By Oliver Canning
The world of sports law is rapidly transitioning from a niche specialization to an exploding multidisciplinary field. As the sporting industry grows into a global asset class, legal education has pivoted with it, moving beyond teaching traditional contract negotiation into the complicated areas of private equity, AI, and the burgeoning name, image, and likeness (NIL) landscape.
- The Financialization of Sports: Private Equity and Big Data
One of the more prominent changes since the last edition of this piece in 2024 has been private equity’s aggressive entrance into the world of professional sports. Institutional investment has begun to reshape the very way leagues are structured and teams are valued, creating a need for a new type of sports lawyer who is simultaneously as comfortable with a complex mergers and acquisitions deal as they are when handling matters involving labor law.
At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integrated and has revolutionized the means by which teams are managing engagement with their fans, scouting top prospects, and protecting their intellectual property. In response, law programs have developed cutting-edge curricula that are helping to prepare students for a future where algorithms will influence everything from broadcast rights to player contracts.
- The NIL Evolution: From Chaos to Compliance
NIL once completely lacked regulation, being referred to as a “Wild West,” but has now entered a new era of institutional compliance and market regulation. In turn (and in conjunction with the 2025 House v. NCAA settlement agreement), leading law schools have moved from hypothetical conversations to real-world clinical application, helping to influence the lives of student-athletes across the country. These programs have launched dedicated NIL clinics and projects that grant pro bono legal service to players on campus. This is a trend that reflects a larger shift towards a new area of collegiate roles, where legal expertise is applied to areas like risk management, compliance, and athlete brand protection to help accomplish the goals of a given athletic department.
- Emerging Hubs and Interdisciplinary Expertise
The “Top 30 U.S. Sports Law Programs in 2026” are colleges and universities that are increasingly defined by both their interdisciplinary approach and geographic advantage. Programs that call in sports-centric areas like Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and Phoenix home offer their students unparalleled access to league headquarters, major agencies, and massive live events. In addition, the growing number of joint degree programs (including J.D./MSLB, J.D./M.S., and J.D./LL.M. experiences) is indicative of a rising industry demand for professionals who can offer both business acumen and legal excellence.
As the sports law landscape continues to develop in areas like global arbitration and sports betting, the best programs in America have moved beyond just teaching the “law of sports” to create training systems to develop the future architects of a multi-billion dollar global industry where the lines between athlete, enterprise, and influencer continue to shift and blur.
THE TOP THIRTY
**PLEASE NOTE: The following programs are listed alphabetically and are not otherwise ranked. This list should not be construed as placing any one program above any other(s).**
Arizona State University (ASU) Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Arizona State University’s (ASU) Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law stands out for its curriculum and programs that blend business and legal education. Its Allan “Bud” Selig Sports Law and Business (SLB) program, led by Professor Don Gibson (a former MLB and Basketball Hall of Fame executive), provides scholarly and practical instruction from faculty who bring significant sports-industry experience to the classroom. Students build real-world connections through the program’s partnerships with ASU Athletics, the W. P. Carey School of Business, and professional and amateur sports organizations across the region, opening doors to internships, work experience, and high-impact professional networking. The program also offers study-abroad experiences, and the Selig Speaker Series (recently featuring sports agent Leigh Steinberg) brings the most influential voices in sports to campus. Students benefit from a growing alumni network of rising sports industry leaders and a powerful board of advisors. The Selig SLB program is a top choice for students pursuing sports careers in law or business. ASU offers a concurrent J.D./Master of Sports Law and Business and a standalone Master of Sports Law and Business degree.
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School continues to be an attractive destination for aspiring sports attorneys in New York City, leveraging its proximity to players’ unions, major leagues, and leading agencies to provide students with substantial experiential opportunities. Under Professor Jodi Balsam, the program has expanded significantly with the launch of the Brooklyn Law School Sports Law Clinic (December 2025), which is the sole sports law clinic in NYC, as well as the only sports law externship course in the city, placing students in local leagues, teams, firms, and agencies for academic credit and giving students the chance to provide pro bono representation to underserved and emerging athletes. The clinic serves clients navigating NIL, House settlement-related claims, eligibility disputes, pay structure issues, SafeSport and disciplinary proceedings, antidoping matters, and youth sports access barriers, alongside policy work including leading Title IX research. The program also sent teams to eight sports law competitions nationwide last year, including negotiation, arbitration, and litigation events. Its annual symposium drew over 200 registrants in October 2025, reflecting strong practitioner engagement. Students further participate in the Athlete Endorsement Negotiation Competition (which featured seventeen teams in just its second year) and benefit from the international perspective of visiting Professor William Bull (of Maastricht University) on sports agent regulation. Accomplished NIL expert Kristi Dosh will also join to teach a Name, Image, and Likeness course beginning next academic year. Most significantly, Brooklyn Law maintains strong employment outcomes, placing graduates into sports law roles across major leagues, teams, and leading firms in New York and beyond.
