News Briefs
Entertainment & Sports Law: Making the cut
by Ian Fisher (2L)
The founder of ESPN and a former White House communications director were among the prominent figures of the sports law and business world who gathered for the 2009 Second Annual UF Sports Law Symposium, held Jan. 23.
Hosted by UF Law’s Entertainment and Sports Law Society, the event kicked off with a discussion on recruiting, moderated by Professor Thomas Hurst, followed by a panel on negotiation. Other panel discussions included labor issues and the future of sports business, each moderated by UF Law professors Nick Ohanesian and Jeffrey Harrison. Speakers included sports law professors at various U.S. legal institutions, sports and marketing agents at top sports and talent agencies, public relations professionals and top wealth advisors.
Kevin Sullivan, who was President George W. Bush communications assistant, also spoke on his position overseeing White House message development and communications planning as well as his experiences as senior vice president for corporate communications & media relations at NBC Universal and as vice president for NBC Sports. At NBC Sports, Sullivan led NBC’s communications efforts for three Olympic Games and for properties such as the U.S. Open, PGA Tour and Ryder Cup; the National Basketball Association (NBA); Major League Baseball; NASCAR; Wimbledon; Notre Dame football; and horse racing’s Triple Crown.
Other speakers included Glenn Toby, an agent for the NFL’s Asante Samuel, other NFL players, and hip-hop artists, and Bill Rasmussen, who founded ESPN in 1979.
Named “The Father of Cable Sports” by USA Today (Sept. 1994), Rasmussen’s entrepreneurial daring led to ESPN, the world’s first 24-hour cable television network, where he pioneered such innovations as “SportsCenter,” wall-to-wall coverage of NCAA regular season and “March Madness” basketball, and NFL draft coverage.
