Black women sports agents see gains

A celebration day this summer of Black women in the sports industry unfortunately came and went without much fanfare. National Black Women in Sports Day was July 7, created by Jaia Thomas, a Los Angeles-based attorney and founder-CEO of Diverse Representation since 2018. Her group maintains a database of Black agents, attorneys, managers, and publicists in sports and entertainment, among other services.

Speaking to the MSR, Thomas pointed out, “I think we’ve seen a slight increase in terms of the recognition of Black women agents. But still, there’s a long way to go because there’s a lot of Black women agents that nobody or most people have never heard of.” According to Zippia, only 7.5 percent of sports agents are Black.

Thomas was In 2019, Nicole Lynn became the first Black woman to represent a top-three NFL draft pick, and she was the second woman in history to solely represent an NFL first-rounder.

Of the Black women C-suite execs, Black women attorneys, Black women athletic directors, “I think most people couldn’t name two or three Black women in any of those roles,” continued Thomas, citing key positions in pro and college athletics.   

Her reason for simply promoting a national day to spotlight Black women in sports: “I think, across the board, there’s not enough coverage of Black women in all of these roles, to be honest.” Also on July 7, Thomas launched BlackWomenInSports.com that serves as a resource hub, featuring podcasts, books, organizations, and apparel firms run by Black women in the sports industry.  

“I decided to start it this year, in particular, because I feel like this year has just been a pivotal year for Black women in sports,” explained Thomas, who was a professor of copyright and entertainment law at UCLA until 2021. “I feel like a lot of Black women have been the first and have broken a lot of records this year. So, I thought this year, in particular, would be a great year to get this off the ground.”

Next week, August 7-11, is Diverse Representation Week in Los Angeles, sponsored by Thomas’ Diverse Representation group. It will feature events, programs and networking opportunities for Black creatives and professionals in the sports and entertainment industries.

Then on September 8, the first-ever Black Ownership in Sports Symposium will also be held in Los Angeles, aimed at educating Black students and professionals about the inner workings of owning pro sports teams. Back in March, Diverse Representation held a Sports Agents Boot Camp at Southern University in New Orleans.

“I would like to make Diverse Representation a household name,” said Thomas. “My goal is to equip as many Black folks in sports and entertainment to be successful in these spaces as possible. And to also make sure that we’re doing a much better job of circulating the money in our own communities in these industries.”

There are Black agents like Nicole Lynn who are showing the world that Blacks can get athletes big-money contracts just as well as White agents can. Hopefully, Black athletes can see this as well.

“The tide is definitely shifting,” said Thomas. “I do think it’s becoming easier for Black agents to get Black clients. We’re still not where we need to be, but we definitely have made a lot of headway.”