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School uses its prime location in Manhattan as an active laboratory for sports law, helping to connect students to major league headquarters (including the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA) and leading industry practitioners. The program’s courses emphasize a rigorous corporate, employment, IP, and antitrust law foundation that is further bolstered by a strong sports-connected alumni network. Classes include ‘Sports and the Law’ (taught by Martin Edel), ‘Sports Law: A Dispute Resolution Perspective’ (taught by Jill Pilgrim), and ‘Sports Corruption, Discrimination, and Equity Concerns in U.S. Sports’ (taught by Danielle Melitove, a CAS arbitrator). Columbia’s Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Society (EASLS) plays host to a number of practitioner speaker events and a Fall Sports Law Symposium, while the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts is a leading publication of sports and entertainment law scholarship. Students at Columbia have the chance to develop their skills through arbitration, negotiation, antitrust, and IP-related classroom experiences, as well as engagement with the Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts and other student organizations on campus. In addition, industry and alumni ties span across teams, firms, and leagues, with prominent speakers including Jeffrey L. Kessler and a variety of league executives across the NBA, MLB, and other powerful sports organizations.
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, provides students with a prestigious path into the sports industry through the school’s blend of professional networking and academic excellence. Cornell’s program is headed up by Adjunct Professor Michael L. Huyghue, a prominent figure in the sports world with over three decades of experience (including serving as a general manager in the World League of American Football as well as the Commissioner of the United Football League (UFL)). Students can access firsthand insights into athlete representation and league labor relations under his mentorship, while Cornell’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society (SELS) further enriches the experience by boasting more than 200 members and hosting frequent networking opportunities and guest speaker series. In addition, the Legal Information Institute (LII) of Cornell hosts “Wex,” which is a leading resource in global sports law research. By allowing students access to a diverse array of transactional clinics and a well-defined curriculum that spans contract and antitrust law, Cornell equips students in their program with the specialized training and skills that are needed in order to excel in agency, sports litigation, and executive league positions.
Duke University School of Law
Duke University School of Law offers students a highly prestigious sports law program that is anchored by the school’s Center for Sports Law and Policy. The Center is co-directed by Professors Paul Haagen and Doriane Coleman, focusing on the business, regulation, and social impact that sports has across professional, Olympic, collegiate, and amateur levels. Duke is recognized for having a proactive approach to contemporary industry trends, as exemplified by the program’s student-led “Future of College Sports” series, an initiative that has featured appearances from influential leaders like Senator Cory Booker to discuss potential NIL legislation. Furthermore, the school’s geographic location gives its students a multitude of strategic networking pathways to major sports hubs, including Washington D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville. By combining policy-focused education with a high-ranking legal pedigree, Duke’s program is able to prepare their graduates for promising careers in league governance, specialized private practice, and sports representation alike.
Florida State University (FSU) College of Law
The Florida State University (FSU) College of Law provides its students with a premier approach to the world of sports law through its J.D./M.S. in Sport Management program. FSU is situated in Tallahassee, Florida, and has a curriculum allowing students to simultaneously earn both a law degree and a Master of Science, giving a fascinating blend of applied sports business training as well as legal doctrine. The curriculum has recently expanded to include a dedicated ‘Sports Law’ course as well as a class on the ‘Regulation of College Athletics,’ further boosting the program’s coverage of contemporary issues in the sports space. Students complete twenty-four credit hours of sport management coursework that spans media relations, sports law, and sports marketing topics and culminates in a thesis. FSU also emphasizes practical training on agent representation dynamics, contract negotiation, and labor regulation across competitive sports environments. The program receives enhanced career support via Russell Register (who has impressive experience within NCAA compliance office settings) and provides funding, support, and coaching to their Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Society (EASL) competition teams, who have competed in events that include the Fordham, Tulane, and UNLV national competitions. FSU’s EASL programming also highlights impressive speakers and networking events as well as active student engagement through experiential and social programming.
