Drafting basketball player-agent contracts and avoiding disputes: Key principles from BAT awards (Part 1)

This article explains the Basketball Arbitration Tribunal’s (BAT) key principles on drafting agency agreements and avoiding player-agent disputes.  As a regular legal counsel before BAT, the author is often surprised to see that, despite BAT's extensive jurisprudence, the same questions frequently arise and require answers. This article aims to address this knowledge gap and provide guidance for navigating common concerns.

This article is split into two parts. Part 1, below, examines issues related to the terms and the renewal of an agency agreement:

• Terms
  • Presumption of understanding contractual terms
  • Responsibility to carefully review a document’s contents
  • Duty to carry out due diligence
  • Enforcement and application of FIBA Regulations
  • Fairness and equity
  • Contracts that breach FIBA Regulations
  • Collection of the agent’s fees
  • Agent’s right to expenses
• Renewal
  • Non-compliance with FIBA regulations
  • “Window period” and requirements for notification
  • Penalty provisions for non-renewal