In this chapter:

(1) "Agency contract" means an agreement in which a student athlete authorizes a person to negotiate or solicit on behalf of the student athlete a professional sports services contract or an endorsement contract.

(2) "Athlete agent":

(a) means an individual, whether or not registered under this chapter, who:

(i) directly or indirectly recruits or solicits a student athlete to enter into an agency contract or, for compensation, procures employment or offers, promises, attempts, or negotiates to obtain employment for a student athlete as a professional athlete or member of a professional sports team or organization;

(ii) for compensation or in anticipation of compensation related to a student athlete's participation in athletics:

(A) serves the athlete in an advisory capacity on a matter related to finances, business pursuits, or career management decisions, unless the individual is an employee of an educational institution acting exclusively as an employee of the institution for the benefit of the institution; or

(B) manages the business affairs of the athlete by providing assistance with bills, payments, contracts, or taxes; or

(iii) in anticipation of representing a student athlete for a purpose related to the athlete's participation in athletics:

(A) gives consideration to the student athlete or another person;

(B) serves the athlete in an advisory capacity on a matter related to finances, business pursuits, or career management decisions; or

(C) manages the business affairs of the athlete by providing assistance with bills, payments, contracts, or taxes; but

(b) does not include an individual who:

(i) acts solely on behalf of a professional sports team or organization; or

(ii) is a licensed, registered, or certified professional and offers or provides services to a student athlete customarily provided by members of the profession, unless the individual:

(A) also recruits or solicits the athlete to enter into an agency contract;

(B) also, for compensation, procures employment or offers, promises, attempts, or negotiates to obtain employment for the athlete as a professional athlete or member of a professional sports team or organization; or

(C) receives consideration for providing the services calculated using a different method than for an individual who is not a student athlete.

(3) "Athletic director" means an individual responsible for administering the overall athletic program of an educational institution or, if an educational institution has separately administered athletic programs for male students and female students, the athletic program for males or the athletic program for females, as appropriate.

(4) "Contact" means a communication, direct or indirect, between an athlete agent and a student athlete to recruit or solicit the student athlete to enter into an agency contract.

(5) "Educational institution" includes a public or private elementary school, secondary school, technical or vocational school, community college, college, and university.

(6) "Endorsement contract" means an agreement under which a student athlete is employed or receives consideration to use on behalf of another party any value the student athlete has because of publicity, reputation, following, or fame obtained from athletic ability or performance.

(7) "Enrolled" means registered for courses and attending athletic practice or class. 'Enrolls' has a corresponding meaning.

(8) "Intercollegiate sport" means a sport played at the collegiate level for which eligibility requirements for participation by a student athlete are established by a national association that promotes or regulates collegiate athletics.

(9) "Interscholastic sport" means a sport played between educational institutions that are not community colleges, colleges, or universities.

(10) "Licensed, registered, or certified professional" means an individual licensed, registered, or certified as an attorney, dealer in securities, financial planner, insurance agent, real estate broker or sales agent, tax consultant, accountant, or member of a profession, other than that of athlete agent, who is licensed, registered, or certified by the state or a nationally recognized organization that licenses, registers, or certifies members of the profession on the basis of experience, education, or testing.

(11) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, other legal or commercial entity, or government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality.

(12) "Professional sports services contract" means an agreement under which an individual is employed or agrees to render services as a player on a professional sports team, with a professional sports organization, or as a professional athlete.

(13) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(14) "Recruit or solicit" means attempt to influence the choice of an athlete agent by a student athlete or, if the athlete is a minor, a parent or guardian of the athlete. The term does not include giving advice on the selection of a particular agent in a family, coaching, or social situation unless the individual giving the advice does so because of the receipt or anticipated receipt of an economic benefit, directly or indirectly, from the agent.

(15) "Registration" means registration as an athlete agent pursuant to this chapter.

(16) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to:

(a) execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(b) attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.

(17) "State" means the State of South Carolina when referring to this State or a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States when referring to another state.

(18) "Student athlete" means an individual who engages in, is eligible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future to engage in an interscholastic or intercollegiate sport. If an individual is permanently ineligible to participate in a particular interscholastic or intercollegiate sport, the individual is not a student athlete for purposes of that sport.

HISTORY: 1990 Act No. 456, Section 1; 2004 Act No. 300, Section 1, eff September 8, 2004; 2018 Act No. 235 (H.3068), Section 1, eff May 17, 2018.

Comment

Effect of Amendment

The 2004 amendment rewrote this section.

2018 Act No. 235, Section 1, rewrote (2), relating to the definition of "athlete agent"; inserted (5), relating to the definition of "educational institution" and redesignated former (5) as (6); in (6), substituted "on behalf of another party any" for "a product or service based on" following "receives consideration to use"; inserted (7), relating to the definition of "enrolled" and redesignated former (6) as (8); in (8), substituted "that promotes or regulates" for "for the promotion or regulation of" following "by a national association"; inserted (9) and (10), relating to the definitions of "interscholastic sport" and "licensed, registered, or certified professional", respectively, and redesignated former (7) to (9) as (11) to (13); inserted (14), relating to the definition of "recruit or solicit" and redesignated former (10) as (15); inserted (16), relating to the definition of "sign", and redesignated former (11) to (12) as (17) to (18); and in (18), inserted "interscholastic or" in two places.