Fordham University School of Law/Gabelli School of Business
Fordham University’s Law School offers a sports law course and an annual symposium organized by its sports law student club. The university also created sports business and sports law programming housed within Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business. The Gabelli School of Business has also developed a Sports Business Initiative, which leverages the school’s location in the international sports and entertainment hub of New York City. The Initiative is focused on sports law, economics, ethics, and politics, seeking to cultivate a dynamic ecosystem for debate and analysis of legal, business, and governance issues across all levels of sport, including professional, amateur, domestic, and international. The program relies on faculty across its business, law, ethics, communications, finance, marketing, IT, and management areas, as well as its athletic department, and regularly brings together athletes, executives, attorneys, and media through the school’s symposia and related events. Fordham Law and Gabelli students have participated in research projects, with the possibility of more collaboration in the future. A key feature of the Fordham program is “The Sports Business Podcast with Prof. C.,” featuring interviews from sports law expert Mark Conrad on topics that include sports governance, gambling, the Olympics, and coaching ethics. The school’s notable academic offerings include a Sports Law course at the undergraduate level, along with robust sports marketing, communications, and analytics offerings, as well as a possible expansion into graduate-level coursework coming in the near future.
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is based in the heart of the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., leveraging its prime location to give its students a promising destination to study entertainment and sports law. The school is recognized around the globe for its overall academic caliber, but the subject areas of intellectual property, entertainment law, and technology law stand out at Georgetown as helping to provide crucial support to a dynamic sports law curriculum. Students in the program have the chance to take part in specialty courses like ‘Entertainment Law,’ ‘Sports Law,’ and ‘The Law and Business of Television.’ One of the program’s key features is the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Law Division (GEMALaw), which is an active student organization that hosts a highly regarded annual Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium, an event that helps to connect students with prominent practitioners in the industry from notable organizations like the WNBPA, FOX Sports, and Monumental Sports & Entertainment. The vast alumni network boasted by Georgetown includes high-ranking executives like the President of the Green Bay Packers and the Chairman of NBC’s Sports Group, helping to give students incredible mentorship opportunities and pathways to careers practicing sports in the nation’s capital and beyond.
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School offers a premium sports law curriculum distinguished by both its rigorous coursework and its incredible experiential learning opportunities. The program is led by Professor Peter Carfagna, centering on a signature sports law clinic that gives students real-world legal placements with major professional leagues, agencies, and teams, an initiative Carfagna has spent nearly two decades developing and expanding through deep industry relationships. Students have the ability to specialize through three distinct clinical classes focusing on the legal theory of the major leagues, athlete representation, and advanced contract drafting, with many securing internships that act as direct entry points into the industry. Outside of the classroom itself, students contribute scholarship to the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and engage with world-class speakers from across the sports industry at the school’s annual spring symposium. The prestigious reputation of Harvard’s program is reflected in its alumni network, which includes general counsel, executives, and front-office leaders from across the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and global organizations like FIFA, equipping its graduates with the professional networking connections and practical skills necessary to excel in this competitive field.
Marquette University Law School
Led by Professors Paul Anderson and Matt Mitten, Marquette University Law School’s sports law program remains among the leaders in national and international sports law. The program has notably been bolstered by the recent addition of Professor Aaron Hernandez, who will serve as the director of the Law School’s National Sports Law Institute (NSLI) and join its impressive sports law faculty. Known for having a robust sports law alumni network, Marquette offers its students a wide-spanning curriculum that includes seventeen specialized classes, alongside the opportunity to earn an additional sports law certificate through the NSLI. The program’s students enjoy an immersive campus environment with weekly events in the Sports Law Speaker and Conversation Series, numerous career panels, and continuing legal education (CLE) programs and conferences. Practical experience is also a central focus, as students have access to numerous internship opportunities each semester within professional teams, colleges, sports law firms, and the NCAA, among many other organizations. Students also have the chance to join and write for the Marquette Sports Law Review, compete internally and nationally at a variety of competitions, and participate in seven different sports law student groups. Marquette’s blend of strong leadership, rigorous academics, and hands-on training consistently prepares its graduates to go on to have impactful careers in law practice and sports at all levels.
