Departments: Corporate: Sports Law

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Dennis Coleman, Practice Group Leader
Georgetown University Law Center, 1978
800-951-4888 x7361
dennis.coleman@ropesgray.com

How big is our practice group?
20 lawyers (4 partners, 16 associates).

Cynthia McMakin (Columbia Law School '06), a third-year associate, worked with partner Dennis Coleman in representing both Vivian Stringer and the National Association of Basketball Coaches with their respective book deals. Please click here to read about this associate's role on the deal.

Daniel Adams, (University of North Carolina School of Law '04) as a fifth-year associate, assisted partner Dennis Coleman in representing Coach Jamie Dixon in his contract negotiations with the University of Pittsburgh. Please click here to read about this associates role on the deal. In addition, Dan assisted partner Mark Nuccio in negotiating the acquisition of a minority interest in a Major League Baseball team. Please click here to read about this associates role on the deal.

Ryan Schaffer (University of Virginia School of Law '06) is a third-year associate in the firm's Sports Law Group. Ryan has worked on several contract negotiations for college basketball coaches alongside Dennis.

Matthew Elliot (Northwestern University School of Law '05) is fourth-year associate in the firm’s Sports Law Group. Matt has worked with Dennis Coleman and Chris Conniff to represent several coaches and student-athletes during NCAA investigations, compliance matters and applications for additional eligibility. Please click here to read about this associate's role on the deal.

What do we do?
We represent coaches, athletes, and teams in connection with contract negotiations and disputes, intellectual property and licensing, and NCAA investigations and compliance.

Al Skinner, head coach at Boston College, is one of the many Division I college basketball coaches represented by Ropes & Gray's Sports Law Group.

We represented Gillette in connection with acquiring the naming rights of the home of the New England Patriots in Foxborough, MA.

What have we done lately?

We handle contract negotiations, speaking engagements, book contracts and other legal matters for over 30 Division I head coaches in basketball and football, including Al Skinner of Boston College, a new contract extension for Jeff Capel of the University of Oklahoma, Phil Martelli of St. Joseph's University, Jaime Dixon of the University of Pittsburgh, Jim Caldwell of the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Dungy as an author and broadcaster, and 14 time Emmy award winning broadcaster Dick Enberg. For a description of the associate's role on one of these negotiations, click here.
We are outside general counsel to the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Based in Kansas City, the NABC and its members are powerful influences on the multibillion dollar sport of college basketball. The NABC calls on us to advise it on a wide range of activities, including the development of a strategy to reduce the number of early entrants (including both high school and college athletes) into the NBA Draft. After analyzing the NBA's collective bargaining agreement and its effect on the decisions of student-athletes to pursue professional careers, we assisted the NABC in crafting a "Three-Year-Rule" and have lobbied the NBA and the NBA Players Association to adopt it as part of a new NBA collective bargaining agreement. Recently, we devised a coach group license agreement for the NABC.
We represented Reebok in connection with its $3.8 billion sale to Adidas. For a description of the associate's role on this transaction, click here. Reebok is one of the world's leading makers of athletic footwear and apparel. Prior to the sale, Ropes & Gray had acted as Reebok's outside counsel on a variety of transactions, including its landmark exclusive licensing deal with the NFL and the acquisition of The Hockey Company, one of the world's leading makers of hockey skates, sticks, apparel, and other equipment.
We assisted the City of Manchester, New Hampshire as project counsel in connection with the development and financing of a stadium for the Double A Minor League baseball team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. In our role as project counsel, we prepared and negotiated an overall Memorandum of Understanding, a temporary lease for the use and renovation of an existing stadium for two seasons of play by the team, the land lease and disposition agreements for the new stadium site (including agreements for development of the surrounding property for hotel, retail and residential use), a development agreement, a management agreement with the team and related documentation with the league. We also represented the city in the bond issuance that financed the project. The stadium opened in spring 2005 for baseball games and other activities.