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Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (2/11/2011)

Amazing that I arrive in New Orleans when the city happens to be the coldest it has been this entire Winter.  Oh well.  At least The Big Easy has been a great time thus far, and I have really enjoyed serving as a arbitrator at the Tulane Law Baseball Arbitration Competition.  Many thanks to everybody helping run the fantastic event, and a special thanks to Armando Velasco and Professor Gabe Feldman for being great hosts and making this a truly enjoyable getaway.  It was rather interesting to have a long conversation with Larry Silverman, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Pittsburgh Pirates, not long after he and his club became the first team to lose an arbitration hearing this year (to Ross Ohlendorf).  While he was certainly disappointed, it was nice to see him still able to smile.  Well, I have been busy eating po’ boys and beignets, which I will have to burn off in the gym in the coming week.  Here are some stories I was not able to cover in depth:

Football

Baseball

Basketball

Sports Business

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.