New York Law School
New York Law School (NYLS) has quickly become a prominent player in the world of sports law, driven in part by its amazing location in the heart of New York City, as well as the leadership of adjunct Professor Dan Lust. NYLS’s program stands out due to its innovative and hands-on approach to sports law through initiatives like the NIL Pro Bono project, an opportunity for students to give legal support and education to athletes navigating their NIL rights. The school also now boasts weekly speaker sessions that bring practitioners directly into the classroom to impart their knowledge onto members of the program. NYLS has also continued to grow their experiential learning offerings, transitioning their former Soccer Negotiation Competition into an NIL-focused competition that reflects the shifting legal landscape of modern college athletics. Students can also benefit from NYLS’s annual sports law symposium that is held each spring and a constantly expanding curriculum, featuring classes like ‘Advanced Sports Law.’ In addition, NYLS sends student competition teams to sports law competitions all over the country, one of a growing number of schools to use these events as a chance to reinforce their commitment to practical training and national engagement in the sports law field.
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, situated in Malibu, California, near the sports and entertainment hub of Los Angeles, offers its students a leading Entertainment, Media, & Sports Law (EMS) Program that is integrated into the school’s larger course offerings. Led by Professor Maureen Weston (who has been nationally recognized for her work with the NCAA committee on infractions, as a sports law scholar, and as an arbitrator on panels including the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee dispute resolution bodies, and FINRA), Pepperdine’s program emphasizes both practical rigor in sports law and dispute resolution as well as academic rigor. Students have the opportunity to pursue an LL.M. as well as a J.D. Certificate in Entertainment, Media, & Sports Law, giving program participants a flexible pathway to gain access to specialized training in the space. Pepperdine also helps to give students hands-on experience through their Sports Law Society, writing opportunities, advocacy competitions, and conferences that aim to address contemporary issues such as eSports, NIL, SafeSport, sports betting, and Olympic governance. One of the program’s most prominent features is their International Sports Law Study Tours that span cities such as Paris, Switzerland, and London, led by CAS arbitrator Jeffrey Benz and Professor Weston and offering students direct experience with global arbitration bodies and sports institutions.
Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law, located in the heart of Silicon Valley and the sports-rich San Francisco Bay Area, sets itself apart through its offering of a specialized Sports Law Certificate program that is structured to address the legal complications created by the multibillion-dollar athletics industry. Led by Leonard Lun, the first cohort of the program (thirteen students in total) graduated in the spring of 2025, and it remains the only such curriculum of its kind in the Bay Area, providing a comprehensive selection of classes that encompasses labor law, antitrust, privacy, and intellectual property. A cornerstone of Santa Clara’s growth in this space has been its highly active Sports and Entertainment Law Society, which now exceeds 100 members and plays host to a variety of site visits with professional sports organizations, speaker panels, and a monthly newsletter. In March 2026, the law school hosted its 3rd Annual Santa Clara Sports Law Conference, an event that featured four panels, speakers from around the country, and 100-plus attendees. Students at Santa Clara can also benefit from a popular ‘Sports Law’ course that is offered to both full-time and part-time J.D. candidates and features weekly guest speakers from across the sports industry. The school’s Honors Moot Court External Team placed first at the Fifth Annual Professional Football Negotiation Competition at Villanova in March of 2025, and a new sports law course has been added to the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business’s M.S. in Sports Business Program (also taught by Lun), allowing for integration across multiple disciplines.
Seattle University School of Law
Seattle University School of Law offers its students a devoted sports law program that is guided by Kelli Rodriguez, focusing on the intersection of law, sports, and ethics by cultivating experiences that are intended to help students prepare for careers in a sporting world that is constantly evolving. Seattle emphasizes compliance and risk management as well as the legal nuance seen across the likes of both major and collegiate athletics. The program allows J.D. students to focus their studies on sports, and non-J.D. students may pursue a Master of Legal Studies (MLS) degree in Sports Law and Sports Law Compliance, providing them with a pathway to address the complexities inherent in countless areas of the industry, including NIL, labor law, and intellectual property disputes. Over the past two years, Seattle has continued to expand the program’s offerings to ensure students stay on the cutting edge of the evolving sports law landscape, including the recent addition of a dedicated NIL course that offers a timely way for students to stay aligned with industry trends. Situated in a passionate sports market in the city of Seattle, the program gives students practical experience through internships with organizations like the Mariners, Kraken, and Seahawks as it continues to build strong momentum.
