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
Michael McCann is an Associate Professor of Law at Vermont Law School, where he teaches sports law, torts, and sales. He is also a Legal Analyst at Sports Illustrated, the “Sports and the Law” Columnist on SI.com, and Co-Founder of the Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School.
During the fall of 2008, he was a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Boston College Law School, where he taught sports law and administrative law. He also served as Chair of the AALS Section on Sports and the Law in 2008.
He is also the Distinguished Visiting Hall of Fame Professor of Law at Mississippi College School of Law, where he was an Assistant Professor of Law between 2005 and 2008 and where he now teaches a sports law class every summer.
While at Mississippi, he received the school’s most prestigious awards for teaching, including the Professor of the Year Award in 2006-07 and 2007-08, the Professor of the Year for First-Year Courses Award in 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08, and the Phi Delta Phi Professor of the Year Award in 2007-08. He was also honored by my colleagues with the Shirley Norwood Jones Faculty Award in 2007-08.
Michael McCann is currently co-authoring a torts casebook and several law review articles with Harvard Law School Professor Jon Hanson.
Prior to becoming a law professor, he served as counsel to college football star Maurice Clarett in his lawsuit against the National Football League and its age eligibility rule (Clarett v. NFL, 369 F.3d 124 (2nd Cir. 2004); cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 1728 (2005)). He also served as a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School and Legal Counsel to U.S. Congressman Marty Meehan.
He has been interviewed on HBO’s “Bob Costas Now”, CNN’s “The Glenn Beck Show” and “Headline News”, CNBC’s “Morning Call” and “Power Lunch,” and the Jim Rome Show. He has also been interviewed on NPR, BBC, the Dan Patrick Show, and by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Business Week.
Panelists:
Rob Friedrich
Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Business & Finance
NBA
Eric Nyquist
Managing Director of Business Development
NASCAR
Eric Nyquist has been with NASCAR since January 2005. As one of only 6 senior executives reporting directly into Chairman and CEO Brian France, Nyquist currently oversees the Business Development Group, managing the course of strategic development and planning across NASCAR and NASCAR Media Group. In this capacity, Nyquist counsels senior leadership on strategic issues, helps the Chairman frame the larger industry’s strategic agenda and works collaboratively with NASCAR’s senior executives to identify, pursue and resolve larger strategic initiatives across the industry, often managing project teams encompassing senior executives from multiple organizations. As part of the annual business planning process, Nyquist facilitates a collaborative company-wide process that determines the top 2-3 strategic “stretch goals” of every NASCAR department and works with senior management throughout the year to successfully achieve these objectives. In this capacity, Nyquist manages critical strategic projects ranging from licensing/sponsorship to media to competition-related matters. Among other accomplishments, Nyquist was instrumental in the formation of the NASCAR Media Group, the restructuring of the industry’s collective licensing business and the negotiation and development of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.
Prior to joining NASCAR, Nyquist served as Executive Vice President of Chicago White Sox Enterprises from 1999-2004. In this role, Nyquist managed strategic development initiatives across the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls and United Center organizations. Nyquist reported directly into owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and was the only senior executive shared over both the Bulls & White Sox franchises. Among other accomplishments, Nyquist was responsible for the sale and negotiation of the $87 MM U.S. Cellular naming rights deal; the refinancing of these cash flows to allow for the large-scale renovation of U.S. Cellular Field; the development of a youth business that included 200+ Bulls/White Sox summer camps – including a year-round BullsSox Training Academy facility; and the establishment of a WNBA team in Chicago.
Nyquist started his career in 1998 at the National Football League in New York as the Manager of Business Planning, working in Roger Goodell’s League Development department. In this role, Nyquist assisted in the development & management of critical revenue-sharing financial models, managed the financial roll-out of the Sunday Ticket package, and played a role in stadium development efforts across the league, including the development and formation of Resolution G-3.
Nyquist has a B.A. in International Economics from Carleton College (magna cum laude), an MBA with a concentration in Analytical Finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (with high honors), and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He has been a guest lecturer at University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business, University of Notre Dame Business School, University of Chicago Law School, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and Loyola University Law School.
Nyquist was born and raised in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He currently resides in Lake Mary, Florida and is married to Michele Lin Nyquist, with two beautiful children, a daughter Charlee (3) and a son Hudson (1). He loves the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Gophers to a fault and has found new religion in Tubby Smith.
