Harvard Law School Sports Law Symposium: Sports Law in an Economic Downturn

I'm pleased to be joining Rick as a participant in this year's Harvard Law School Sports Law Symposium, which will be held on Friday March 13th and Saturday, March 14th at the law school.

The symposium, which is hosted by the Harvard Law School Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law, is in honor of Harvard Law School Professor Paul Weiler, one of the founders of U.S. sports law and the person who may deserve more credit for the growth of sports law than any other legal scholar.

The symposium's subject matter is "Resiting the Recession: Growth Opportunities for Sports in an Economic Downturn."

The event is open to the public, and details can be read at this link. In addition, Harvard Law School 3L Megha Parekh -- the sports co-chair of the Committee -- can be contacted with questions at mparekh[at]jd09.law.harvard.edu.

Here are some of the detiails:

New Stadiums
Friday, March 13, 2009 – 5 pm
Harvard Law School, Langdell North

The “New Stadiums” panel, moderated by Professor Peter Carfagna, will focus on the new stadiums that have been built recently, the difficulties teams face in financing stadiums, the use of public monies, and other issues associated with the development and leasing of sports venues.

Moderator:

Peter Carfagna
Partner, Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP (Cleveland, OH)
Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School

Panelists:

Derek Jackson
Vice President & General Counsel
Florida Marlins

Damon Jones
Vice President / Club Counsel
Washington Nationals

Andy Lee
Former General Counsel
New York Jets

Mike Lufrano
Senior Vice President, Community Affairs/General Counsel
Chicago Cubs

Allan G. Mutchnik
Partner
Skadden, Arps (Los Angeles)

New Media

Saturday, March 14, 2009 – 10:30 am
Harvard Law School, Langdell North

The “New Media” panel, moderated by Professor Rick Karcher, will cover how sports leagues and teams exploit new media and fantasy sports to generate revenues.

Moderator:

Rick Karcher
Florida Coastal School of Law

Panelists:

Bob Bowman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP

Frank Hawkins
Partner
Scalar Media

Mike Mellis
Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP

Bryan Perez
Senior Vice President and General Manager
NBA Digital

Michael Zarren
Assistant Executive Director of Basketball Operations/Associate Counsel
Boston Celtics

New Markets
Saturday, March 14, 2009 – 2 pm
Harvard Law School, Langdell North

The “New Markets” panel, moderated by Professor Mike McCann, will cover how sports leagues choose which markets to reach, the legal challenges associated with expansion into new markets, and how leagues approach branding and marketing their sport domestically and abroad.

Moderator:

Michael McCann
Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
Legal Analyst and Si.com Columnist, Sports Illustrated
Co-Founder, Harvard Law School Project on Law and Mind Sciences

Panelists:

Rob Friedrich
NBA China

Eric Nyquist
Vice President, Strategic Operations
NASCAR

Jon Oram
Partner
Proskauer Rose

Jim Renacci
Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee
Arena Football League


Keynote speakers include Andrew Zimbalist (economics professor at Smith College and rewnowed sports business expert) and Jeff Pash (NFL's Executive VP and General Counsell)

It should be a great event.