Hackney Publications Recognizes the Top Thirty U.S. Sports Law Programs in 2026 – First Five in Alphabetical Order
(Editor’s Note: Here are the first five schools to be so recognized. We will highlight five more a day over the next five business days. The full article appears in Sports Litigation Alert on Thursday night)
By Oliver Canning
The world of sports law is rapidly transitioning from a niche specialization to an exploding multidisciplinary field. As the sporting industry grows into a global asset class, legal education has pivoted with it, moving beyond teaching traditional contract negotiation into the complicated areas of private equity, AI, and the burgeoning name, image, and likeness (NIL) landscape.
The Financialization of Sports: Private Equity and Big Data
One of the more prominent changes since the last edition of this piece in 2024 has been private equity’s aggressive entrance into the world of professional sports. Institutional investment has begun to reshape the very way leagues are structured and teams are valued, creating a need for a new type of sports lawyer who is simultaneously as comfortable with a complex mergers and acquisitions deal as they are when handling matters involving labor law.
At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integrated and has revolutionized the means by which teams are managing engagement with their fans, scouting top prospects, and protecting their intellectual property. In response, law programs have developed cutting-edge curricula that are helping to prepare students for a future where algorithms will influence everything from broadcast rights to player contracts.
The NIL Evolution: From Chaos to Compliance
NIL once completely lacked regulation, being referred to as a “Wild West,” but has now entered a new era of institutional compliance and market regulation. In turn (and in conjunction with the 2025 House v. NCAA settlement agreement), leading law schools have moved from hypothetical conversations to real-world clinical application, helping to influence the lives of student-athletes across the country. These programs have launched dedicated NIL clinics and projects that grant pro bono legal service to players on campus. This is a trend that reflects a larger shift towards a new area of collegiate roles, where legal expertise is applied to areas like risk management, compliance, and athlete brand protection to help accomplish the goals of a given athletic department.
Emerging Hubs and Interdisciplinary Expertise
The “Top 30 U.S. Sports Law Programs in 2026” are colleges and universities that are increasingly defined by both their interdisciplinary approach and geographic advantage. Programs that call in sports-centric areas like Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and Phoenix home offer their students unparalleled access to league headquarters, major agencies, and massive live events. In addition, the growing number of joint degree programs (including J.D./MSLB, J.D./M.S., and J.D./LL.M. experiences) is indicative of a rising industry demand for professionals who can offer both business acumen and legal excellence.
As the sports law landscape continues to develop in areas like global arbitration and sports betting, the best programs in America have moved beyond just teaching the “law of sports” to create training systems to develop the future architects of a multi-billion dollar global industry where the lines between athlete, enterprise, and influencer continue to shift and blur.
THE TOP THIRTY
**PLEASE NOTE: The following programs are listed alphabetically and are not otherwise ranked. This list should not be construed as placing any one program above any other(s).**
Arizona State University (ASU) Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Arizona State University’s (ASU) Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law stands out for its curriculum and programs that blend business and legal education. Its Allan “Bud” Selig Sports Law and Business (SLB) program, led by Professor Don Gibson (a former MLB and Basketball Hall of Fame executive), provides scholarly and practical instruction from faculty who bring significant sports-industry experience to the classroom. Students build real-world connections through the program’s partnerships with ASU Athletics, the W. P. Carey School of Business, and professional and amateur sports organizations across the region, opening doors to internships, work experience, and high-impact professional networking. The program also offers study-abroad experiences, and the Selig Speaker Series (recently featuring sports agent Leigh Steinberg) brings the most influential voices in sports to campus. Students benefit from a growing alumni network of rising sports industry leaders and a powerful board of advisors. The Selig SLB program is a top choice for students pursuing sports careers in law or business. ASU offers a concurrent J.D./Master of Sports Law and Business and a standalone Master of Sports Law and Business degree.
