Alumni give tips on breaking into the sports industry
—By Jason Finkelstein
Many law students dream of one day working in sports, but they have no idea how to get there. To offer some guidance, two industry professionals recently gave USC Law students their best advice for launching a career in sports law.
Ross Viselman, associate counsel for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Adam Karon ’05, an agent at Sosnick Cobbe Sports, spoke about how they got their jobs, what they do and what they recommend to current law students looking for similar careers. The Oct. 16 event was sponsored by the Jewish Law Students Association.
Viselman said the key to getting his job was networking. He remained in touch with his law school friends and formed a bond with one over their mutual love of baseball. This former classmate happened to be the deputy general counsel for the Dodgers, and when a position with the team opened up, Viselman got a call.
“The person sitting next to you might one day work for a sports franchise, or might one day be working in the sports industry,” Viselman told the students.
He advised students to consider not just sports teams but league offices, sponsors, television networks and Olympic committees as possible places of employment when they try to break into the industry.
Viselman also noted that antitrust, negotiations, drafting, labor law, employment law and intellectual property are some of the most useful law school classes students can take for a sports-related career.
Viselman’s day-to-day work is mostly related to contracts: He said he spends about 80 percent of his time drafting sponsorship deals; the rest of his time is spent handling small litigation matters, including suits against the team.
As much as he loves working for the Dodgers, Viselman cautioned against letting fandom get in the way of business. He says he never would have gotten the job if he had gone into his interview and talked about being a sports fan.
“Remember, when you graduate from law school, you are not a Dodgers fan. You are a lawyer,” Viselman said.
Meanwhile, Karon’s path to success began when he got an internship with a baseball agent after his first year at USC Law. Karon called the agent’s office and left a message every three days for six weeks before being invited for an interview.
Karon said he started out with small assignments. Eventually he was sent on the recruiting trail for amateur baseball prospects. By his second year of law school, Karon was a certified agent.
Now at baseball representation firm Sosnick Cobbe, Karon’s schedule and tasks are always changing; sometimes he’s at a field recruiting, sometimes he works from home, or in the office.
“One of the things I like about the job is that we get something different every day,” Karon said. “There’s no repetition.”
Karon told students that they have to be willing to survive on very little pay as they work their way up to a successful career in the sports industry. He concluded by advising potential agents to get experience in sales, even retail, and to walk the fine line between being persistent and annoying in the job search process.
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