Illustration of Carl Crawford

A few months ago, I signed sports artist Alvin Fall as my second client. While I always aspired to be a sports agent, owning AccessAthletes has taken me in a much different direction. I can honestly say that I never expected to represent sports artists, but I am grateful for the opportunity to do so. It has been a very rewarding, yet challenging experience working in this niche area of the sports industry. I have some great news to share early in the game. The Tampa Bay Rays had expressed interest in Alvin's work recently. For weeks, I had been going back and forth corresponding with multiple people in the organization. Finally, I received word that Carl Crawford had checked out Alvin's work and liked it, and the Rays had plans to use it. I am excited to announce that the Rays will use signed prints of Alvin's original 22? x 30? illustration of Carl Crawford, featured at the top of this article, as raffle items for their season ticket holders. Additionally, I arranged for Alvin to meet Carl Crawford at Tropicana Field in July. We were told that Carl would sign the original illustration. The original is a mixed medium piece, with a combination of colored pencil, watercolor, and acrylic. The illustration presents Crawford batting with a sunburst from the new logo in the background. Alvin is one of the first artists to capture a Rays' player in the new team uniform. It was music to my ears to hear that I made Alvin's day after I told him the news. As a sports attorney, I have learned that representation comes down to building good relationships, no matter if it involves an artist, athlete, or musician. Even though the work can become tedious at times, I really enjoy the personal side of representation. It was a great feeling to celebrate this milestone with Alvin. We are heading in the right direction and I hope to establish Alvin as a premier sports artist in the near future.