Short version: A federal law bars an agent from four things when signing a college athlete: false promises, anything of value before you sign, skipping the written warning, and putting the wrong date on the contract. State laws add more rules, and a 14-day window to cancel.
The rules on agents are written for the agent, not for you. They say what a person may not do to get your signature. Here they are, with the words of the law.
The federal law
The Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act became law in 2004. People call it SPARTA. It covers anyone who signs a student athlete to an agency contract, or tries to.
An agency contract, in the law's words, lets a person "negotiate or solicit" a pro contract "or an endorsement contract" for you. So it covers deals for your name and image, not only pro contracts.
It also reaches early. A "student athlete" includes anyone who "may be eligible in the future" to play a college sport. Parents, siblings, grandparents and guardians are not agents under this law.
The four things it bars
To recruit you, an agent may not give "any false or misleading information" or make "a false promise."
An agent may not give "anything of value" to you "or anyone associated with" you before you sign. The law names a loan, and co-signing a debt for you, as two examples.
An agent may not sign you without a written disclosure. You sign it, or a parent or guardian does if you're under 18. It must carry a warning in bold type, near the signature.
An agent may not predate or postdate the contract. That means putting a date on it other than the day it was signed.
"Warning to Student Athlete: If you agree orally or in writing to be represented by an agent now or in the future you may lose your eligibility."
The 72-hour rule
The warning also says what comes next. Within 72 hours of signing, or before your next game if that comes first, you and the agent must each tell your school's athletic director.
The agent must also give the athletic director notice in writing. That's the one thing the law asks of you.
Who enforces it
The Federal Trade Commission treats a violation as an unfair or deceptive practice. A state attorney general may also sue in federal court. Your school can sue an agent for harm the violation caused it.
The FTC's maximum civil penalty for this kind of rule violation is $53,088, and the agency kept that figure for 2026. In January 2026 it sent letters to 20 Division I schools asking about agents' compliance.
What the states add
Most states have their own law too. As of 2025, 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands had enacted a version of the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, a model law. The details vary by state.
Idaho's version of the revised act is one example. It bars an agent from giving anything of value to someone other than you or another registered agent, to get you to sign.
It also bars an agent from skipping the records the law requires, and from failing to tell you, before you sign, that signing may cost you your eligibility.
What the contract has to say
Under Idaho's version, the contract must state the fee and how it's worked out, and the name of anyone who'll be paid because you signed. It must list the services, any expenses you'd pay back, and how long it runs.
It must carry a warning in capital letters. Part of it reads: "You may cancel this contract within 14 days after signing it."
The 14 days
Under Idaho's version, you can cancel by giving the agent written notice within 14 days of signing. If you're a minor, a parent or guardian can. The right can't be waived, so it can't be signed away.
If you cancel, you don't owe the fee, and you don't have to give back what the agent gave you to sign. Canceling may not bring back lost eligibility, the warning says.
What none of these laws do
None of them says you need an agent. SPARTA doesn't cap what an agent may charge you. The pros' unions set their own caps for playing contracts.
What Leave does with this
Upload the agreement and Leave reads it back in plain words. You'll see the fee, who gets paid, how long it runs, and whether the warning and the cancel window are there.
Leave takes 0 percent of anything you sign. If someone told you something before you signed, these are the rules it was meant to follow. You decide what to sign.
Questions people ask
Can an agent give my family money before I sign?
Federal law says no. SPARTA bars an agent who is recruiting a student athlete from giving anything of value to the athlete or anyone associated with the athlete before the contract is signed. That includes a loan.
Do these rules cover high school athletes?
SPARTA's definition of a student athlete includes anyone who may be eligible for college sports in the future. The revised state act, as Idaho enacted it, names high school sports too.
Who enforces them?
The Federal Trade Commission enforces SPARTA, and a state attorney general may sue in federal court. Under the revised state act, as Idaho enacted it, a school or the athlete may sue an agent for damages.
Be your own agent. Leave.