NYC Lateral: Sports Groups Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi All, I’m looking to lateral back to NYC (currently overseas). I’m a 5th year associate with general corporate/capital markets experience (therefore, I’m willing to accept a bump down in class year). I wanted to know which firms I should look into that have a sports group (basically does corporate work for sports related clients, stadiums, etc.)

I’m not looking to become an agent but rather transition to the legal department of a sports league further down the road. Any insight would be highly appreciated.

[existentialcrisis]

I know Proskauer markets this. I’m not sure how real it is though. If it’s real I’ll bet it’s super competitive.

[Anonymous User]

I know Proskauer markets this. I’m not sure how real it is though. If it’s real I’ll bet it’s super competitive.

You’re right, it’s both real and super competitive. Proskauer is the place to be for sports. They’re involved pretty much every time. Recently, they repped the Big Ten in their recent massive television negotiations with CBS, NBC, and FOX.

[Anonymous User]

Skadden reps the NHL so I'd look into them as well

[Anonymous User]

I know Morgan Lewis reps the MLB in some capacity. But, Proskauer is the place to be if you want this work.

[Anonymous User]

Covington reps a lot of the sports leagues themselves (NFL, NBA, MLS, other). Most of the partners doing the sports work you're looking for are in the DC office, but you can be staffed on those deals from NY. There's also a good amount of tech transactions-type work there in support of the leagues.

[Anonymous User]

Ropes too.

[Anonymous User]

Hi All, I’m looking to lateral back to NYC (currently overseas). I’m a 5th year associate with general corporate/capital markets experience (therefore, I’m willing to accept a bump down in class year). I wanted to know which firms I should look into that have a sports group (basically does corporate work for sports related clients, stadiums, etc.)

I’m not looking to become an agent but rather transition to the legal department of a sports league further down the road. Any insight would be highly appreciated.

I know this from first-hand experience as I work at a firm that operates in this space. The primary players in the sports area, especially for league/team representation (as opposed to player-side representation, which is dominated by Winston & Strawn) are Proskauer, Skadden, and Covington. There are other smaller players involved or specialists (e.g., Akin has been getting more work in the labor/employment litigation space; Paul Weiss and WLRK have done some investigations work, Latham is trying to build their sports corporate practice, etc.), but from a "which firms have the most sports work" perspective, I think its those three.