A couple years ago, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced the hiring of sports lawyer Eric Schaffer to its leadership team.
Having spent almost 20 years in a leadership capacity with Washington’s NFL team, most recently as its Senior Vice President of Football Operations and General Counsel, Schaffer’s qualifications were impeccable.
But it was JGR’s familiarity with Schaffer that led the hire to the finish line. Schaffer, who has a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, had worked closely with JGR team owner and Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs from 2004-2008 in Washington.
“I have often said that you build a winning organization with people,” said Gibbs, who was also named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020. “Eric’s integrity, talent, and work ethic stood out to me during our time together in Washington and that gives me a great deal of comfort to have him join our leadership team. He is going to be a tremendous asset for us at JGR.”
To learn more about Schaffer, who also spent 10 years with the International Management Group (IMG) in various roles prior to his role with Washington, we reached out to him for the following interview.
Question: How did you get your start in sports law?
Answer: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, which happened to be the headquarters for the largest sports management company in the world at the time, International Management Group (IMG). For career day when I was in high school, one of my classmates’ fathers came in to speak to us. He was a sports lawyer/agent for IMG in their golf division working with Greg Norman and other PGA golfers. I grew up playing and loving sports, and had no idea this kind of career was really possible and knew immediately this was something I wanted. For my senior project in high school, I worked at IMG for a month and was so enthusiastic about everything I learned about the business. From there, I met a number of executives including Jeff Orloff (a sports lawyer who ran the operations for IMG motorsports) who steered me toward the IMG internship program for the following summer after my freshman year at the University of Michigan.
I was incredibly lucky to have been placed in the office of IMG’s founder and CEO, Mark McCormack- one of the original sports lawyers/ agents who famously started the company with his handshake deal with golfer Arnold Palmer that led to building the world-wide behemoth representing some of the most accomplished athletes, artists, and models in the world, running events, and producing sports television. I spent two summers in Mr. McCormack’s office- which turned out to be the foundation for what I wanted in my career, as I researched the history of the company for one of the books, he wrote through reading his “chrono’s”-all of his letters and correspondence for decades of his career saved meticulously in bankers boxes in IMG’s warehouse. Those chrono’s have been now donated to the University of Massachusetts school of sports management named for Mr. McCormack. These early experiences helped me to be laser focused on achieving what was a dream career for me, in sports law.
Starting my sophomore year at Michigan, I worked year-round for IMG’s motorsports division who had purchased the Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar race, in addition to running the Cleveland Grand Prix, and a TransAm race in St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduation, I went to work for IMG’s motorsports division as a salesperson focusing on selling their events, and working with young race car drivers on endorsement deals. After one year, I was planning to leave my job and attend law school, and then IMG senior leadership at the time offered me an unbelievable opportunity to continue my job, while they would pay for me to go to law school at Case Western Reserve. I could not pass this up.
Q: How would you describe your time at IMG, and what you learned from that experience?
A: Well, the opportunity to work full-time at my dream company and continue to learn the business along with attending law school was an incredible time in my life. I learned how to budget my time for sure and prioritize tasks throughout the day. I was taking classes early in the morning at Case, and then made the 15-minute drive to IMG headquarters where I worked from about 10:30 AM to 7 PM on most days, then went home to study for my next day of classes. At the start of this process, I put together a list of IMG sports lawyers and executives who I wanted to meet throughout the company and understand their jobs and career paths. Through the next 3 and a half years, I checked off meetings with each of those executives who were generous with their time, sharing their own stories and career paths. These were lawyers and executives in the golf, tennis, baseball, and basketball divisions who were responsible for both client management as well as events. It was never natural for me to think about networking, as I was always someone who just thought if I work hard and I’m good at my job, people will find me. Well, pushing myself out of my comfort zone to network and meet more people was something I started at IMG and paid huge dividends for my career.
Those meetings were paramount to getting my next opportunity, this time as staff counsel for IMG football based in Kansas City. I moved to Kansas City, reporting to IMG’s then President of Football, Tom Condon (a former NFL player who earned his law degree while playing in the League). Tom was known as the most powerful agent in the NFL, representing more than 100 top players (including about 1/3rd of the NFL’s starting QB’s) out of his office in Kansas City along with six employees. My job was to essentially be Tom’s right-hand man, to be involved in every player contract negotiation, to make sure that every client’s collectively bargained rights were protected including representing them at NFL appeal hearings, and any other issue that may have come up in their personal lives and/or careers. Tom also represented the Executive Director of the NFL Players Association at the time, the great Gene Upshaw as well as the NFL Referees Union who in 2001 went on strike against the NFL. I was intimately involved with Tom working on Gene’s contract as well as the situation with the NFL Referees Union to help them get better wages and benefits. Tom turned into one of the great mentors of my career, and the best negotiator I had ever seen. He was universally respected among clients and team executives. The meticulous preparation, the plan for negotiation, and the execution including sitting with him during all of his conversations with NFL GM’s and Presidents, gave me the experience and career path that I craved. Tom never ran from confrontation- that was part of the job, and having a front row seat for three years in our small office to his greatness, watching him navigate minefields every day was instrumental to shaping me into the executive and lawyer I became (or at least aspired to become).
