pressure on an industry accused in many circles of "ethical bankruptcy." Agents have been known to induce student athletes to sign representation contracts with gifts of cash, automobiles, clothes, or entertainment. These incentives, as well as representation agreements with sports agents prior to the completion of a college sports career, are violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations and could, potentially, render the athlete ineligible for further college competition, thereby jeopardizing not only the athlete but the university sports program as well.

In response to the pressure from colleges and universities concerning damage to their sports programs at the hands of unethical sports agents, Congress enacted the Sports Responsibility and Trust Act, or SPARTA (15 U.S.C. §7801 et seq.). Passed SPARTA focuses on the relationship between agents and student athletes, defined under the statute as individuals engaged in or eligible to participate in any intercollegiate sport.

Passed in 2004, SPARTA was designed to prevent various classes of misconduct by sports agents - in particular, giving false or misleading information or false promises; providing anything of value to the student athlete prior to the agency contract; predating or post-dating an agency contract; or entering into an agency contract with a student athlete without providing disclosures required under the statute.

An agent must advise the student athlete that if he or she agrees orally or in writing to be represented by an agent, now or in the future, the student would lose his or her eligibility to compete as a student athlete in that sport. Within 72 hours of entering into an agency contract or before the next athletic event in which she or he is eligible to participate, whatever occurs first, both the athlete and the agent must notify the athletic director of the educational institution of the agency contract.

A violation of SPARTA is treated as an "unfair" or "deceptive act or practice" under the Federal Trade Commission Act and is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. The statute provides authority for a companion action by the attorney general of a state that has an interest that has been threatened or adversely affected by a violation of the act. An educational institution also has a right of action against an athlete's agent for damages caused by a violation of the act. Although not creating a cause of action for the athlete, nothing in the act prohibits an individual from seeking any remedies available under any existing federal or state law.

On the state level

One of the more intriguing aspects of SPARTA is the final section, which states that "it is the sense of Congress that states should enact the Uniform Athlete Agents Act of 2000 (UAAA), drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on uniform state laws, to protect student athletes and the integrity of amateur sports from unscrupulous sports agents."

Heeding the call of Congress, the UAAA has been passed in 38 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. New York has embraced the UAAA and has codified it as Article 39-e of General Business Law (§899 et seq.).

As with SPARTA, the UAAA is applicable only to a student athlete, defined as an individual who engages in or is eligible to engage in, or was eligible in the past 30 days to engage in, any intercollegiate or any scholastic sport. The act requires that an athlete agent register with the state, and that any agency contract in violation of the statute shall be considered void.

Registration must be undertaken with the secretary of state in a form proscribed by the state, and includes information regarding the agent's place of business, training, practical experience, education, criminal or adverse administration or judicial background. The act requires a $100 initial application fee and a $50 fee for renewal of registration. It also mandates a specific form of contract for use between an agent and a student athlete, containing many of the disclosures mandated by SPARTA. It mirrors SPARTA in the requirement that notice be provided to the academic institution within 72 hours of signing the contract. The student athlete has the right to cancel the agreement by giving notice to the agent within five days after the contract is signed. This right may not be waived.

The conduct prohibited under the UAAA is similar to that identified by SPARTA. An agent may not willfully initiate contact with a student athlete unless registered.

The statute provides remedies to the educational institution and a right of action for damages caused by violation of the article, as well as an administrative penalty by the secretary of state. The act also contains criminal sanctions making violation of the prohibited conduct sections a class A misdemeanor.

Implications of the UAAA on attorneys are a work in progress. The UAAA does not exempt attorneys from registration. According to comments in §5 of the UAAA: "If an attorney's role is limited to providing legal services to the student athlete, the attorney is not required to register as an athlete agent or comply with this act. An attorney's actions as an athlete agent, however, are outside of the scope of legal services, there is no privilege and the attorney must comply with this act."

Although soliciting clients and employment for a client, or representing oneself as an "agent," would require an attorney to register, there is uncertainty as to whether an attorney needs to register if the work performed is the review of contracts and/or the negotiation of a professional sports contract, and does not include finding work (that is, a team placement) for the student athlete. As such, the only safe harbor appears to be that an attorney who merely reviews contracts for athletes is not subject to any registration provision. An attorney who negotiates the contract, however, may or may not be subject to the registration provisions, depending upon the circumstances.

To date there have been no pronouncements by the New York State Division of Licensing Services nor any reported cases defining where the line exists between registration and nonregistration.

Both SPARTA and UAAA apply only to "student athletes." Once an athlete has no remaining eligibility or already is a professional, neither SPARTA nor UAAA have any applicability to that player.

Charles Swanekamp is a partner in the litigation practice group at Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP. He can be reached at cswanekamp@jaeckle.com.