Molly McManimie is pictured with her client, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Trishton Jackson, who describes her as “a jack of all trades” for the wide-ranging support she provides. (Photo courtesy of Molly McManimie)

PHOENIX – Growing up, Molly McManimie and her family would drive from Chandler to Los Angeles for every home football game at UCLA, her mother’s alma mater. She grew up loving sports, but particularly football and her love for the sport across all levels, from high school to pro.

McManimie’s admiration for the sport grew into a career choice at 19 years old, when she decided to pursue becoming a sports agent. Now her client list includes power sports couple Zach Ertz and Julie Ertz and Houston Texans tight end Dalton Shultz. She also works as the director of football at Wasserman Media Group in Las Vegas, a sports marketing and talent management company.

Despite gradual progress, female sports agents like McManimie continue to be few and far between in the world of professional sports, including football. Only 88 out of the 994 certified NFL agents were women in 2024, according to the NFLPA. However, the industry is changing.

In 2023, Nicole Lynn made history when she negotiated the highest sports contract by a female sports agent – a five-year $255 million contract for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.

McManimie was fortunate to enter the industry early in her career through networking, but it’s competitive.

“It’s very cutthroat,” McManimie said. “It’s always evolving so that’s challenging. You have to be willing to change and do things differently year to year because every year things are different.”

McManimie views her job as a sports agent and director as problem solving for her clients. Whether it’s locking down a brand deal, managing social media, handling family matters, organizing travel, or coordinating rehab and nutrition plans, she handles everything off the field. Her job is to clear the runway so her clients can focus on winning.

“Every day basically our job is to solve problems for our clients,” McManimie said. “Our main thing that people think about is contract negotiation and getting people jobs, but there’s so much that happens in the offseason and even day to day throughout the season that they need assistance with.”

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Trishton Jackson, one of McManimie’s clients, agrees. Jackson said McManimie helps him with networking, marketing and football camps. Jackson was previously with the Minnesota Vikings, before McManimie pitched him to the Cardinals.

“Molly is a jack of all trades,” said Jackson, who signed with the team this offseason on Jan. 16 on a reserve/future contract.

Jackson and McManimie met through Jackson’s cousin. When Jackson decided he wanted to switch agencies, he immediately thought of McManimie.

“She was always so invested in, not only me, but her craft in general,” Jackson said. “I see the grind she goes through, and she cares not only about the sport, but the players.”

Jackson calls this a fresh start for both of them and says he feels fortunate to have McManimie not just as his agent, but also as a business partner. With the growing presence of female agents in the NFL, he’s proud to be part of that shift.

“Just to get to say that I have a female agent is kind of a blessing to me because it’s not common, but it’s starting to be now and I love that,” Jackson said. “I feel like big businesses doubt women, and I don’t really agree with that.”

NFL agent, professor, and attorney Emily Staker says every contract she negotiates is a step toward greater representation for women in sports. (Photo courtesy of Emily Staker)

Emily Staker, also an NFL agent, works out of Seattle while teaching as a professor of sports law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Originally from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Staker worked as a teacher’s assistant for the football coach of her high school, Gonzaga Preparatory High School in Washington. The school is known for developing Division I college football players, leading many college coaches to visit the school for recruitment visits.

“Through that experience, I witnessed the head coach counsel the players – my peers – on what decisions were best for them as a person even if it wasn’t the most obvious or popular choice,” Staker said via email. “For me, that affected my perspective deeply. I recognized that even one person who is advocating for an athlete’s best interests with no agenda can make a tremendous difference in that athlete’s life. That is really at the core of why I wanted to be an agent.”

Staker says her greatest challenge is also her greatest privilege as an agent.

“With each accolade and contract executed, I am working to open doors for more women to be in the representation space,” Staker said. “ The weight of that reality is heavy, but I don’t take it lightly that my success could be the difference between a player signing with another woman agent versus a man.”

WNBA agent Helen Bohanna is focused on helping young female athletes, especially in Houston, navigate NIL deals and the business side of sports. (Photo courtesy of Helen Bohanna)

Staker also works as a legal advisor to FLX sports, a NIL tech startup creating the infrastructure to help college athletes take control of their journey. She hopes pro sports agents will play a crucial role in developing the future of college athletes and create a regulated space to protect all athletes and promote real competition.