Q: Same with your experience at the Redskins/Commanders? What did you gain from that experience?
A: For me, to get the opportunity to work for an NFL team was my actual dream job. As an agent working at IMG, I enjoyed the deals and working with the players, but I did not love the recruiting aspect. Taking over as the lead contract negotiator for the Redskins in 2003, managing the salary cap and helping to build the team’s roster was incredible. I took input from the head coach, general manager, and ownership, running models and scenarios, creating budget option for three years out. During my first eight years at the Redskins, free agency started at midnight, and it was a rush when the “bell rang”, and we were off starting to add to our team at 12:01 AM. Throughout the free agency period the coaching staff, personnel staff, and ownership were supporting me as I went through negotiations and numerous scenarios. On that first night of free agency, If I finished a negotiation at two or three in the morning, I immediately began to draft the contract in order to finish so that by the time a free agent may show up the next day to officially sign, their deal was drafted and ready. The adrenaline during this period was something I thrived on, as this was the best way I could help the team. The skills I learned working with Tom Condon as a negotiator became incredibly valuable as I was now the lead negotiator and deal maker for the team.
I learned a great deal from my experience, both how I would do things if I ever ran the football operation or the business side, and also learned things from experience I would not repeat if I ever sat in that seat. I learned to give my opinion and disagree with others in leadership based on data and experience, as I was passionate about helping the team succeed. However, at the end of the day, there were many times where my role was to simply execute someone else’s plan, and get the job done. I learned to be prepared for anything at any time. In 2012, I became the team’s General Counsel, in addition to my duties as SVP of Football Operations. This was a rare double duty in the NFL, very few executives had both the football responsibility I had, as well as the General Counsel role, overseeing all legal issues on the business side of the organization. I was able to hire several lawyers to work with me, as well as a salary cap analyst and learned how to delegate responsibility and also learned how to mentor and develop younger employees and took great pride in that part of my job.
Q: What did you learn, specifically, about handling crises while in the NFL with the name change, ownership stuff and so on?
A: Working in the NFL for the Redskins for seventeen years, I feel like I could describe my complex role as simply a problem solver. Whether it was a business issue, a legal issue, a football issue, or another issue facing the ownership group, I was always on call, 24/7 to be brought in to help solve problem. My general temperament is pretty even keeled I believe and that served me well in that environment, walking into the office each day, never really knowing how my day was going out or the issues I could be facing. I thrived under those circumstances and simply wanted to be known as somebody that our team could count on. I had more than my fair share of crises to deal with during my tenure, and as long as I approached each situation methodically and calmly, I could usually provide solutions for how to handle any given situation.
I dealt for many years with the legal issues related to the Redskins name and the trademark case as well as the public relations issues, however I had left the team in 2020, prior to the team being known as the Washington Football Team and later Commanders. Still, maybe the most important skill I developed while in Washington was being able to handle a number of different kinds of issues at once. For example, during a ten-day arbitration where a former GM sued the team, I was handling the questioning of our witnesses in a D.C hotel. It was not just stressful, but an emotional situation given that many of our scouts and other NFL colleagues were involved in this high-profile arbitration. In the midst of all of this, our team President at the time, Bruce Allen had a trade setup for Pro Bowl QB Alex Smith. We were given an afternoon to get a deal done with Alex and his agent, my former boss and mentor Tom Condon, or Alex could go to another team. Well, after questioning witnesses, during our lunch break I went upstairs in the hotel and began my negotiation with Tom for Alex. The negotiation lasted all afternoon, into the night and I was feeling pressure from our team to get the deal done, all the while going back and forth into our emotional arbitration case downstairs. I was facing my mentor, the greatest negotiator I had ever known, and I didn’t want to just get a deal done, but I needed to get the right deal for our team. It all came together that evening, and we finished the arbitration the next day.
Q: What has the transition to not only a new industry, but a more overall business-oriented job been like?
