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| Leccese more competition for entry into sports |
The AMERICAN LAWYER's Brian Baxter wrote under the header, "Surge In Sports Mega-Deals A Boon To Proskauer, Others." While litigation "still drives much of the legal work in sports, large firms are vying for their share of new deal work that has helped make sports law increasingly lucrative." Proskauer Chair
JOE LECCESE said, "There are only so many clients out there. So there's a lot of competition." Of all the lawyers "laying claim to a piece of the global sports universe, Proskauer's Leccese is the top dealmaker." Proskauer has "been the premier sports law firm for some 50 years," but "other prominent firms also compete," including Covington & Burling, DLA Piper, Foley & Lardner and Skadden/Arps. Other firms, including Akin Gump; Gibson/Dunn; Katten/Muchin; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; and Paul/Weiss are "also making their mark in the sports market" (
AMERICANLAWYER.com, 2/26).
RUNNING WITH THE BIG DOGS: Mississippi State football coach DAN MULLEN has received a contract extension through the '18 season. Mullen will receive $4M this season and will "get an average" of $4.275M over the next four years (STARKVILLE DAILY NEWS, 2/27). Mullen earned about $3M in '14 (Jackson CLARION-LEDGER, 2/27). He becomes the "ninth different SEC head football coach" to hit the $4M mark (ESPN.com, 2/26).
CHARITY STRIPE: Yankees radio play-by-play announcer JOHN STERLING on Thursday hosted a fundraiser at D&D's Restaurant & Pub in N.Y. for families "displaced last month by a fire at the AvalonBay luxury apartment complex in Edgewater, N.J." The fire "displaced approximately 1,000 people, including Sterling" (MLB.com, 2/27)....Icon Art Images' collage "NBA Legends of Basketball -- We Made This Game" has raised $250,000, which will go to the National Basketball Retired Players Association (THE DAILY).....NFL Panthers WR BRENTON BERSIN and C BRIAN FOLKERTS on Wednesday cut their hair "to benefit Wigs for Kids, an organization that provides free hair replacement systems for children who have lost their hair due to medical-related issues" (ESPN.com, 2/25).
KINGS' COURT: The city of Sacramento and the NBA Kings “have agreed to commission" artist JEFF KOONS to "create a sculpture for outside the new downtown arena.” In what is “the largest budget for a public art installation in the region’s history,” the Kings, the city and three team owners will pay $8M for the art. Another $1.5M from the Kings and local philanthropist and artist MARCY FRIEDMAN “will commission work from local artists to be displayed at the arena.” The Koons sculpture will be “completed by the time the arena opens” in ’16 (SACRAMENTO BEE, 2/27). Meanwhile, Sacramento Mayor KEVIN JOHNSON and former NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN “can expect to get called as witnesses in the lawsuit filed” against two of the NBA Kings’ lead owners (SACRAMENTO BEE, 2/27).
NAMES: Patriots QB TOM BRADY and coach BILL BELICHICK are among the names included in Massachusetts state treasurer’s semiannual update of some $2B worth of “forgotten bank accounts, abandoned safe-deposit boxes and checks marked ‘return to sender.’” Also on the list is Red Sox DH DAVID ORTIZ, former NFLer DREW BLEDSOE, Hockey HOFer RAY BOURQUE, and former MLBers PEDRO MARTINEZ, MANNY RAMIREZ and NOMAR GARCIAPARRA (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/27)....Chartwell Investments, the minority owner of Richard Childress Racing, and team Owner RICHARD CHILDRESS “have retained the global investment bank of Houlihan Lokey to assist Chartwell’s efforts to sell its equity position" in RCR (NBCSPORTS.com, 2/25)....The New York State Legislature on Thursday honored Pedro Martinez “with a pair of resolutions in both the Assembly and Senate, the first Oscar De La Renta Excellence Award and a string of laudatory statements” (Albany TIMES UNION, 2/27)....Bears RB MATT FORTE last week “listed his five-bedroom, 6,062-square-foot mansion” in Mettawa, Ill. for $1.6M. Forte paid $1.5M for the estate in ’12 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/27)....Dolphins Owner STEPHEN ROSS will speak April 9 at Wayne State Law School, his alma mater (DETROIT NEWS, 2/26).