WNBA agent Helen Bohanna also understands the importance of helping young athletes, and she has built her career around it. As the CEO of her independent sports agency, She Know Her Sports LLC, and her marketing and branding firm, Bohanna Marketing and Consulting LLC, she has created platforms that reflect her deep commitment to empowering the next generation.

Her current focus is on helping high school girl basketball players in Houston.

“Right now a lot of these young ladies have no idea about the necessary precautions to take,” Bohanna said. “You get excited about landing an NIL deal, but there’s more to it … (including) carefully read these contracts and things of that nature to make sure that you’re getting paid your worth.”

Bohanna says the growth of women in the sports industry only helps athletes in the long run.

“Our presence brings a new level of empathy, communication and strategy that athletes now value more than ever,” Bohanna said.

Globally, Europe has made some progress with female sports agents, but in other regions it can be difficult for women to be seen as equals because of cultural norms, according to FIFA agent Naomi Solomon.

FIFA agent Naomi Solomon, originally from Germany, earned her degree from GCU and is currently studying sports law at ASU. (Photo courtesy of Naomi Solomon)

Solomon was born and raised in Dortmund, Germany, but after spending time in Las Vegas, she moved to Phoenix and later graduated from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor’s in business administration. Currently studying sports law at Arizona State University, she grew up playing soccer, but was drawn to the business and legal side because of her older brother.

“Watching my brother pursue his soccer dreams inspired me to become an agent, allowing me to support and represent him both on and off the field,” Solomon said via email.

At GCU, Solomon was the head of team operations for the men’s soccer team and worked with the Phoenix Suns. In the future she wants to support a diverse group of athletes.

“As a female agent, I focus on integrity and fairness, making sure every player is treated right,” Solomon said. “I’m all about understanding each athlete’s unique goals and creating an environment where they can truly shine.”

“For the industry, I hope for increased inclusivity and more opportunities for underrepresented voices,” Solomon said.

Similar to Solomon, ASU undergraduate student Sierra Smith wants to shine a light on underrepresented communities by one day opening her own sports agency and is pursuing that path as a sports journalism major with a minor in public relations and strategic communications. She is also the co-founder and co-captain of the ASU women’s flag football club.

“Starting the ASU women’s flag football team at ASU, I saw firsthand the underrepresentation that females had in the sport,” Smith said. “And it kind of just really made me want to be in a space where I could continue to lead, but shed light on females in sports so I can empower women in sports.”

Sierra Smith, an ASU student and co-founder of the university’s women’s flag football team, dreams of launching a sports agency to empower female athletes like herself. (Photo by Dani Trujillo/Cronkite News)

Smith’s agency would focus on female athletes from a variety of sports. She’s also inspired by her mother, Susan Casper, a community relations manager and anchor for Arizona’s Family.

“I love what she does,” Smith said. “I love how she uses her voice to push for change, so that’s definitely something that I want to do in the future.”

Smith understands what it’s like to have your voice unheard as a female athlete, something she wants to change.

“I know I want to start my own firm because I want my voice to be heard, just like my mom, working for change so that our voices can be heard,” Smith said.

For women like Smith aspiring to become sports agents, McManimie’s advice is to figure out your “why.”

“Understand why you want to do this, know that liking sports and loving sports is not enough, it’s a really tough job and there’s a lot of it that is very exhausting and time consuming,” McManimie said.

Staker echoes that sentiment, but pushes it a step further. Her advice is to “be excellent.” She believes the drive to be an agent shouldn’t be about proving yourself to others, but about setting a new standard for how agents advocate for their clients.

“My hope for the women who aspire to join us in this work would be that they are equally motivated to do the same,” Staker said.

Bohanna, too, sees a bigger picture. Her message to future female agents is about resilience and authenticity.

“Stay true to yourself and be consistent because when it comes to us as female sports agents, we’re representing and breaking warriors,” Bohanna said. “The rise of female sports agents is a powerful example of breaking barriers in a traditionally male dominated space.”