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School continues to be an attractive destination for aspiring sports attorneys in New York City, leveraging its proximity to players’ unions, major leagues, and leading agencies to provide students with substantial experiential opportunities. Under Professor Jodi Balsam, the program has expanded significantly with the launch of the Brooklyn Law School Sports Law Clinic (December 2025), which is the sole sports law clinic in NYC, as well as the only sports law externship course in the city, placing students in local leagues, teams, firms, and agencies for academic credit and giving students the chance to provide pro bono representation to underserved and emerging athletes. The clinic serves clients navigating NIL, House settlement-related claims, eligibility disputes, pay structure issues, SafeSport and disciplinary proceedings, antidoping matters, and youth sports access barriers, alongside policy work including leading Title IX research. The program also sent teams to eight sports law competitions nationwide last year, including negotiation, arbitration, and litigation events. Its annual symposium drew over 200 registrants in October 2025, reflecting strong practitioner engagement. Students further participate in the Athlete Endorsement Negotiation Competition (which featured seventeen teams in just its second year) and benefit from the international perspective of visiting Professor William Bull (of Maastricht University) on sports agent regulation. Accomplished NIL expert Kristi Dosh will also join to teach a Name, Image, and Likeness course beginning next academic year. Most significantly, Brooklyn Law maintains strong employment outcomes, placing graduates into sports law roles across major leagues, teams, and leading firms in New York and beyond.
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School uses its prime location in Manhattan as an active laboratory for sports law, helping to connect students to major league headquarters (including the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA) and leading industry practitioners. The program’s courses emphasize a rigorous corporate, employment, IP, and antitrust law foundation that is further bolstered by a strong sports-connected alumni network. Classes include ‘Sports and the Law’ (taught by Martin Edel), ‘Sports Law: A Dispute Resolution Perspective’ (taught by Jill Pilgrim), and ‘Sports Corruption, Discrimination, and Equity Concerns in U.S. Sports’ (taught by Danielle Melitove, a CAS arbitrator). Columbia’s Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Society (EASLS) plays host to a number of practitioner speaker events and a Fall Sports Law Symposium, while the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts is a leading publication of sports and entertainment law scholarship. Students at Columbia have the chance to develop their skills through arbitration, negotiation, antitrust, and IP-related classroom experiences, as well as engagement with the Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts and other student organizations on campus. In addition, industry and alumni ties span across teams, firms, and leagues, with prominent speakers including Jeffrey L. Kessler and a variety of league executives across the NBA, MLB, and other powerful sports organizations.
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, provides students with a prestigious path into the sports industry through the school’s blend of professional networking and academic excellence. Cornell’s program is headed up by Adjunct Professor Michael L. Huyghue, a prominent figure in the sports world with over three decades of experience (including serving as a general manager in the World League of American Football as well as the Commissioner of the United Football League (UFL)). Students can access firsthand insights into athlete representation and league labor relations under his mentorship, while Cornell’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society (SELS) further enriches the experience by boasting more than 200 members and hosting frequent networking opportunities and guest speaker series. In addition, the Legal Information Institute (LII) of Cornell hosts “Wex,” which is a leading resource in global sports law research. By allowing students access to a diverse array of transactional clinics and a well-defined curriculum that spans contract and antitrust law, Cornell equips students in their program with the specialized training and skills that are needed in order to excel in agency, sports litigation, and executive league positions.
Duke University School of Law
Duke University School of Law offers students a highly prestigious sports law program that is anchored by the school’s Center for Sports Law and Policy. The Center is co-directed by Professors Paul Haagen and Doriane Coleman, focusing on the business, regulation, and social impact that sports has across professional, Olympic, collegiate, and amateur levels. Duke is recognized for having a proactive approach to contemporary industry trends, as exemplified by the program’s student-led “Future of College Sports” series, an initiative that has featured appearances from influential leaders like Senator Cory Booker to discuss potential NIL legislation. Furthermore, the school’s geographic location gives its students a multitude of strategic networking pathways to major sports hubs, including Washington D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville. By combining policy-focused education with a high-ranking legal pedigree, Duke’s program is able to prepare their graduates for promising careers in league governance, specialized private practice, and sports representation alike.
The next five will be shared tomorrow on Sports Law Expert!