Sports Law Career Prospects Forum

[Hope4Law]

Okay, so I will precede this post with a disclaimer: I am pretty clueless as to what "sports law" exactly entails, from what I can ascertain the work involves some combination of labor law, antitrust law, contract law, intellectual property law (moreso the case with entertainment law I suppose)...

Anyway, so all I ever hear is that it is all but impossible to get a job in sports law unless you have all sorts of amazing contacts and connections.

As of right now, I am in at NYU, Michigan, UVA, Penn, G'Town, and a few others - still waiting on the big H and Columbia...

Does the "sports law is impossible to break into" talk hold true for t14 schools as well? Is it possible to make the necessary connections while in law school? Any particular school out of that group look better than the others for doing sports law coming out?

Again, I know this post might come across as a little uninformed or naive, but any info anyone could give would be swell...
thanks

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Sports law entails protecting baseball players from steroids accusations.

[TheVoiceOfReason]

A lot of people associate "Sports Law" with only agency, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

I took a sports law class in undergrad and thought that it was mostly agency, too. I was wrong. Sports law includes Title IX Gender Equity, Workers Comp, Amateur Status, Employment, NCAA Compliance, Property Law for Venues, and much much more.

It's a whole lot bigger spectrum than I first thought.

With that being said, Tulane and Miami are top schools in the South for sports law.

However, don't confuse "Sports Law" with "Sports Agency". Completely different animals. You don't have to be a lawyer to be an agent (just possess some type of post-grad degree to be an NFL agent). It's more about who you know, than what you know.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[dreman510]

A lot of people associate "Sports Law" with only agency, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

I took a sports law class in undergrad and thought that it was mostly agency, too. I was wrong. Sports law includes Title IX Gender Equity, Workers Comp, Amateur Status, Employment, NCAA Compliance, Property Law for Venues, and much much more.

It's a whole lot bigger spectrum than I first thought.

With that being said, Tulane and Miami are top schools in the South for sports law.

However, don't confuse "Sports Law" with "Sports Agency". Completely different animals. You don't have to be a lawyer to be an agent (just possess some type of post-grad degree to be an NFL agent). It's more about who you know, than what you know.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Meaning their programs are good, or they place fairly well into that field?
What are salaries for Sports Law? Is it all BigLaw?

[sintona]

I believe that Duke is considered the best sports law school in the nation

[Delt_Karl]

I've never heard Duke mentioned in the Sports Law conversation. Maybe you're thinking of UNC.
Marquette is known for its Sports Law program as well.

[TheVoiceOfReason]

Miami and Tulane for their placement into the field. Miami more so than Tulane.

Schools with good sports law programs tend to have successful sports teams as well. It just makes it easier to make connections (for agency).

I've also heard that Marquette is a solid program. Any other programs known for sports law?

[Jones, Dow]

check Penn State too

http://www.law.psu.edu/centers/sportsinstitute.cfm

[hopeforthebest]

One of the reasons I applied to Tulane was because of their sports law program. If you look at their 2007-2008 Sports Law Programming brochure, it will give you an idea of their program. My (unrealistic) dream job is to be the General Counsel for the NFL (hey, I say dream big), so Tulane is right up my alley for what I hope to someday achieve.

[smalltown]

If you want to be an agent, you need to get connections in college sports. At most schools, the big-time athletes get big-time agents. The rest, which is the majority, at each school end up with the same agents year after year. That's not a coincidence.

Plus, NCAA compliance is a good place to find a niche. It's incredibly complex, and schools commit secondary violations like its their job because they don't know all the rules. Being in a compliance office is a nice spot to be, plus an athletic department could move you around and use you in several departments.

Big business sports is a good ol' boys network for sure. There are scores of incompetent people in front offices and athletic departments, and they're there because they know somebody, and they know how to kiss ass. Of course that applies to almost every business in this country.

The NFL commish, as well as his brother, are big-time in sports.

[fightin illini 25]

I think the reason Duke Law comes up in Sports Law Conversation is because NFL Agent Drew Rosenahus went there for his JD and as you may know he has become quite successful. He made most of his connections though as a Undergrad at Miami and a good deal of his clients are alums of "The U".

[dreman510]

In terms of sports law (not agent) at Miami, is it hard to break into if you are in the top 5-10% of your class, or do you still need connections? Are there sports law firms in miami?

[chitown825]

Marquette hands down.

[HalfManHalfAmazing]

A lot of people associate "Sports Law" with only agency, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

I took a sports law class in undergrad and thought that it was mostly agency, too. I was wrong. Sports law includes Title IX Gender Equity, Workers Comp, Amateur Status, Employment, NCAA Compliance, Property Law for Venues, and much much more.

It's a whole lot bigger spectrum than I first thought.

With that being said, Tulane and Miami are top schools in the South for sports law.

However, don't confuse "Sports Law" with "Sports Agency". Completely different animals. You don't have to be a lawyer to be an agent (just possess some type of post-grad degree to be an NFL agent). It's more about who you know, than what you know.

Hope this helps, good luck.

What sort of post-grad degree does Master P have?

Sometimes, I like to think that he has a PhD in Women's Lit.

[TheVoiceOfReason]

A lot of people associate "Sports Law" with only agency, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

I took a sports law class in undergrad and thought that it was mostly agency, too. I was wrong. Sports law includes Title IX Gender Equity, Workers Comp, Amateur Status, Employment, NCAA Compliance, Property Law for Venues, and much much more.

It's a whole lot bigger spectrum than I first thought.

With that being said, Tulane and Miami are top schools in the South for sports law.

However, don't confuse "Sports Law" with "Sports Agency". Completely different animals. You don't have to be a lawyer to be an agent (just possess some type of post-grad degree to be an NFL agent). It's more about who you know, than what you know.

Hope this helps, good luck.

What sort of post-grad degree does Master P have?

Sometimes, I like to think that he has a PhD in Women's Lit.

Haha. In rare situations, you can get an exemption and take the NFLPA Agent exam without a post-grad degree. I'm guessing Master P's "experience" qualifies as exemption-worthy.

[truffleshuffle]

I found these useful, despite being obviously outdated:

http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2005/07/ ... -fcsl.html


http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2006/03/ ... s-law.html

I've searched around for NCAA compliance staff to see where they went to school, and it's pretty much anywhere, though most schools don't provide the info. The one thing they all have in common is internships with the compliance offices of universities. I know the compliance director at my school in TX went to Nebraska and interned two summers at Maryland, but he is also an alumni of this school, so connections probably played a role.

[prezidentv8]

I believe that Duke is considered the best [strike]sports law[/strike] school in the nation, maybe with LOLSKOOL coming in a close second

FTFY