Marketing Players to Sports Teams
- Chester Khangelani Mbekela
- Mar 13, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 18, 2022
This week's blog post 'touches' on a subject that I feel is crucial for successful football transfers in pro football/soccer. The most demanding time on the football calendar demands proper planning and execution when dealing with the international transfers. Sports agencies are constantly reaching out to other agencies abroad, in search of off-shore opportunities for players on their rosters. Resumes and profiles are constantly shared daily as way of getting the player's information out there.
With all this activity keeping agents on their toes, I have noticed that somewhere along the line- some agencies have taken their 'eye off the ball' when is comes to effective marketing of their players. Whether it's among each other or when marketing players to teams. It's become appalling to say the least. Agents/players who market themselves independently have developed the mistake of thinking that a highlight video is sufficient enough to land them a 'fat' contract with a team. This is far from true. No professional football/soccer team would ever invest in a player based on a 5-6 minute video clip. Teams are way smarter than that. They will always want to do their due diligence on a player that interests them.
This means that after being dazzled by the highlight video, the team will request a full game video as part of their research regarding a specific player. Teams are looking for the intangible qualities when viewing full games. They want to see how fit the player is, their work rate with and without the ball, their body language when faced with adversity on the field of play. Teams also want to observe one of the key elements in team sports, which is how well the player communicates with their teammates. These are qualities that can never be found in a highlight video. The simple purpose of a highlight video should be to catch the team's attention so that they want to pursue the player and find out more about them.
The best comparison for a highlight video is basically that; it is like a movie trailer. it promotes and generates interest. The full game video is the one that either seals or cancels the deal. To market players effectively, agents and players they represent, need to:
Prepare and ensure their players CVs/Transfer Market profiles are up to date before sending them out to teams.
Highlight videos sent to teams need to be recent and not outdated. two or more years ago, is outdated. Players also need to make sure that they have recent full game footage at all times as well.
These two points are the most crucial resources because they can literally be the difference between players getting signed or passed on by teams.
By: Khangelani Zila Mbekela
Sports Agent & Writer
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