Seton Hall Law School
Seton Hall Law School’s Gaming, Hospitality, Entertainment, & Sports Law (GHamES) program, which was launched as a formal certificate back in 2023, continues to expand its offerings as part of the school’s 75th anniversary. Building on Seton Hall’s historic role as one of the first U.S. law schools to emphasize the study and practice of sports law, the program, which is led by Associate Dean Devon Corneal and Professor Robert Boland, utilizes the sports betting leadership of New Jersey and the school’s close proximity to New York City in order to provide their students with notable industry access across gaming, sports, and entertainment law. Seton Hall’s current class offerings include ‘Sports Negotiations,’ ‘Collegiate Sports Law,’ ‘Labor Relations in Sports,’ and a hands-on NIL course that gives students the chance to negotiate and draft mock agreements. Seton Hall reinforces its experiential learning through Sports Law Dialogues, an annual symposium, and a Gaming Law and Compliance Bootcamp that has been nationally recognized and is now in its seventh year. Up to twenty percent of students in the program also complete advanced writing on topics relating to GHamES. Seton Hall’s offerings are further bolstered by the school’s Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Sports, as well as the Stillman School of Business, the university’s Sports Journalism Center, and a dedicated Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS) student-led organization. Recent program highlights include the moot court team enjoying success at the national level, strong sports internship placements across the industry, and the continued influence from the role Dean Emeritus Ronald Riccio played in the landmark PASPA challenge.
Tulane University School of Law
Tulane University School of Law is among the pioneering forces in sports law education. The university is notable for becoming the first American law school to offer a sports law certificate back in 1993. Tulane’s program has been led for nearly two decades by Professor Gabe Feldman alongside Program Manager Eric Blevins (who has been an important guiding force within the program since 2020), offering students a modern curriculum as well as a well-developed alumni network that features graduates across leagues, agencies, and even front offices. The school’s hallmark sports and entertainment mentorship programs now pair close to 100 individual students in total with two professionals apiece, allowing participants to glean valuable insights from those already working within the industry. Tulane also continues to grow their experiential learning offerings through their well-known national competitions (now five in total, including their rapidly growing International Fútbol Negotiation Competition), which drew just under 200 teams combined across their 2026 sessions. Those within the program can also partake in exclusive internship pipelines with organizations like the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, and Athletes First while also having the chance to engage with the nearly 250 industry professionals who engaged with Tulane Sports Law students in 2025. With their new classroom offerings like Sports Broadcast Law on top of their impressive conferences and programs, Tulane remains a top-tier destination for those who hope to practice sports law.
UCLA School of Law
The UCLA School of Law is another outstanding destination for young sports attorneys-to-be, with a location strategically positioned within Los Angeles’ vibrant entertainment and sports landscape. UCLA’s program is anchored by the Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology, and Sports Law, which helps the program to create a structured framework for students to explore the nuances of these dynamic industries. The school distinguishes itself through a strong commitment to experiential learning, as UCLA provides its students with engaging opportunities like the ‘Sports Law Simulation’ and the ‘Talent & Brand Partnerships/Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Clinic.’ These experiences help students to engage in projects that have real-world impact, including direct collaborations with high-level practitioners like the Los Angeles Dodgers legal team. Beyond the classroom itself, the law school at UCLA hosts the yearly Global Sports Forum in partnership with the business school, yet another way the program continues to facilitate essential networking connections with leaders in the industry. With both its deep regional connections and elite academic reputation, UCLA ensures that graduates of its program are exceptionally prepared for a modern sports law market that seemingly changes by the day.
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law is one of the top institutions for students who have interests in the overlap between sports, digital media, and technology, due in large part to the school’s close proximity to Silicon Valley. The program is headed up by Executive Director Wayne Stacy, operating through Berkeley’s Center for Law and Technology and placing sports law within their ‘Entertainment and New Media’ pathway to reflect the growing ties between athletics and digital content, including social media. Berkeley offers its students a robust curriculum that features nearly two dozen courses that range from ‘Video Game Law’ to the negotiation and drafting of sports contracts. Another key piece of the program is the school’s NIL Clinic, where students have the opportunity to give legal advice to athletes across California who otherwise lack access to professional representation. Berkeley’s commitment to experiential learning, combined with the school’s yearly sports law conference that is held each April, works to ensure that program graduates are equipped to take on the evolving legal issues faced by the modern sports industry.
