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Sports agents must be certified by the league in which they plan to represent players. For example, a sports agent who wishes to represent NFL players must be certified by the NFL Players Association. Sports certification with a specific league must be maintained; otherwise, it will lapse, and an agent will not be able to represent his or her player during contract negotiations. In addition to gaining certification through a league, sports agents must also be registered with the state in which they reside.

It is also helpful (required for certain leagues) to have a post-graduate degree, which most agents choose to have a law or sport management degree of some sort. Florida State University has a great program in Sport Management, with great alumni.

For more info look into the specific leagues or types of athletes you would like to represent as it is different for each.

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Manchester United and Nike - £302.9m over 13 years I think is the largest sponsorship deal between a club and company.

The biggest of all club-level football sponsorship deals was agreed in 2002 between Nike and Manchester United. Nike replaced Umbro as United’s kit provider, agreeing to pay United a staggering £302.9m. The mammoth deal involves control of United’s global licensing and retail operations shifting to the sportswear company, while the football club will share half of the profits, provided that they stay in European football and finish in the top half of the league. It is hard to see them failing to do that in the near future.

Forbes magazine says David Beckham still reigns supreme as soccer's top-earning player.

The 35-year-old midfielder earns $40 million annually, with much of that coming from sponsors such as Adidas, Giorgio Armani and Motorola. But Beckham is expected to lose major sponsorship money this year because he will miss the World Cup in South Africa after tearing his Achilles' tendon in March while on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy to AC Milan.

Portuguese midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the Forbes list, earning $30 million a year. Ronaldo's major sponsors include Nike, Coca-Cola and, like Beckham, Giorgio Armani.