A: The transition for me to NASCAR and my current role as the EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Joe Gibbs Racing has really been the right move career-wise and for my family relocating to Charlotte. The transition has been wonderful because of so many great people at JGR and within the industry. In my current role, I oversee our commercial/business side of the team, and have about forty people on my team. As someone who always loves to be challenged and trying new things, this job has really fit the bill. The business side of NASCAR is fascinating to me, and I have learned a great deal. My team includes sales, marketing, social/digital media, licensing, retail, public relations, and account management. The heads of these respective groups on my team have taught me a great deal particularly when I started. Since I arrived, we have carefully made changes to our structure- building out our sales staff, creating a new marketing group, and focusing more on data and analytics in order to provide our corporate partners with the best possible platform for their businesses. As much as I hustled in the NFL, NASCAR has a totally different structure where we have to have a thriving business side. In the NFL, each team receives an annual check for close to $400 million now as part of the League’s national revenue share related in large part to their gigantic media deals. Teams can operate on this money, and any sponsorship or suite sales are really incremental. In NASCAR, 75% of our team’s revenue comes from sponsorship. My team is responsible for supporting our NASCAR operation of more than 500 employees, focused on winning on the track, and helping our corporate partners achieve a return on their investment off the track.
While I am not formally the General Counsel, I’m still called on quite often to provide a legal opinion and exercise that muscle for our team. I love the opportunity, and I’ve definitely learned a great deal over the past few years in this role.
Q: How would you describe your relationship with Joe Gibbs and family how has it evolved through the years?
A: Joe Gibbs is a legend, plain and simple, and has been a mentor to me since we worked together in Washington. I was humbled and honored when he called me to ask if I was interested in coming to work for him in 2022. Coach Gibbs is one of the most remarkable people I have ever come across in my life, I cherished the opportunity I had to work closely with him between 2004 and 2007 at the Redskins, and I never dreamed the chance to work with him would happen again. Coach dealt with the unimaginable tragedies of losing both of his sons who ran Joe Gibbs Racing with him, a few years apart, both at the age of 49. When his second son passed, Coach called me and asked if I would consider helping to run his NASCAR race team. On the phone that day, he asked me if I knew anything about NASCAR. I responded, “absolutely not”. He laughed and said that he always appreciated how I handled myself working under difficult circumstances and crises at times at the Redskins, and that he knew there would be nothing I would face at JGR as difficult as some of the things I dealt with at the Redskins. That was a tremendous vote of confidence for someone who I had not worked with for more than 15 years and it gave me the guts to make this move.
After almost 2 and a half years with JGR, this organization is just as I would have imagined. What Coach has achieved in 30+ years of running the race team, is a master class in culture. I think that any organization, sports or otherwise could learn a lot from Coach and JGR by how he’s set this organization up, how he lives his life every day as the owner of the team, his faith, his unwavering focus on winning, his unmatched work ethic (even at 84 years old), and his ultimate belief in valuing employees- always putting people first. The same attributes he displays at JGR each day are the same traits he displayed at the Redskins, and in both places, people wanted to work for him, are loyal, and want to succeed for him. It’s easy to see how he is the only person in both the NFL and NASCAR hall of fames.
Q: What has been an approach or philosophy that has been a foundation for your success in several decades as a sports lawyer?
A: I’d say my approach is very simple. Work extremely hard, understand my strengths and weaknesses, play to my strengths and work to improve upon my weaknesses. Always be prepared. I’d say that any success I’ve had is less about being smarter than others, the foundation is being thoroughly prepared before I go into a negotiation, meeting, or transaction. I’ve found that to be a common trait in business leaders I’ve met and read about throughout the years as well as athletes who perform at the highest levels and being prepared is something I know I can control and has nothing to do with talent. It is also important for me to be known as a good teammate, someone who is available to support my co-workers and be there for the team to help solve problems- whether or not it falls within my specific job responsibilities. Finally, focusing on being a good communicator, that is something I’m constantly working on myself with my team, my bosses, and those on the other side of a transaction.
Q: What advice would you give to a young lawyer or law student aspiring to become a sports lawyer?
A: Especially as a student or young lawyer, put your career as a very top priority. Be willing to move for the right opportunity, be willing to take less money than you can make elsewhere for the right opportunity. As you get older, have a family, and larger financial responsibilities, it may be harder to move, take less money, or work longer hours. As a student, take advantage of opportunities to intern. There is no better opportunity for potential employers to get a very inexpensive look at you in their work environment. Learn everything you can about the company and stay informed about the industry as a whole. As a young lawyer, take advantage of any opportunities to be known not only for your legal aptitude, but work to become a trusted business advisor for the company who can solve all kinds of problems. Never stop learning, always be prepared, and outwork the competition.
