Dr. Erkut Sogut was born in Hanover, Germany and is a sports law and sports management professor, player agent, sports lawyer, and author. Dr. Sogut holds a doctorate in sports law. He has always been passionate about sport and especially football. Sogut is the founder of the player representation agency “GROW”. The agency works across top European leagues and the North and South American markets.

GROW is responsible for clients such as Mesut Özil, Kieran Gibbs, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, and many more top prospects in World football having operated successfully in the business for over twenty years. The agency offers a holistic service, including contractual, commercial, and legal advice. Dr. Sogut develops personal relationships with each client, spending as much time as possible with the player, and working with their family members directly to ensure the best possible approach and results.

Dr. Sogut is well-known for having negotiated a record Premier League contract in January 2018 for one of his clients and has repeated similar feats in other football markets (on and off-the-pitch). Dr. Sogut’s role as an agent is not only confined to on-pitch matters. Erkut has vast and successful experience in commercial business, brand deals, and projects to monetise opportunities off of the pitch, enhanced by his doctorate-standard legal background.

Dr. Sogut has his own sports-education company called the Erkut Sogut Academy and he is dedicated to pioneering the education of aspiring player agents to help professionalise the industry. The Academy provides a 3-month ‘How to Become a Football Agent’ course; weekly educational blogs; online and in-person lectures; an informative YouTube channel; private 1-1 consulting and coaching sessions; and many more resources. Dr Sogut has a proven track record of delivery captivating and accurate education in top universities around the world including Harvard Business School, Durham University, Istanbul Bilgi University, Lagos Law School, UCFB and many more.

Dr Sogut’s aim is to help the next generation of football agents to become the experts of tomorrow. He has also authored three editions of the ‘How to Become a Football Agent’ book as well as two novels, ‘DEADLINE’ and ‘REMEMBER MY NAME’, highlighting key issues in world football and agency. As part of this industry-leading education platform, he has also founded the Football Agent & Business Summit; an organisation which hosts an annual networking and education conference as well as providing a ‘Pass the Exam’ course for preparing agents.

Dr Sogut is currently based in Southern California with his wife and two children.

SPORTS AGENT LICENCES

• Football (FA)
• Basketball (FIBA)
• Hockey (DEL)

LANGUAGES

• English
• German
• Turkish
• Spanish

EDUCATION

2001-2007 – Law Degree – Osnabrück University (Germany) with 1 year Erasmus at Dokuz Eylül University (Turkey)

2009-2013 – Doctor of Law (J.D.) PhD, Dr. iur, Sports Law – Osnabrück University (Germany)

2010-2011 – Sports law and sports management – Kadir Has University (Turkey)

2011-2012 – Master of Laws (LL.M.), International Law and Legal Studies – İstanbul Kültür University (Turkey)

2011-2012 – Master of Laws (LL.M.), International Law and Legal Studies – Ruhr University Bochum (Germany)