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Dr. Brandy Runyan

Founder & CEO | Sport Agent | Athlete Manager | Researcher | Educator

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Nearly two decades of experience at the intersection of athlete representation, sport business, public relations, education, and athlete advocacy.

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Dr. Brandy Runyan

Dr. Brandy Runyan is the Founder, Owner, and Chief Executive Officer of Black Diamond Sports & Entertainment Group, LLC, where she has spent nearly two decades working with athletes and sports professionals across the United States and internationally.

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Her career has crossed multiple areas of the sport industry—from athlete representation and professional football contract negotiations to public relations, international player placement, education, research, and athlete advocacy.

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Rather than approaching athlete management as simply the pursuit of the next contract, Runyan has built her career around a broader philosophy: athletes are people first, careers require long-term strategy, and representation carries a responsibility that extends far beyond a transaction.

That philosophy remains at the center of Black Diamond today.

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Founder & CEO of Black Diamond

Dr. Runyan founded Black Diamond in 2007, beginning what would become a career spanning nearly two decades in sport management and athlete representation.

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Today, as Founder, Owner, and CEO of Black Diamond Sports & Entertainment Group, she oversees an organization serving athletes and entertainment professionals through career management, representation, public relations, branding, professional development, performance services, and strategic career support.

Black Diamond's work has extended from collegiate athletes and emerging professionals to veteran professional players and internationally recognized athletes.

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Under Runyan's leadership, the organization has also expanded beyond traditional representation to address areas she believes are frequently overlooked in an athlete's career—including education, reputation management, career transition, personal development, media preparation, and protection from unethical industry practices.

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For Runyan, management has never meant simply finding an athlete somewhere to play.

It means helping build the career—and protecting the person living it.

Sport Agent & Athlete Manager

Dr. Runyan brings extensive experience in professional football representation and athlete management.

Over the course of her career, she has been involved in the negotiation of more than 650 professional football contracts and has worked with athletes pursuing opportunities throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and other international markets.

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Her professional football experience encompasses multiple levels and leagues, including work involving athletes pursuing or competing in the NFL, CFL, UFL, arena and indoor football, and international American football leagues.

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Her approach to representation is intentionally comprehensive.

Contract negotiations and team opportunities are important—but so are understanding an athlete's goals, evaluating opportunities realistically, managing professional relationships, developing a public identity, preparing for life beyond sport, and ensuring athletes understand the business decisions being made around their careers.

Runyan believes athletes should be active participants in their careers rather than passengers in them.

That belief has shaped both her management philosophy and her work educating future sport professionals.

Athlete Protection & Professional Standards

One of the defining themes of Dr. Runyan's career has been her interest in athlete protection and ethical representation.

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Her industry experience exposed her to problems that athletes routinely encounter behind the scenes—including misinformation, predatory business practices, individuals falsely presenting themselves as legitimate representatives, conflicts of interest, unrealistic promises, and athletes entering professional relationships without fully understanding who is representing them or what authority that person actually holds.

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Rather than simply acknowledging those problems, Runyan became involved in efforts to address them.

Her work contributed to the creation of Article 28.1 of the Canadian Football League's Collective Bargaining Agreement, a provision addressing representation and protections surrounding individuals acting on behalf of professional football players.

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That experience further shaped her belief that professional representation should be grounded in transparency, accountability, education, ethical practice, and informed decision-making by athletes.

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Those principles now influence Black Diamond's professional standards and the way Runyan teaches future sport agents and athlete managers.

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One of the most significant accomplishments of Dr. Brandy Runyan's career extends beyond the representation of any single athlete.

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After identifying a recurring problem involving individuals presenting themselves to professional football players as legitimate or licensed agents when they were not properly authorized to act in that capacity, Runyan began what became an approximately two-year effort to push for greater accountability and protection for players pursuing opportunities in the Canadian Football League.

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The issue was particularly concerning among free-agent athletes—players who were often desperately searching for their next opportunity and therefore especially vulnerable to individuals promising access to professional teams while misrepresenting their credentials or authority.

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For Runyan, the problem represented more than unethical business behavior.

It represented a failure in athlete protection.

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Working with the CFL Players' Association and its legal representatives, Runyan advocated for a formal mechanism that would help prevent unauthorized individuals from operating within the player-representation process. Her advocacy ultimately contributed to the inclusion of Article 28.1 in the Canadian Football League Collective Bargaining Agreement. Independent university coverage described Runyan as being “at the forefront” of the two-year effort and as having championed the provision's addition.

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What Article 28.1 Changed

Article 28.1 established an important safeguard surrounding player representation within the CFL.

The provision created a formal process for verifying that individuals involved in representing players in contract negotiations are properly authorized, helping prevent people falsely presenting themselves as licensed or legitimate agents from participating unchecked in the negotiation process.

The underlying objective was simple:

A professional athlete should be able to trust that the person negotiating his career is actually authorized and qualified to do so.

For Runyan, Article 28.1 represented something larger than a policy change. It demonstrated that problems encountered while representing individual athletes can reveal systemic weaknesses—and that agents have a responsibility to advocate for improvements when those weaknesses put players at risk.

