1. The Player Himself: This may sound absurd and in some cases it may be. However for a certain few, the premise of representing themselves proves to be an excellent one. Players such as Dante Culpeper have represented themselves successfully and this can work very well for a variety of reasons.
2. Family Members: When you look at a big name talent, you can’t imagine that they could look to family for proper representation. A player such as Alexander Ovechkin entrusted his livelihood on his mom and it paid off big time in a fabulous contract. It can work and it does!
3. David Falk: Somewhere along the way him and his firm got a bit lost. Sure he has some players on his roster that may not play much anymore, but he knows his stuff. He has solid experience and is therefore still at the top of his game, just perhaps a bit less known.
4. BDA Sports: This is a great sports rep company that doesn’t get top billing for some reason. They are well known within basketball and have landed some pretty big deals, but for some reason they just aren’t always ranked with the big guns.
5. Best Football: Because there are some bigger names and some larger egos within the representation of football, this is one that people tend to forget. Though you may have heard of the deals or contracts, you often forget that this is the agency that made it happen.
6. IMG Golf: People tend to know the name of the specific agent who represents Tiger Woods, but they often forget the agency that stands behind it. This firm knows golf like no other, but they aren’t as celebrated for some reason as they should be.
7. Maximum Sports Management: When you are competing against a name like Rosenhaus, you can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Though this rep firm does some great business, they are often sort of pushed to the back in a rather competitive industry and sport.
8. Newport Sports Management: Perhaps it’s because the game of hockey isn’t quite as popular as football or basketball, but this is a firm that is often forgotten about. They know hockey and they win big deals, but they are often missed on best sports agency lists.
9. Octagon: Though you may have never heard of them, they are a great firm within the industry. They have a wonderful representation and can be quite competitive, but they are a bit smaller than some of the other players and therefore fall to the back a bit.
10. CSMG: They may not have the unlimited budgets that other firms do and that’s perhaps why they are lower on the list. They still have some big name talent, but they just can’t do the same things that other sports firms can for their players.

Though there are many sports representation firms out there, they aren’t all created equally. These are some great firms, but they are a bit less notable than the big players.

M. Frederick writes about how to obtain a masters in sports administration online.