How to Become an Agent

NFLPA Agent Regulations

Please read the NFLPA Certification Frequently Asked Questions, and email the Salary Cap and Agent Administration Department (agentservices@nflpa.com) if you have any further questions.

• Non-refundable Application fee of $2,500.00
• Undergraduate AND Post Graduate degree (Masters or Law) from an accredited college/university (see FAQs)
• Authorization to perform a background investigation
• Mandatory attendance at a 2019 two (2) day seminar in Washington, D.C.
• Successful completion of written multiple choice proctored examination
• Valid email address
• Download a PDF version of the Regulations

The period for filing is now closed and will re-open in January 2020. Absolutely no early or late filing.

For more information on the application approval process, please review the NFLPA Certification Frequently Asked Questions.

The seminar and examination will be held July 18 – July 19, 2019.
Hotel location and other pertinent information will be provided when your application has been approved.

The examination will cover the CBA, the Salary Cap, NFL Player Benefits, NFLPA Regulations Governing Contract Advisors, Substances of Abuse & Performance Enhancing Substances Policies and other issues relevant to player representation. It is a 60 question multiple-choice examination and has a time limit of three (3) hours. It is also open book and you may use your prepared notes while taking the exam. Testing will be on the second day of the seminar immediately after lunch.

Source documents needed for the seminar/lecture and examination will be mailed several weeks after the application period closes. Do not contact the NFLPA to get the documents earlier.

Examination results will be available eight (8) weeks after testing. A passing score is a scaled score of 70 or higher. As per the Regulations, you are prohibited from recruiting or representing any players until you have been notified that you have passed the exam, paid the required annual fee and obtained the required liability insurance.

Continued compliance with the Regulations is required in order to maintain certification. Compliance includes but is not limited to paying an annual fee immediately following:

• Successfully passing the exam
• Obtaining professional liability insurance from an approved carrier, and
• Attending one of three NFLPA seminars held each year.

Additionally, you are required to notify the NFLPA of any and all changes to your submitted application, and to negotiate at least one player contract within a three-year period (Practice Squad not included).

If you need to send any information to support the application you have filed electronically, please send to:

NFLPA
Agent Administration
1133 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

B. Certification of Member Contract Advisors Under the NFLPA Code of Conduct
All persons who desire to be certified hereunder, including those who were Member Contract Advisors in good standing under the prior, voluntary Code of Conduct for NFLPA Member Contract Advisors as of the effective date of these Regulations, must file an Application for Certification pursuant to these Regulations. Applicants who were Member Contract Advisors pursuant to the prior Code as of the effective date of these Regulations shall not be required to pay an application fee to become certified, but shall be required to make annual fee payments required by these Regulations.

C. Grounds for Denial for Certification
Grounds for denial of Certification shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

The applicant has made false or misleading statements of a material nature in his/her application;

The applicant has misappropriated funds, or engaged in other specific acts such as embezzlement, theft or fraud, which would render him/her unfit to serve in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of players;

The applicant has engaged in any other conduct that significantly impacts adversely on his/her credibility, integrity or competence to serve in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of players;

The applicant is unwilling to swear or affirm that he/she will comply with these Regulations and any amendments hereto and/or that he/she will abide by the fee structure contained in the Standard Representation Agreement incorporated into these Regulations;

The applicant has been denied certification by another professional sports players association;

The applicant directly or indirectly solicited a player for representation as a Contract Advisor during the period of time between the filing of his/her Application for Certification and Certification by the NFLPA;

The applicant has not received a degree from an accredited four year college/university, unless excepted from this requirement pursuant to Section 2(A).

D. Appeal from Denial of Certification
In the event an Application for Certification is denied pursuant to this Section, the applicant shall be notified in writing (by confirmed facsimile or overnight delivery) of the reasons for the denial. The applicant may appeal such action to the Arbitrator appointed pursuant to Section 5 of these Regulations. Such appeal shall be initiated by filing (by confirmed facsimile or overnight delivery) a written notice of appeal with the NFLPA within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice denying his/her Application for Certification. The appeal shall be processed and resolved in accordance with the arbitration procedures set forth in Section 5(E) through 5(H) of these Regulations, which shall be the exclusive procedure for challenging any denial of Certification hereunder.

E. Suspension or Revocation of Certification
At any time subsequent to granting Certification to a Contract Advisor, the NFLPA may, based upon information brought to its attention or acting on its own initiative, immediately revoke such Certification pursuant to Section 6(B) hereof, or propose the suspension or revocation of such Certification on any ground that would have provided a basis for denying Certification in the first place (see Section 2(C)) and/or for conduct prohibited in Section 3(B)(1) through 3(B)(27) of these Regulations and/or for failing to engage in the conduct required in Section 3(A)(1) through 3(A)(17) of these Regulations. Any such proposed suspension or revocation must be sent by confirmed facsimile or overnight delivery to the Contract Advisor’s office or residence (see Section 6). The Contract Advisor may challenge any such proposed suspension or revocation by appealing such action pursuant to Section 6(B) through 6(H). The appeal to arbitration shall constitute the exclusive method of challenging any proposed suspension or revocation of Certification.

F. Form of Certification
After the NFLPA approves an applicant’s Application for Certification as a Contract Advisor, and the applicant attends the NFLPA seminar for new Contract Advisors and passes a written examination, the NFLPA shall provide the applicant with a written Certification in the form attached hereto as Appendix C. The applicant will thereupon be authorized to serve as a Contract Advisor in conducting individual player negotiations with the NFL Clubs and/or assisting in or advising with respect to such negotiations. In granting Certification, the NFLPA shall not be deemed to have endorsed any Contract Advisor; nor shall the grant of
such Certification be deemed to impose liability upon the NFLPA for any acts or omissions of the Contract Advisor in providing representation to any player, whether or not such acts or omissions fall within activities governed by these Regulations.

G. Expiration of Certification
The Certification of any Contract Advisor who has failed to negotiate and sign a player to an NFL Player Contract (excluding Practice Squad Contracts) for at least one NFL player during any three-year period shall automatically expire at the end of such three-year period.

H. Application and Annual Fees
(1) Application Fees
Each applicant for Certification as a Contract Advisor under these Regulations shall submit with his/her fully completed application a one-time fee as set by the Board of Player Representatives. (This payment is not required for those persons who were Member Contract Advisors in good standing under the previous Code of Conduct For NFLPA Member Contract Advisors which existed immediately prior to the effective date of these Regulations, and who apply to become Certified Contract Advisors hereunder within a reasonable time.)
(2) Annual Fee
Each Contract Advisor who is Certified shall pay an annual fee to the NFLPA, as set by the Board of Player Representatives, to defray the cost of maintaining this agent-regulation system.

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