Legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg speaks at USC


The USC Sports Business Association hosted Leigh Steinberg, one of the most influential sports agents in all of sports, on Tuesday night at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center.

Steinberg is more than just a top-notch agent — he is a pioneer in the industry and serves as a role model for sports agents everywhere. He is a distinguished public speaker who took the time to stop by USC this week to relay his vast wealth of information from his 30 years of experience in the industry. He also discussed the ever-changing sports world and the many opportunities for college students looking to get their foot in the industry door.

Steinberg recounted his experiences with former star athletes from various sports. He even offered an anecdote about one of his recent clients, Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Steinberg referenced two core values to which he adheres: treasure relationships, especially family, and try to make a meaningful impact on the world and help people who cannot help themselves.

Throughout the presentation, Steinberg stressed the idea that athletes can be the best role models for others. He spoke about how one athlete’s voice on a certain issue often carries more weight than the voices of one thousand other authorities ever could.

His impressive list of past clientele includes—but is not limited to—Steve Bartkowski, Warren Moon, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Edgerrin James and Oscar de la Hoya. While working with these star athletes, Steinberg challenged these professionals to put together programs for the public that would focus on something near and dear to their hearts in order to make a positive impact on others.

“Athletes can also be role models in terms of messaging,” Steinberg said.

Not only did Steinberg mention the importance of messaging as a cultural symbol, but he also delved into the current state of relationships between professional athletes and their agents.

“These athletes are better protected than ever before,” he said. “Athletes select better and better agents, and they select financial planners that will help them with budgeting, that will help them with long-term planning, understanding the tax system—the goal is to empower the player.”

Steinberg noted that an understanding of human psychology has done wonders for him in terms of helping his clients.

“The most important skill I could ever pass on is psychology,” he said. “If you can understand human motivation—what makes people act the way they do—and if you have great listening skills, you can draw someone else out and get beyond the surface of what they are saying. Peel the layer of the onion back until you are actually speaking about what’s critical to that person. It takes being patient. It takes listening. It takes a sense of comfort. Once you can put yourself in the heart and mind of the other person, you’ll be successful in whatever you do in life because you can craft win-win negotiations. You can craft win-win situations.”

Steinberg explained that in order to understand others, though, one must first understand oneself. He explained that listening to and understanding someone else’s system are essential pieces to the puzzle that is healthy human interaction and negotiation. He described how making a list of priorities in one’s own life is a great way to help others because when someone knows what is critical in life for himself or herself, it becomes that much easier to understand what is critical in life for someone else.

Psychology is key because people are people. This translates to every sport and to every phase of life. “At the end of the day, it’s people,” Steinberg said. “What is universal is understanding people’s real needs—what their anxieties and fears are and their greatest hopes and dreams. It takes going below the surface. This whole area of sports business is an area where the best and brightest can still make an impact.”

As far as his goals for working with athletes, Steinberg has exemplified patience, a key to avoiding conflict and working together with his clients to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. “The goal,” he said, “is to stimulate the best in individual athletes’ lives and to make the sport better.”

Steinberg has made his mark on the sports world as one of the finest agents in the business, but he left the audience of USC students on Tuesday night with some fantastic advice to keep in mind, regardless of which career fields these youngsters ultimately pursue. “If you believe that what you are doing matters,” he said, “you’ll have energy and enthusiasm to spare.”

USC senior Jake Kelfer,  president of the USC Sports Business Association , is preparing to leave college life, but not before taking a tidbit or two from Mr. Steinberg with him.

“He said to stand out,” Kelfer said. “Find a way to distinguish yourself from everyone else, and that’s something that I have really focused on and tried to find new ways to really stand out and provide value to the company.”

Senior Skylar Dunn also felt the presentation was very informative and that Mr. Steinberg was very personable.

“I didn’t expect him to get up here and really talk about his life and his business and give us so much insight into the sports agent life,” Dunn said. “I think Leigh kind of stood up here tonight and told us that his [secret] was being able to listen and build relationships with people.”