Agent expressions explained

When working as an agent, one realises that there exists a different type of language, or at least some expressions that often needs to be explained. In order to shed some light on this subject I have made a little parleur:

Double potting:
Is an expression that comes in effect when the agent is selling a player to a team. He then charges the player an agent fee of example 5-10% and additional he charges the club, which the player has signed with a fee.

This is a common way for the agents to get more money, we did it as well in my previous agencies, most in EMG though. In my mind it is wrong to charge this fee from both sides and should not be legal. Either you work for the player or you work for the team.

However I do sometimes get teams to pay the players agent fee as there is a tax beneficiary part in that. More explained in agent tax (below).

Agent tax: 
When I sell a player to a team, I work for the player and he will pay an agent fee to me. However if I sell the player to a team in an European Union, I can ask the team if they will cover the agent fee. A good example is a player making € 40000 net a season on a 8 month contract (€5000 a month), would have to pay me € 2000 + Danish VAT of 25% (€ 500), equalling a fee of € 2500.

The player has to pay the VAT as I sell a service to a private person and not a company. But if the team pays the fee they can get the fee without tax, as they are a company. So in order for the player to save money he will now get this 2000 spread out over the 8 month of his contract, it will then be deducted from his salary with € 250 a month, giving him € 4750 a month. The team will then pay the € 2000 to me without tax.

1st and 2nd price:
When I have a player that want to move to a new league, I ask him to provide some info for me. An important factor is the players price, as he wants to make a lot of money... Lets face it, it's the truth! So I ask him for a minimum price, he then tells me a price of example € 30000 although I know he will accept € 25000. Sometimes some players do just not get the satisfactory offers they want and will have to accept second price, if they want a contract. I know that players if they desire to switch team enough will do it. However I try not to take advantage of this knowledge.

Team price:
When I put a player on my saleslist for teams, I do not write the asking price. I will in all times want to have the teams come up with a number they would be able to pay for the player. Some teams demand to know how much the player in question want, and I tell them a price well aware that it might be too high. However I need to get the negotiation in my end and get the teams to tell exactly what they can afford. If it is much lower than my player demands (even under 2nd price), I will tell them we need to move on to a new player. Now I know their budget and the type of player they want.

AC - Addendum Contract:
AC is an expression I heard when selling in Great Britain, where there is a salary cap. Here you gotta think in other ways in order to avoid the cap. So some players get a marketing fee, photo fee, could even be a benfit for the wife, like gym card, restaurant meals, ski pass etc. The AC is an important tool in crisis times, because players will be more willing to sign the contracts if they still feel they are being well taken care of in all ways, if the salary is low compared to their expectations.

Recruiting the dot:
This is something many new agents use when they recruit players. I have seen and heard many that promise players they can get them € 50000, when I have told them max € 40000. But when we reach august or september these guys are still free agents and stuck with a lousy agent. Sometimes these agents get lucky and sell a player at a high price, but when the player is not playing like a € 50000 player, this again reflects bad on the agent. So to the many players that get proposals from agents, be aware, be realistic and think before signing the dotted line.

Selling multiple:
Sometimes you as agent get a call or an email from a NHL player. "Hey, my name is xxx xxx I want to go to Europe, 100% sure, so can you help me". You then get the rush and hell yeah. However you as agent know that the player is being represented by several agents and the one agent that get him a deal, he will stay with.  when getting a client of high caliber, still sell him even though aware that he has other agents.

This was a walkthrough of some of the expressions you could run into in coming news.