dc.description.abstract | In recent years, the wave of professionalization has once again swept through Taiwan′s basketball scene, with major corporations eagerly entering the market. As professional sports thrive, related industries have also started to flourish. Besides the professionalization of sports, the progress of modern society has driven competitions towards commercialization and entertainment. Athletes not only need to focus on their performance on the court but also manage a series of off-field affairs. This necessitates professional specialization, which has consequently led to a growing demand for sports agents.
To respond to the vigorous development of the sports industry and to protect the rights and interests of athletes, the long-overlooked field of sports agency has begun to receive attention. In the 2023 season, three years after the professionalization, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association, integrating opinions from various leagues, introduced the first set of regulations for sports agents in the basketball field. Since these regulations have just been implemented, their supervisory effectiveness remains unknown, and the overall framework is still far from perfect. To reduce the occurrence of common unethical behaviors by agents in practice and to achieve the goal of protecting athletes′ rights, this paper starts by analyzing the context of the sports industry and delves into the sports agency system, introducing its history, functions, and its impact on the industry. It further explores the legal relationship between the parties involved in the system.
Subsequently, this paper takes the most developed sports industry and the most mature legal system of the United States as a reference, organizing and reviewing the American Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (RUAAA), federal laws (SPARTA), and the regulations governing player agents by professional sports unions. Finally, based on the observations in this paper, it identifies institutional issues in the current regulations of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association, such as the prevention of conflicts of interest and the lack of protection mechanisms for student-athletes, and proposes specific recommendations.
It is hoped that the suggestions in this paper will draw the attention of regulatory authorities, promote the improvement of the sports agency system in Taiwan, and further invigorate the overall sports industry. | en_US |