University of Florida Levin College of Law
The University of Florida Levin College of Law is quickly becoming among the most powerful forces in the sports law industry, especially in an extremely competitive Florida legal market. Florida’s program is unique in offering its “Entertainment & Sports Law Roadmap,” which is a structured series of courses that helps to give students a comprehensive legal foundation within the space. A huge part of the program’s curriculum is a sports law course taught by distinguished alumnus Darren Heitner, who has been nationally recognized for his NIL expertise. Heitner’s class features a “live syllabus” that is updated each year to ensure it addresses the most cutting-edge sports legal events as they are taking place. Outside of the classroom, the University of Florida serves as a critical pathway into the vast sporting landscape inside the state of Florida, helping students to secure externships with prestigious organizations like the Women’s Sports Foundation and the LPGA. Attendees also have the chance to make active contributions to the field themselves through the Florida Entertainment and Sports Law Review and the program’s annual spring symposium.
University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law
Over the past two years, the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law has notably expanded the sports law course offerings available to students as it attempts to build on its established J.D./M.S. in Sport Management and Policy, a four-year dual degree program that allows attendees to integrate sports administration and management courses with specialized legal training. A major development for UGA has been the debut of a standalone Master in the Study of Law with a Sports Emphasis, which is a one-year hybrid program that is designed primarily for students who aspire to become sports agents and focuses on NBA, NFL, and NIL representation as well as providing attendees with a robust legal foundation to begin agency work. The program’s J.D. curriculum will be expanded with new sports law classes, including ‘Name, Image, and Likeness Agency,’ as well as other topics that will complement the well-established sports law coursework that has been led by John Cooper for several years. UGA’s externship opportunities have also expanded, now featuring new placements with the Atlanta Braves to go along with their established partnerships with the UGA Athletic Department, Georgia Southern Athletics, and the Georgia Tech Athletic Department. Students within the program also have the chance to compete at the national level via the program’s participation in events like the Tulane International Fútbol Negotiation Competition (reaching the semifinals) and the Villanova Professional Football Negotiation Competition.
University of New Hampshire (UNH) Franklin Pierce School of Law
The University of New Hampshire (UNH) Franklin Pierce School of Law has developed an impressive Sports and Entertainment Law program that is led by Professor Michael McCann, a nationally recognized sports law expert, Sportico contributor, and visiting professor at Harvard Law School. UNH’s program boasts highly distinguished faculty who possess voluminous industry experience, including the representation of elite athletes and involvement at high levels of sports governance and litigation alike. A defining strength of the program is its integration with the law school’s existing intellectual property law programming (an area in which the university is consistently ranked among the top ten nationally), informing their leading coursework in areas such as NIL (where they hosted the nation’s first class in 2020), crisis management, sports betting law, and a combat sports law course that is taught in Las Vegas in partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Through the UNH Sports and Entertainment Law Institute (SELI), attendees have the chance to pursue specific concentrations, contribute to the UNH Sports Law Review, and engage in symposia that address areas like emerging market issues and antitrust. Finally, UNH’s externships and legal residencies with major leagues, teams, and agencies help to position graduates for success in the sports industry when they leave the program.
University of Miami School of Law
Located in a global sports and entertainment hub, the University of Miami School of Law offers a premier, practice-oriented curriculum with outstanding internship and global opportunities. Miami’s Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law (EASL) program stands out as being the only American program to unite the three industries of entertainment, arts, and sports law under one umbrella. The EASL program emphasizes transferable lawyering skills through a 35+ course, practitioner-led experiential curriculum. Students can pursue an accelerated J.D./LL.M. while taking innovative transactional courses in areas such as venue agreements, team transactions, and AI. Miami’s EASL program has deep industry integration through its advisory board and partnerships with organizations like NBCUniversal, the Miami Dolphins, the WNBPA, and FIFA, alongside global coursework in Madrid, Florence, and London. Each year, students secure 75+ industry practicum opportunities nationwide, including Fanatics, WME, NFL teams, Inter Miami, Roc Nation, and more. Graduates also join top firms such as Sidley Austin, Kirkland & Ellis, and Latham & Watkins. Miami Law runs two signature spring events, the Counseling Creators Competition and Conference and the Global Entertainment and Sports Law + Industry Conference (comprising two days and seventeen panels), bringing together over 135 practitioners as judges and speakers. A sports negotiation team prepares students for national competitions, while the NIL and Content Creators Lab and NY “Company Crawl” expand experiential learning and national reach. Experiential learning, a strong alumni network, and elite internships position Miami Law’s EASL program among national leaders in entertainment and sports law education.
