Gittings Global
As a baseball player at Division III Haverford College, alma mater to superagents Ron Shapiro and Arn Tellem and MLB general managers Josh Byrnes and Thad Levine, Daniel Render was exposed to both a network that could help him find a career in baseball and a realistic expectation of what that might entail.
So he wasn’t particularly surprised when, as an intern with the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds, he found himself wearing a mascot suit for a few games.
Daniel Render
Partner, Katten Muchin Rosenman
Age: 39
Born: Chicago
Education: Haverford College, B.A., history; University of Chicago Law School, J.D.
Family: Spouse, Emily; children, Kate (4), Jack (2) and Annie (5 months)
Advice to my 20-year-old self: Trust in your work ethic and your determination and in the long run it will pay off.
First job: As a window washer over the summer.
How I relieve stress: Basketball and softball.
Favorite saying: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Cause supported: Anti-Defamation League.
Mobile app I could not live without: Google Maps.
Person in sports business I’d most like to meet: Rob Manfred.
Most pivotal decision in my career: Coming to Katten in 2013.
Most pressing issue facing my generation is … : Climate change.
That internship led to one with the Chicago White Sox, and then to a ticket sales job with the club. Though Render did well, he didn’t see sales as his future. When team President Howard Pizer suggested that law school might help prepare him for a more senior role, he took his advice, ultimately graduating from the University of Chicago Law School.
Fourteen years later, Render is a partner in the sports practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman, the firm that represented the White Sox when he worked there. Now based in Los Angeles, he has counseled clients on buying and investing in teams and worked with teams on the negotiation of naming-rights deals and other sponsorships.
In the past two years, his work has included representing the Seattle Kraken ownership group on its acquisition and launch of the expansion team, the Los Angeles Clippers on their naming-rights agreement with Intuit and the Golden State Warriors on their addition of a private equity-backed investor. Since joining Katten, he has worked on deals involving more than a dozen teams.
“Sports owners are some of the most successful and interesting people in the business community, and you’re getting to work with them in an area that they have a special level of excitement for,” Render said. “To see how excited people are to actually do this, as opposed to it’s just your next deal — it helps me with the ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’ aspect of the job.” — Bill King
