| Amid the trend of the time in which perception on values in life is becoming diversified and the demand of life from the qualitative perspective is increasing, the professional sports industry is gradually on the way toward prosperity. After the advent of the sports agents, which has been one of the contributing factors for the commercialization of professional sports, there have been efforts that pursue maximization of benefits for athletes, and the commercialization of professional sports even has been accelerated with the emergence of the agents specializing in scouting and management of athletes as the agents have proved to be efficient in negotiation and contract while sufficiently guaranteeing the rights and benefits of athletes.The sports agent is a person or an organization which is engaged in the activities such as management of sports games and team brands, decision of management actions, development of intangible assets, transfer of athletes, coordination on participation in games and etc. The sports agent refers to an individual or an organization, with legal eligibility, engaged in the overall economic activities including intermediary, commission agency and proxy. The role of the sports agent has become even apparent in the aspects of marketing of games and liquidation of human resources. Thanks to emergence of the agent, subdivision of specialty is being accelerated and both the optimization in distribution of resources and the efficient market operation is anticipated. Until introduction of the sports agent in 1980s, Korea had faced considerable difficulties and constraints all through the exports of so many top-class athletes to foreign countries.However, on the back of the rapid development of sports industry and the institutionalization of professional sports games, the sector of sports agent was introduced as a new occupation in Korea. Subsequently, the sports agent has significantly contributed to the development of, among others, the professional baseball league, the professional soccer league, and the professional basketball league in Korea. Even though the role of the'sports agent'is increasingly pronounced in the sports industry in the aspects of recruiting of athletes, transfer of athletes to other teams, and expo/ts to foreign countries, it is not still institutionalized by legislation of the government let alone adequate regulation by local governments. Due to such circumstances, the role and the value of the sports agent is not represented accordingly.This study has utilized documental information and interviews as major materials to approach the purpose of the study, and has researched the example practices, in detail, of the sports agent systems in several countries as well as the example practices of the sports agent in Korea. In addition, this study has intensively discussed the course of development courses, current circumstances, issues and responding measures for the sports agents both in the advanced countries, such as the U. S. and Europe, and Korea.Furthermore, from the macro point of view, this study has reviewed theories regarding the sports agent, issues and constraining factors arising from the development course of the sports agent, necessity for institutionalization of the sports agent, importance of agency for sports broadcasting rights, knowledge and qualification of the sports agent for rendering of quality service, knowhow for attracting sponsors, factors affecting athlete's value, and indexes regarding valuation of athletes.On the basis of the above discussions, the ideal direction in the development of the sports agent in Korea has been suggested and corresponding measures for the relevant institutionalization has been proposed. I hope this study should contribute to the solid development of the sports agent in China and the exchange in sports between Korea and China. Lastly, this study has proposed the direction of the sports agent system of China. |