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School is another program that is rapidly ascending into a top destination for sports law. Minnesota is distinguished by its major focus on NIL as one of the first schools in the country to launch a dedicated clinic providing pro bono NIL legal services, giving students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience assisting athletes and influencers. Situated in a bustling Midwestern city, the program is a beneficiary of its location within both a sports-centric market and a major Power Five university. Under the leadership of the program’s co-director, Tarun Sharma, the curriculum available to students continues to expand, and Minnesota recently introduced both an annual spring symposium and a sports law moot court competition to bolster their existing offerings. Minnesota’s combination of academic rigor and clinical practice (supported by the strong national reputation of the school) positions the program as a formidable contender for students who want to lead in the evolving professional and collegiate sports legal landscape.
University of Mississippi School of Law (Ole Miss)
The University of Mississippi School of Law (Ole Miss) is led by Professor William Berry (co-author of a leading sports law textbook) and offers its students a leading Sports & Entertainment Law concentration. Ole Miss’ curriculum includes classes covering professional sports law, collegiate sports law, entertainment law, copyright law, trademark law, and gaming law, also featuring a sports compliance seminar and an IP survey course taught by Berry, Ronald Rychlak (FAR and SEC board member), and Brian Downing (Google counsel). The program’s coursework emphasizes contract drafting (including coaches, NIL, and naming rights) as well as litigation simulations (such as collegiate eligibility cases following the Diego Pavia case). Ole Miss also features notable extracurriculars like the Mississippi Sports Law Review (in its fifteenth year, publishing fifteen to twenty student papers), a spring symposium, and teams in national negotiation and moot court competitions. Students also have the chance to work in the athletics compliance department and general counsel’s office. Berry also co-authors West’s Sports Law casebook with Jodi Balsam, Michael Harper, and Marc Edelman, and with Dan Lust is completing the second edition of “College Sports Law in a Nutshell,” while Rychlak co-authors a gaming textbook, allowing students further opportunities to engage with leading educators in the space.
University of Oregon School of Law
The University of Oregon School of Law has continued to help position sports law at the forefront of a broader sports ecosystem where law, governance, innovation, and business are constantly intersecting, anchored by significant expansion within the program over the last two years. Oregon’s signature offering, the Summer Sports Law Institute (SSLI), now includes two online courses that are each five weeks in length (‘Professional Sports Law’ and ‘Pathway to Practice in Sports Law’), with additional optional in-person immersive experiences in Eugene, Oregon, including site visits to Columbia Sportswear, Nike, and Oregon Athletics. SSLI also gives attendees the chance to attend major sporting events and to enjoy engagement with top professional sports organizations like the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). In 2025, Oregon also launched a formal Sports Law J.D. concentration, serving to complement a growing sports law curriculum that includes classes like ‘Sports Licensing,’ a ‘Sports, Entertainment, and NIL Deals’ practicum, and a Sports and Human Rights writing colloquium. The school is also developing a fully online Sports Law LL.M. that will launch in the fall of 2027. Students in Oregon’s program benefit from a litany of industry guest speakers, national internship experiences, competitions, and events like the Black Student Athlete Conference.
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
The University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School offers its students a highly interdisciplinary approach to sports law that draws on its Ivy League environment and prime location in Philadelphia. Penn’s Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS) sits as the cornerstone of this program, building on this foundation through devoted programming like guest speakers, an annual symposium, panels, and support of networking initiatives while also boasting a student-run blog that covers topics spanning IP, labor, social justice, and contracts. Students in Penn’s program also have the chance to compete at the national level in sports and entertainment law negotiation competitions, earning recent titles in the 2025 Tulane Professional Basketball Negotiation Competition (Champions; MVP) and strong finishes in the ASU NBA Trade Deadline Competition and Miami’s Influencers, Artists, and Trendsetters Negotiation Competition. The program also features a curriculum that includes exciting courses like ‘Entertainment Law Transactions,’ ‘Gaming Law,’ ‘Negotiations and Drafting for M&A in Entertainment,’ and ‘Jurisprudence of Sport’ (the last of which is taught by Professor Mitchell Berman), classes that treat individual sports as having distinct legal systems and examine the eligibility and competitive integrity principles that underly each organization. Furthermore, students can benefit from cross-registration with the Wharton School and the sports analytics programming housed therein, giving members of the program additional avenues by which to build their sports law experience.
