To work as a sports agent in California, you must complete California sports agent registration by filing an Athlete Agent Disclosure Statement with the Secretary of State, posting a surety bond or equivalent financial security, and using contract language the state prescribes. The requirement comes from the Miller-Ayala Athlete Agents Act, codified at Business and Professions Code Section 18895 and following.1California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 18895 Skip any part of it and the contracts you sign are void, your commissions are refundable, and you’re exposed to a misdemeanor carrying up to $50,000 in fines and a year in county jail.
Who Has to Register
The Act covers anyone who, for compensation, recruits or solicits an athlete to sign a representation contract, endorsement contract, or professional sports services contract, or who works to secure employment or contracts for a professional athlete. That reach is broad. It applies to individuals and to corporations, partnerships, and LLCs that act as agents.
Each person who personally acts as an agent inside a firm has to file their own disclosure statement. Filing by the firm alone isn’t enough.
Players association certification doesn’t substitute for California registration. If you hold an NFLPA, NBPA, or similar credential, you still need to complete the state filing before operating in California. The reverse is also true: your California registration doesn’t satisfy any union or league requirement.
What the Disclosure Statement Requires
The Athlete Agent Disclosure Statement is a detailed background filing.2California Secretary of State. Athlete Agent Disclosure Statement You’ll need to provide:
- All business addresses and a designated agent for service of process in California.
- Every business or occupation you’ve held during the prior two years.
- The names of all past and present athletes you have represented.
- Any players associations where you hold registration.
- At least three professional references.
- A complete schedule of all fees you will charge and collect.
- The names and residential addresses of anyone with a financial interest in your business, whether as employees, partners, investors, or profit-sharing associates.
Criminal and disciplinary history gets its own scrutiny. You must disclose any felony conviction, any misdemeanor conviction involving fraud, theft, embezzlement, or misappropriation of property, and any prior misdemeanor conviction under California’s athlete agent law or a similar law in another state. The form also asks whether you have ever appeared before a disciplinary board over misconduct allegations, and whether any student-athlete or school was ever sanctioned or declared ineligible because of your actions.2California Secretary of State. Athlete Agent Disclosure Statement
Filing Fees and Amendments
The initial filing fee is $30. If any information you filed changes, you have to submit an Amendment to Disclosure Statement within seven days, with a $20 fee.3Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 2 21920 – Filing Athlete Agent Disclosure Statement and Amendment to Disclosure Statement The dollar amounts are small; the seven-day window is where agents get caught. Missing it is a compliance violation on its own.
Your fee schedule works the same way. A revised fee schedule doesn’t take effect until you file it with the Secretary of State.
Financial Security
You must post financial security before you can be certified to practice. The Act allows a surety bond or an errors and omissions insurance policy. You can also deposit cash or cash equivalents with the Secretary of State as an alternative. The point is to give athletes a source of recovery if an agent mishandles their funds.
The Secretary of State reviews your application, the disclosure statement, the fee payment, and proof of financial security before issuing the certificate that authorizes you to operate.
Contract Requirements After You Register
Registration is only the start. Every agent contract in California has to carry a specific boldface notice on its first page, printed in type at least two points larger than any other text on that page. The notice tells the athlete that you have a current disclosure statement on file with the Secretary of State as required by the Miller-Ayala Act, and that the filing doesn’t imply approval of the contract terms or endorsement of your competence.4California Public Law. California Business and Professions Code 18897.1
Every contract must also describe the services you’ll perform and include your full fee schedule. Those fees must match the schedule on file with the Secretary of State.
Trust Fund Accounts
When you receive payment on an athlete’s behalf, the money has to go immediately into a trust fund account at a state or federally chartered financial institution.5Justia. California Code Business and Professions Code – Article 2 Professional Athletes and Athlete Agents Keeping the athlete’s funds separate from your operating funds is one of the Act’s core protections. Commingling is a violation whether or not the athlete loses a dollar.
Additional Rules for Student-Athlete Contracts
Contracts with student-athletes carry extra requirements. The contract must include a boldface warning, in at least 10-point type near the signature line, stating that signing will likely cause the student-athlete to immediately and permanently lose eligibility for interscholastic or intercollegiate sports.6California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 18897.73
Both the student-athlete and the agent must give written notice of the contract to the principal, president, or other chief administrator of the student’s school within 72 hours of signing, or before the athlete practices for or participates in any athletic event, whichever comes first. The student-athlete also has 15 days to cancel the contract by written notice to the agent.6California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 18897.73 A contract missing any of these elements is voidable by the athlete.
What You Can’t Do
The Act prohibits inducements. You, your representatives, and your employees cannot directly or indirectly offer or provide money or anything else of value to recruit or solicit an athlete to sign with you. Cash gifts, cars, and other perks aimed at landing a client all fall inside this prohibition, and a violation triggers both criminal and civil consequences.
Criminal Penalties
Any violation of the Miller-Ayala Act by an agent, representative, or employee is a misdemeanor. The punishment is a fine of up to $50,000, up to one year in county jail, or both.7California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 18897.93 That covers operating without registration, failing to make required disclosures, offering prohibited inducements, and any other breach of the chapter.
On conviction, the court must suspend your privilege to do business for at least one year, or revoke it where appropriate. The court weighs the seriousness of the misconduct, the number of violations, how long it continued, and whether you acted willfully.7California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 18897.93 The mandatory one-year minimum means even a smaller conviction takes you out of the business for a full year.
Voided Contracts and Refunded Commissions
An agent contract negotiated by someone who hasn’t complied with the Act is void and unenforceable. The athlete owes nothing. The same rule applies to endorsement contracts, financial services contracts, and professional sports services contracts negotiated by a non-compliant agent, and you have to refund anything already paid.8California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 18897.9
Think about what that means in practice. Skip the registration, miss a disclosure, let the fee schedule drift out of sync with what you filed, and every commission dollar from that relationship is at risk, no matter how well you performed or how much the athlete earned. Educational institutions can also sue agents for damages caused by violations.
Federal SPARTA Obligations
California’s registration isn’t the only layer. The federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, prohibits agents from making false or misleading statements to athletes and from offering anything of value to athletes or their families to induce signing. SPARTA also requires agents to notify a student-athlete’s school within 72 hours of entering into a contract.
In early 2026, the FTC sent letters to 20 universities with NCAA Division I programs asking whether agents representing their student-athletes were complying with SPARTA’s school-notification rule. The civil penalty for each SPARTA violation is up to $53,088.9Federal Trade Commission. A Reminder From the FTC – If You Represent Student Athletes, Comply With SPARTA Because the penalties are federal, they stack on top of California’s enforcement. Fail to notify a school on time and you can face both a state misdemeanor charge and a federal civil penalty for the same lapse.