Jon Oram
Partner
Proskauer Rose
Jon Oram is a partner in Proskauer Rose LLP’s Corporate Department and a member of the Firm’s Sports Law Group. Jon has a broad-based transactional practice with an emphasis on clients in the sports industry. He represents both established and early-stage companies, as well as investors, financial institutions and private equity funds, in a variety of acquisitions, financings and licensing transactions.
Since joining the firm, Jon has represented the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the ATP Tour, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and other sports leagues and tours in various corporate matters, including team ownership transfers, financings, expansions and relocations. In 2007, he advised MLS in the negotiation of its agreements with David Beckham. More recently, he represented the NBA in connection with the formation of the league’s NBA China venture and its $253 million private placement.
In addition, Jon regularly advises professional sports teams, including the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Jets, the New York Yankees, the Washington Nationals and the New Jersey Devils, in a wide array of transactional matters, including team acquisitions and financings, employment contracts with coaches and other key executives, and the sale of sponsorship, naming rights, seat license, apparel, television, Internet and other new media rights. Among these transactions have been the Eagles’ $140 million naming rights agreement with Lincoln Financial Group, the Devils’ $105 million naming rights deal with Prudential Financial, and the WTA Tour’s $88 million global sponsorship with Sony Ericsson.
In recent years, Jon has counseled a number of teams seeking to develop and finance new stadiums, arenas and other sports facilities. He has worked with the New Jersey Devils in their efforts to construct and financing of the Prudential Center, the Philadelphia Eagles in connection with the lease and development of Lincoln Financial Field, the NBA in its negotiations with the City of Charlotte that ultimately resulted in a new $265 million downtown arena, and the New York Jets in connection with the financing of the Jets’ contribution to the new Meadowlands stadium.
Jon regularly represents both borrowers and financial institutions, such as JPMorgan Chase and Société Générale, in financing transactions involving sports properties. These have included a $650 million bond issuance by an affiliate of the New York Jets (which, together with the simultaneous issuance by an affiliate of the New York Giants, comprised the largest sports finance transaction in history), the NBA’s $1.4 billion league-wide credit facility, private placements of $250 million and $140 million by an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a $225 million loan to the owners of the Houston Texans.
In addition, as a member of the Firm’s Corporate Governance practice group, Jon advises public and private companies, boards of directors, CEOs, CFOs, funds and investors on matters related to corporate governance. Jon frequently counsels clients on compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the SEC rules promulgated thereunder, state law requirements and the NYSE and NASDAQ listing standards.
Jon graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1996, with a bachelors degree in public policy (with distinction) and a masters degree in education. He received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1999, where he was an Essays Editor of The Yale Law Journal and a member of the Yale Law & Policy Review. Prior to joining Proskauer, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Peter K. Leisure of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He has been ranked by Chambers USA as one of the leading individuals in the field of sports law, named by the SportsBusiness Journal as one of the “Forty Under 40″ most influential sports executives, and recognized by Lawdragon as one of the nation’s top 3,000 attorneys.
Jon and his wife, Lisa Rubin, live in Manhattan.
Jim Renacci
Partner, Managing Board Member, President and General Manager
Columbus Destroyers, Arena Football League
Jim Renacci is a partner and managing board member of the Columbus Destroyers franchise of the Arena Football league. He also serves as president and general manager of the Destroyers and serves on the arena football league board as vice chairman. An Ohio and Columbus businessman, Renacci is a lifelong sports enthusiast. He discovered an interest in Arena Football while watching many televised Arena games in Florida, where the league was more mature with franchises in Tampa Bay and Orlando.
Renacci, a Certified Public Accountant and financial advisor, received his degree in Business Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. A Pennsylvania native, he moved to Ohio, where he was employed by a regional healthcare provider for two years before forming LTC Management Services. LTC Management’s primary business was to own, operate and manage nursing facilities throughout the State of Ohio. Although many of these facilities were sold in March of 2000, the company remains a premier management company in Ohio, consulting with many facilities throughout the state. Mr. Renacci has served as the corporation’s president and chief executive officer since the company’s inception.
In 2003, Renacci formed the LTC Companies, which serves as the company’s marquee name. The LTC Companies encompass several business sectors with many businesses located in Ohio and around the Columbus area.
In addition to having served his community as Mayor and President of Council for eight years, he has also served as a member of the City Planning Commission, was a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Fire and EMS Service. He currently serves as a member of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Foundation Board, a Community Board member of First Merit Bank and has served on the Board of Rawiga Country Club, where he was past president.
He and his wife Tina live in Wadsworth and have two sons Drew and Ryan who attend the University of Michigan and Notre Dame University respectfully and a daughter Rhiannon attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