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From Representation to Industry Reform

Runyan's involvement in Article 28.1 became a defining example of the philosophy that continues to shape her work:

Athlete representation should protect the athlete, not simply facilitate a transaction.

Her advocacy surrounding Article 28.1 brought together several areas that have defined her career—professional football representation, ethics, athlete education, contract negotiation, professional standards, and player protection.

Today, those same principles influence Black Diamond's approach to athlete management as well as Runyan's research and education of future sport agents and athlete managers.

Runyan remains a listed CFLPA Contract Advisor for Black Diamond Sport & Entertainment Group, LLC, providing current independent verification of her professional role within CFL player representation.

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Researcher & Scholar

Dr. Runyan's professional work eventually led her back into academia.

She earned her Ph.D. in Sport Leadership from Concordia University Chicago, completing her doctoral degree in 2025.

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Her research interests sit at the intersection of the issues she has encountered throughout her professional career, including:

  • athlete representation and management

  • sport leadership

  • organizational leadership

  • ethics and professional standards in sport

  • athlete protection

  • career development and transition

  • sport business

  • representation relationships

  • professional football

  • women working within traditionally male-dominated areas of sport

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Her approach to research is influenced heavily by professional practice.

Rather than treating the sport industry solely as something to study from the outside, Runyan brings nearly two decades of direct industry experience into the questions she asks as a researcher.

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Likewise, research informs the way she approaches athlete management.

The result is a career that intentionally bridges scholarship and practice.

Educator

Dr. Runyan has also worked in higher education, preparing students for careers within the sport industry.

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She served as Program Director for Undergraduate Sport & Recreation Management and Assistant Professional Track Faculty at East Texas A&M University and has also taught within sport management at Southern Methodist University.

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Her teaching areas include subjects such as sport marketing, organizational strategy, leadership, athlete management, professional standards, and the business of sport.

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Her classroom philosophy reflects the same approach she takes to professional management: students should understand not simply what the sport industry does, but why it operates the way it does and what responsibilities come with working on behalf of athletes.

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Runyan also served as a faculty advisor supporting student professional development and industry engagement.

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Building the Next Generation of Athlete Representatives

After years of working with athletes and observing significant gaps in how aspiring agents and managers are prepared for the realities of the profession, Dr. Runyan developed the Black Diamond Certified Sport Agent & Athlete Manager Program.

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The 18-month professional education program was created to move beyond the simplified version of sports representation often portrayed publicly.

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Participants study areas including athlete recruitment, representation agreements, professional standards, contract structures, athlete marketing, financial concepts, career management, communication, ethics, league structures, international opportunities, and practical athlete-management operations.

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The goal is not simply to teach people how to become agents.

It is to help develop competent, ethical professionals capable of responsibly managing another person's career.

Public Relations & Reputation Management

Runyan's background also includes extensive work in public relations, communications, branding, media relations, and reputation management.

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That experience has become increasingly integrated into Black Diamond's athlete-management model.

Modern athletes are not simply players. They are public figures, brands, business partners, community representatives, digital personalities, and—in many cases—entrepreneurs.

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A poorly handled interview, social media controversy, inaccurate story, or unmanaged crisis can affect opportunities far beyond public perception.

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Runyan therefore approaches athlete management with an understanding that career management and reputation management are increasingly inseparable.

A Different Philosophy of Athlete Management

After nearly two decades in the industry, Dr. Runyan's philosophy remains straightforward:

Representation should serve the athlete—not the representative.

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That means being willing to have difficult conversations.

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It means refusing to promise opportunities that cannot honestly be promised.

It means helping athletes understand the realities of their market.

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It means protecting athletes from predatory practices.

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It means recognizing when an athlete needs career development rather than another sales pitch.

And it means remembering that professional sports careers eventually end while the person behind the athlete continues forward.

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Black Diamond's management model has grown around those principles.

Beyond Sport

Outside of her work as an executive, agent, researcher, and educator, Runyan is a United States Navy veteran.

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Her professional life has taken her through the military, entrepreneurship, public relations, professional sports, academia, research, and advocacy—experiences that have contributed to the leadership philosophy she brings to Black Diamond.

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She continues to work at the intersection of professional sport and education while advocating for stronger standards, greater transparency, and better preparation for both athletes and the professionals entrusted with representing them.

Areas of Expertise

Athlete Management
Sport Agent Representation
Professional Football
Contract Negotiation
International Athlete Placement
Sports Public Relations
Athlete Branding
Crisis & Reputation Management
Sport Leadership
Athlete Protection
Professional Ethics
Sport Management Education & Research

Research, Speaking & Media

Research & Publications

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Books & Authored Works

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Speaking & Professional Presentations

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Media, Interviews, and Features

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Work With Dr. Runyan & Black Diamond

Whether navigating a professional playing career, developing an athlete's public brand, evaluating representation, pursuing international opportunities, or preparing for a career within athlete management, Black Diamond approaches every professional relationship with an emphasis on strategy, transparency, communication, and long-term development.

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© 2026 by Black Diamond PR Firm, LLC.  All Rights Reserved

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