University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law
The University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law is another program that has significantly expanded its footprint in sports law, launching the Sports, Entertainment, Media, and Technology Law (SEMT) Center on its campus in the fall of 2025. USC’s excellent location in Los Angeles allows the Center to leverage its close proximity to the industry to align its students with outstanding experiences that include internships with organizations such as Riot Games, Angel City FC, Paradigm Sports, and even a newly created relationship with LAFC. Over the course of the program’s first year, the SEMT has established five new courses for the 2026–2027 academic year (including three that focus specifically on sports), recruited a number of new adjunct faculty, and reworked the existing sports and entertainment class offerings to better fit the changing needs of the industry. The program also boasts a speaker series put on through the Center, beginning with a sports agency panel that drew over 100 students, and USC recently hosted a sports symposium in partnership with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). In addition, SEMT has developed an advisory board that is comprised of experienced leaders in the industry and continues to expand their connections with various in-house legal departments in order to increase the number of real-world learning opportunities that are at their students’ fingertips.
University of Tennessee Winston College of Law
The University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, located in Knoxville, offers a growing, practice-oriented sports law program shaped by its location in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), one of the nation’s most competitive ecosystems. Proximity to a major Division I athletic department gives students direct experience with issues in governance, compliance, and the business of college sports. The program has also expanded to include additional academic and experiential opportunities in entertainment and sports law, including ‘Sports Law’ and ‘NIL and the Law,’ as well as class offerings in business, labor, and regulatory law. A key aspect is the school’s Transactional Law Clinic (directed by Professor Brian Krumm), where students advise student-athletes on NIL agreements, intellectual property matters, entity formation, and tax considerations. Faculty involvement in institutional NIL policy development and broader intercollegiate athletics governance ensures the program remains engaged in shaping the evolving legal landscape of college sports. Students regularly secure compliance internships within athletic departments and independent study projects in athlete advocacy and participate in sports advocacy opportunities and sports negotiation competitions across professional and collegiate settings through the school’s Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. Tennessee’s program is supported by guest speakers from within the sports industry and programming from the school’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society, further strengthening its practical training environment.
University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law
The University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law is an amazing destination for prospective sports lawyers, as the program combines the school’s elite academic prestige with practice-oriented training in both sports and entertainment law. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., UVA’s program gives their students strategic access to a key hub for sports leagues, unions, and governmental institutions alike. The program is headed by experts like Professor Sarah Hartley, featuring a curriculum that dives into the commercial, governance, and structural dimensions of professional, amateur, and Olympic sports. UVA’s offerings have also been further bolstered by the addition of a new course, ‘The Business of Sport,’ which will be taught by Professor Mark Whitaker. The school’s impressive Law & Business program additionally integrates sports law themes across their classes and student organizations. Students have the chance to engage with the field through the Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal and the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Society, all while benefiting from hands-on transitional experience through the school’s yearly Transactional Law Competition sponsored by the Virginia Law Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Society. UVA’s robust alumni network further enhances career access for students as well.
Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law is located just outside of Philadelphia and within close reach of New York City, offering to their students a top-tier sports law program that is headed by Professor Andrew Brandt, a former Green Bay Packers executive and sports agent, as well as Centers Program Manager Samantha Myers. At the very core of the program lies the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law, which is one of the very few institutes in the nation that is dedicated exclusively to the field. Students have the opportunity to take part in a highly competitive Sports Law concentration that features real-world projects, weekly collaboration with Brandt, and the chance to assist in the authorship of the annual Brandt Report, which covers emerging issues in the industry. Villanova’s nationally recognized Sports Law Negotiation Team (competing in football, basketball, soccer, and baseball) has also recently secured multiple competition titles. The school’s expansive class selection includes specialty courses taught by leading industry practitioners, while students can also partake in the Moorad Sports Law Journal and the Moorad Symposium, giving them impressive access to networking experiences and leaders in the sports law space.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Oliver Canning is a third-year J.D./LL.M. candidate in the Entertainment, Art, and Sports Law (EASL) program at the University of Miami School of Law. He is a Dean’s List student and recipient of multiple CALI Excellence for the Future Awards and the Dean’s Writing Prize in Entertainment, Art, and Sports Law.
Oliver has gained experience across the sports and entertainment industry, including roles with FIFA, TelevisaUnivision, and the WNBPA.
At Miami Law, Oliver has served as a Teaching Assistant to Professor Peter Carfagna in Sports Law, Representing the Professional Athlete, and Negotiating and Drafting Sports Venue Agreements. He also serves as Treasurer of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS).
Oliver’s scholarship appears in or is forthcoming in journals including the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, UNH Sports Law Review, Denver Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, and The Sports Lawyers’ Journal. He serves on the Law Student Executive Board for Conduct Detrimental and writes for Ruling Sports and Hackney Publications.
