Hackney Publications Recognizes the Top Thirty U.S. Sports Law Programs in 2026 – Third Five in Alphabetical Order
(Editor’s Note: Here are the third five schools to be so recognized. We will highlight five more a day over the next three 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).**
New York Law School
New York Law School (NYLS) has quickly become a prominent player in the world of sports law, driven in part by its amazing location in the heart of New York City, as well as the leadership of adjunct Professor Dan Lust. NYLS’s program stands out due to its innovative and hands-on approach to sports law through initiatives like the NIL Pro Bono project, an opportunity for students to give legal support and education to athletes navigating their NIL rights. The school also now boasts weekly speaker sessions that bring practitioners directly into the classroom to impart their knowledge onto members of the program. NYLS has also continued to grow their experiential learning offerings, transitioning their former Soccer Negotiation Competition into an NIL-focused competition that reflects the shifting legal landscape of modern college athletics. Students can also benefit from NYLS’s annual sports law symposium that is held each spring and a constantly expanding curriculum, featuring classes like ‘Advanced Sports Law.’ In addition, NYLS sends student competition teams to sports law competitions all over the country, one of a growing number of schools to use these events as a chance to reinforce their commitment to practical training and national engagement in the sports law field.
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, situated in Malibu, California, near the sports and entertainment hub of Los Angeles, offers its students a leading Entertainment, Media, & Sports Law (EMS) Program that is integrated into the school’s larger course offerings. Led by Professor Maureen Weston (who has been nationally recognized for her work with the NCAA committee on infractions, as a sports law scholar, and as an arbitrator on panels including the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee dispute resolution bodies, and FINRA), Pepperdine’s program emphasizes both practical rigor in sports law and dispute resolution as well as academic rigor. Students have the opportunity to pursue an LL.M. as well as a J.D. Certificate in Entertainment, Media, & Sports Law, giving program participants a flexible pathway to gain access to specialized training in the space. Pepperdine also helps to give students hands-on experience through their Sports Law Society, writing opportunities, advocacy competitions, and conferences that aim to address contemporary issues such as eSports, NIL, SafeSport, sports betting, and Olympic governance. One of the program’s most prominent features is their International Sports Law Study Tours that span cities such as Paris, Switzerland, and London, led by CAS arbitrator Jeffrey Benz and Professor Weston and offering students direct experience with global arbitration bodies and sports institutions.
Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law, located in the heart of Silicon Valley and the sports-rich San Francisco Bay Area, sets itself apart through its offering of a specialized Sports Law Certificate program that is structured to address the legal complications created by the multibillion-dollar athletics industry. Led by Leonard Lun, the first cohort of the program (thirteen students in total) graduated in the spring of 2025, and it remains the only such curriculum of its kind in the Bay Area, providing a comprehensive selection of classes that encompasses labor law, antitrust, privacy, and intellectual property. A cornerstone of Santa Clara’s growth in this space has been its highly active Sports and Entertainment Law Society, which now exceeds 100 members and plays host to a variety of site visits with professional sports organizations, speaker panels, and a monthly newsletter. In March 2026, the law school hosted its 3rd Annual Santa Clara Sports Law Conference, an event that featured four panels, speakers from around the country, and 100-plus attendees. Students at Santa Clara can also benefit from a popular ‘Sports Law’ course that is offered to both full-time and part-time J.D. candidates and features weekly guest speakers from across the sports industry. The school’s Honors Moot Court External Team placed first at the Fifth Annual Professional Football Negotiation Competition at Villanova in March of 2025, and a new sports law course has been added to the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business’s M.S. in Sports Business Program (also taught by Lun), allowing for integration across multiple disciplines.=
Seattle University School of Law
Seattle University School of Law offers its students a devoted sports law program that is guided by Kelli Rodriguez, focusing on the intersection of law, sports, and ethics by cultivating experiences that are intended to help students prepare for careers in a sporting world that is constantly evolving. Seattle emphasizes compliance and risk management as well as the legal nuance seen across the likes of both major and collegiate athletics. The program allows J.D. students to focus their studies on sports, and non-J.D. students may pursue a Master of Legal Studies (MLS) degree in Sports Law and Sports Law Compliance, providing them with a pathway to address the complexities inherent in countless areas of the industry, including NIL, labor law, and intellectual property disputes. Over the past two years, Seattle has continued to expand the program’s offerings to ensure students stay on the cutting edge of the evolving sports law landscape, including the recent addition of a dedicated NIL course that offers a timely way for students to stay aligned with industry trends. Situated in a passionate sports market in the city of Seattle, the program gives students practical experience through internships with organizations like the Mariners, Kraken, and Seahawks as it continues to build strong momentum.
Seton Hall Law School
Seton Hall Law School’s Gaming, Hospitality, Entertainment, & Sports Law (GHamES) program, which was launched as a formal certificate back in 2023, continues to expand its offerings as part of the school’s 75th anniversary. Building on Seton Hall’s historic role as one of the first U.S. law schools to emphasize the study and practice of sports law, the program, which is led by Associate Dean Devon Corneal and Professor Robert Boland, utilizes the sports betting leadership of New Jersey and the school’s close proximity to New York City in order to provide their students with notable industry access across gaming, sports, and entertainment law. Seton Hall’s current class offerings include ‘Sports Negotiations,’ ‘Collegiate Sports Law,’ ‘Labor Relations in Sports,’ and a hands-on NIL course that gives students the chance to negotiate and draft mock agreements. Seton Hall reinforces its experiential learning through Sports Law Dialogues, an annual symposium, and a Gaming Law and Compliance Bootcamp that has been nationally recognized and is now in its seventh year. Up to twenty percent of students in the program also complete advanced writing on topics relating to GHamES. Seton Hall’s offerings are further bolstered by the school’s Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Sports, as well as the Stillman School of Business, the university’s Sports Journalism Center, and a dedicated Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS) student-led organization. Recent program highlights include the moot court team enjoying success at the national level, strong sports internship placements across the industry, and the continued influence from the role Dean Emeritus Ronald Riccio played in the landmark PASPA challenge.
The next five will be shared tomorrow on Sports Law Expert!