So you want an agency photographer to cover a sport event for your media outlet, or maybe you wish to license a sport image for editorial use on your publication. Well, here's a few things you should know right away. 
Remember our core values - Loyalty, Gratitude, and Faith? We want to make sure that our collaborators share our values and our professional ethics, before we work together.
Yes, the fine print, that's exactly it, and you want to read it right now before you make plans...

First of all, in order to license an image for your publication, your organization/media outlet has to go through a quick approval process. It may be as simple as sending an e-mail if you are an athlete, or may require a few more layers of review if you are a freelance writer.
You can also request to be pre-approved to license images for us, and go through the process before you need to use any photos. Pre-approval will definitely simplify things: once you are pre-approved, each time you wish to use an image all you will have to do is sign the licensing agreement and you can then move on with your publication.
Let's take a look and find out what the procedure will be for you.

ATHLETES (and their staff):
E-mail [email protected] and you will receive access to the images you need and permission to use them for editorial purposes and web/social media use. Pretty much you have access to all photos of yourself for personal and editorial use, no questions asked. Yes, it is that simple. For commercial/advertising use just contact us to arrange for a separate commercial license.

TEAMS/COACHES/SPONSORS: 
Same as above, as long as your athletes agree with your use of the images for editorial purposes (in other words, check with the athletes before contacting us to request access), you will be good to go. Commercial/advertising use will require a separate license, so please just inquire and we will work with you and your athlete on the licensing terms.

Editors/Publishers/Journalists:
Do you have approval by an athlete/team to request images for your story? if so, the process is very simple: we verify that the athlete/team approved your use of our images, and that's it. You sign a contract and licensing agreement for editorial use of the images and go ahead with your project. 

If you do not have approval however, well, that's when you basically have two choices:
1. contact the athlete/team and obtain approval first (this is the option we always recommend, as it makes the process easier for you).
OR
2. keep reading...

Editors and Publishers:
Take an objective look at your media outlet and ask yourself a few questions. 
Is your publication (print or online) considered a specialty publication? Do you strictly talk sports, statistics, results, or training, fitness, performance? if the answer to one or more of those questions is yes, you have a very high chance of being pre-approved by our agency. So if that is you, just go ahead and send us an e-mail, let's talk.
If you are not a specialty magazine, but still publish about sports - are you focused on showcasing the sport and the competitions, featuring athletes and teams? There is still a good chance that we can work together. Some of our returning collaborators are local weekly magazines which strive to report on all sports events in their area.
On the other hand, do your writers discuss off-the-field topics? Are negative publicity, slander, and gossip allowed on your publication or website or social media pages? If anything like that is associated with your media outlet, then your publication is out of luck. For real: it's probably already blacklisted by our agency, and if not, it will be very soon. Why the blacklisting? We only work with those media outlets that always treat athletes, teams and organizations with respect at all times - no exceptions. 

So how does it work? it's actually a pretty straightforward process, and once you have all the information required, it's done in a few quick steps. 
1. Contact us requesting pre-approval. Include the name and website of your media outlet and/or direct links for us to review a few issues of your publication. 
2. If requesting to license existing images, describe the editorial content that the images will be associated with (match/competition report, statistics, athlete feature, etc) and provide a draft if possible.
3. Sign our no-negative-publicity agreement (you can do that electronically).
4. Voila, you are approved! We agree on the images to be licensed, usage, sign an editorial licensing agreement for the images you are requesting to use, and you are good to go. 
You can also request pre-approval and go through these steps before you need to use any images, and that will definitely speed up the process when the time comes - it is entirely up to you.
Example of some organizations and media outlets which are pre-approved to use our images in their magazines and publications include: Boston Breakers, Houston Pulse Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Seattle Reign FC, Strong & Fitness, Jamie's Hope for a Cure, ACSM Health & Fitness, Outside Magazine, El Universal viveUSA, People, and several others. As you see, it can be done...

Independent Journalists and Writers:
As always, you are in the hot seat. We will ask to review at least ten of your sports-related articles, and chances are we will do our own searches and look to read more. We may also take a look at the kind of content you put out on social media and discussion sites. If you ask to use existing images, we will ask for what content you plan to associate with the images, and likely we will request to see a draft of your story before making a decision.
As we mentioned with regard to publishers and editors - you may want to take a look at what you usually write: if you are a dedicated sports writer and your articles are mostly about performance, competition, results, training... your request will likely be approved quickly. 
Conversely, if you are one of those 'investigative' types looking to gossip about off-the-field events, don't even bother talking to us - your name is probably on the black list, our door is closed. 
We are not trying to be difficult or scrutinize what you write, we understand the concept of free press, but we also have company values and want to make sure that we only work with those journalists whose style of reporting is courteous and respectful to the athletes and teams at all times. It goes back to our core values, because yes, we do care about loyalty above all things.

So here's how it works for you:
1. Contact us requesting approval. Include at least ten previously published sports-related articles (or links) and please make sure they are representative of recent work. 
2. Describe the editorial content that the images will be associated with (match/competition report, statistics, athlete feature, etc), provide a draft of the text, and information about the media outlet set to publish the work.
3. Sign our no-negative-publicity agreement (you can do that electronically).
4. And voila, if everything checks out, you are approved. We agree on usage and sign an editorial licensing agreement for the images you are requesting to use, and you can move on with your story.

Questions? Want to get started with the pre-approval process? Come talk to us: [email protected]