Dr. Gil Fried is a tenured Full Professor at the University of West Florida and serves as associate dean of the Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business. He started at UWF in 2021. Prior to his appointment at UWF, Dr. Fried was a Professor in the Pompea College of Business at the University of New Haven for 21 years and retired with the designation of Professor Emeritus in 2021.
Dr. Fried is a specialist in sport law, finance, and facility management. He received his master’s in sport management and his law degree from The Ohio State University. He has written over 13 books on sport risk management, sport facility management, sport analytics, esports, and sport finance. One of the books he wrote is the Academy for Venue Safety and Security (AVSS) textbook used by the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM). His other textbooks are used in over 140 universities in the United States and have been translated into Chinese, Russian, and Korean. He lectures nationally on financial risk management, facility risk management, crowd management/venue safety, and sport safety. His books and lecturing are supplemented with writing numerous industry articles. He has published over 400 articles focused on facility and law related concerns. Besides writing for others, he is also the Editor of Sports Facilities & the Law newsletter. He is regularly quoted in industry publications and periodicals. In 2011 he was awarded the prestigious Betty van der Smissen Leadership Award from the Sport Recreation and Law Association (SRLA) for outstanding contributions to the field of sport law education. In 2012 he was awarded the Sport Management Outstanding Achievement Award by the National Association of Sports and Physical Education (NASPE). This award recognizes professionals who have made outstanding contributions and provided leadership in the field of sport management.
Notably, he is the editor-in-chief of Sports Facilities and the Law.
Dr. Fried coordinates the Patron Management Institute and developed their Certificate in Patron Management Program (CPM). The CPM program is the only multi-disciplinary training program developed through and with industry leaders and designed to ensure participants learn and internalize risk management best practices. He has handled a large number of sport/music industry liability cases and has worked as an expert witness in various cases from stadium stampedes to foul ball cases. Some of his cases have involved significant national attention such as the Camp Randall stampede (University of Wisconsin), the Aramark Meadowland drunk driving case, the Wal-Mart Black Friday crowd case, Stow assault case, and the basketball crowd rush case (Kaye) in Phoenix. He also serves on several board of directors of sport-related businesses and organizations. He has an active consulting practice called Gil Fried & Associates, LLC and has several major clients from corporations to insurance companies.
Question: How did you become a sports law professor?
Answer: I studied sports law at The Ohio State University. I was one of the first students to go through a dual degree in sports law and sport management. I graduated and tried to get a legal Job in San Francisco. I joined an existing firm, and we launched the Sports Law Center. Our focus was on representing sport venues and teams rather than most people at the time who were trying to become agents. I reached out to the University of San Francisco who just launched a sport management master’s degree program. I was asked to teach sport law and several years later I transitioned from teaching as an adjunct to being a full-time, tenure-track, faculty member.
Q: What areas of sports law do you specialize in?
A: My focus has always been on risk management. I remember being an attorney and speaking at various conferences and having people approach me and thank me for my nuggets of advice….and then they would not do it. Whether it dealt with proper supervision, minimizing facility risks, having the right buffer zone, etc…. I kept hearing the same thing. People are often busy and have a number of excuses for why they don’t do the right thing. I knew they would possibly see me later (as an attorney or an expert witness) if they didn’t take some basic steps to reduce the risk of injury to participants and spectators. That is what launched my interest in risk management and how to better train and prepare individuals to make sports safer for all.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about your membership in SRLA?
A: I joined SRLA back in the 1990s and I found some kindred spirits. The membership was made up of like-minded people with a passion to teach and educate both those in the academic and broader spaces. There were folks such as Dr. Betty van der Smissen and Dr. Herb Appenzeller who were my heroes and enjoyed going to conferences and sharing ideas, theories, concepts, and war stories with others who could really appreciate where I was coming from and what I wanted to do in educating the next generation.
I also don’t take myself too seriously and know we are in a stressful occupation with all the demands on our time. That is why I love the SRLA conferences. It gives me a chance to collaborate and discuss concepts with others in a less intimidating environment for many. Some conferences are very stuffy, and you have to be on your best behavior to avoid offending anyone or harming your career by saying the wrong thing. The folks who attend SRLA are relaxed and chill and that creates a very warm and welcoming environment for folks, especially new members or first-time conference attendees. That is why it is the only conference I always go to each year.
Q: What trends are you following closely and why?
A: There are several trends I am tracking right now. I am very concerned with the state of youth sports and how money, ego, greed, and other evils are creeping in and making it difficult for coaches to coach, officials to officiate, and administrators to effectively run their programs. Parents and others need to be reined in, and we have to get the money out of youth sports to try and make it healthy and fun for all. I also see trends that have come and gone over the years. For example, I remember when trampoline parks were sued out of existence in the 1970s. Then they came back. However, the injuries are still there, and they are not any safer in my opinion. The push to participate in extreme sports puts a lot of pressure on venues, coaches, and administrators. The ability to buy insurance has become a tougher purchase for many. Thus, we have to find solutions that can help make venues safer, at an affordable cost, and then get all participants and spectators to appreciate risks that are known and communicated effectively to them. The last thing I would like to highlight is how fans are misbehaving on an all-too frequent basis. When I was younger there was no “Fan Code of Conduct.” You behaved or your parents would not take you to a game again. Civility was expected. Now, many folks don’t want to go to games because of the actions of a few vocal and obnoxious individuals. I would love to see a lifetime ban on disorderly fans that would not be allowed back into any stadium or arena. You misbehave at an NFL Game, you would be banned from MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL stadiums as an example. It might seem harsh, but I think aggressive action needs to be taken or people will stop going to games.
