Sports Attorney Job Description

'A sports attorney is an attorney who handles legal matters pertaining to amateur and professional athletes and sports organizations. A sports attorney might be called upon to handle a wide array of matters that cross over into other practice areas. Sports law ranges from contract negotiations on behalf of athletes, teams and leagues; litigation matters pertaining to people and entities in the sporting world; and even labor and intellectual property issues. Sports law is analogous to entertainment law, in that it centers around prominent individuals and a single industry.


Here are a few sample sports attorney job descriptions:

Associate - Entertainment, Sports and Media

The candidate should have 4-5 years of sports, entertainment and media experience at a major law firm, preferably including experience in joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions matters.

Entertainment and Sports Attorney

The candidate should have entertainment specialization. Must have 2+ years practice experience preferably in a large international law firm.

Assistant Director Athletic Compliance

Duties: Oversees the day-to-day operations of University's athletic compliance office. Represents the athletic department in areas of compliance and enforcement issues. Develops a comprehensive system for monitoring and interpreting legislation while also educating the University community on the rules and regulations. Serves as liaison to the constituents on all issues. 

Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree required; Master's/JD Degree preferred. 2 years of experience working in an athletics department. Excellent verbal, written and analytical skills required. Demonstrated understanding of the NCAA, including its governance structure, legislative process and its policies and procedures. Ability to organize, multi-task and maintain confidentiality and integrity in daily work.

Associate

The candidate should have 4-5 years of entertainment, sports and media experience at a major law firm, preferably including experience in mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures matters.

Adjunct Faculty - Sport Business, Fall 2016

Duties: Teach senior level Legal Issues in Sport courses for the fall 2016 semester at University Campus. Responsibility to students, course material and classroom instruction. Will be responsible for teaching Senior level Legal issues in Sport courses.  

Qualifications: A Master's degree and 18 graduate credit hours in the discipline is the minimum requirement for undergraduate programs. The degree must be from a regionally accredited institution. JD Degree or Master's Degree in Sport Business (18 applicable graduate credit hours required). Must be from a regionally accredited institution. Must demonstrate experience in teaching Legal Issues in Sport. Preferred: Previous experience in teaching traditional and non-traditional age students and legal issues with an application to sport; Current in the changing laws applicable to sport. Topical coverage in the course with sport application includes constitutional and statutory law (e.g. employment law, Title IX, ADA, ADEA, contract law, sexual harassment, trademark and image rights, antitrust), and legal research; An individual who is committed to quality teaching and engagement of the student; and professional experience in the sport industry - candidates with more industry experience will be given preference.

Esports Senior Manager

Duties: Leading multiple teams to plan and execute their ambitious goals while keeping projects on-track, teams healthy, and stakeholders informed. Mentor direct reports to achieve high quality results, and help build out the team with talented new hires. Drawing on experience in law and sports, will build and execute a league infrastructure that includes milestones and deliverables but is flexible enough to allow room for risk and change. Develop our rulesets, contracts, and policies into a cohesive global structure that works across domestic leagues, international events, and semi-pro competition. Build and mentor a team, both locally and abroad, who can put official policy into practice. Facilitate communication between regional league ops team members to share learnings and ensure consistent policy application. Review and revise league structures to create the optimal format for teams, pros, and fans alike. Work with other stakeholder groups within esports on the execution of major events like the Mid-Season Invitational or the World Championship. Develop policy for investigation and discipline of offenses committed by teams or pros. Annually revisit our suite of legal documents to effect changes designed to keep the league secure and operational in light of a constantly evolving ecosystem.

Qualifications: JD Degree is a plus. 5+ years of experience working in sports, sports law, or a related field; several years of experience leading teams and running projects. Experience drafting/reviewing contracts is a definite plus, as is any familiarity with general corporate law, intellectual property law, sports law, or employment Law.

Director of Esports Business Development

The candidate will lead strategic planning, deal sourcing and negotiation, and partner management. Manage and develop team members, own tasks and tackle problems as part of a team, and apply creative and frontier-pushing solutions to grow the company. Help to identify new product, distribution, and digital licensing opportunities for the company. Work with business and product heads, engineering, brand, and league operations to identify and create new business opportunities for the LCS and the company. Support strategy development for esports digital product launches, product enhancements, and content licenses across all media platforms. Lead deal development and prospecting, sourcing, and negotiating/closing; this includes proactively identifying potential business partners and negotiating agreements. Assist in the management of existing partnerships. Constantly analyze the rapidly evolving esports landscape, focusing on deal and partnership opportunities that will support the growth of the company and the LCS.  

Should have 10+ years of experience in business development at a leading media, tech, and/or content company; bachelor's degree with an MBA or JD preferred. An understanding of the sports industry, esports, and the broader media landscape required. Should be adept at negotiating sound commercial agreements and possessing a solid understanding of contracts including licensing agreements. A strong understanding of financial analysis and modeling required.

Director Business Development, Sports

Responsibilities: Will be a part of the global business development and corporate alliances group within company. Will be charged with, among other things, negotiating a broad variety of strategic third party relationships for the company. In this role, will be responsible for: strategic planning, deal sourcing and negotiation, and partner management in the emerging esports space. Help develop the global broadcast and distribution strategy for all of company's esports initiatives. Source broadcast and distribution partners according to that strategy and negotiate the commercial agreements with those entities. Help evolve the sponsorship strategy for company's esports, including helping determine appropriate value exchange. Source appropriate esports sponsors pursuant to that strategy and negotiate the commercial agreements with those brands. Manage and develop team members, own tasks and tackle problems as part of a team, and apply creative solutions to grow company's esports.Work with business and product heads, engineering, brand management, marketing, and league operations to identify and create new business opportunities for company's esports. Assist in the management of existing partnerships. Overall be able to constantly analyze the rapidly evolving esports landscape, focusing on deal and partnership opportunities that will support the growth of esports.  

Qualification Requirements: A Bachelor's degree with an MBA or J.D. degree is preferred. 10+ years' experience in business development at a leading sports league, agency, media and / or content company. A deal veteran with an understanding of the sports industry, esports, and the broader media landscape. Adept at negotiating sound commercial agreements. Possess a solid understanding of contracts including licensing agreements. Strong understanding of financial analysis and modeling. Comfortable developing and executing growth strategies. A clear communicator who is highly collaborative and adaptable.

Entertainment and Sports Attorney

The candidate must have relevant specialization with 2+ years of practice experience preferably in a large international law firm. Excellent command of both written and spoken English required.'

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