Policy earned a reputation as one of the preeminent executives in professional sports during eight years as president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco 49ers. Both The Sporting News and Pro Football Weekly named him NFL Executive of the Year in 1994, the latter award having been determined by a vote of NFL owners and executives. The Sporting News and GQ Magazine have also named him as one of the most influential people in professional sports.

Known for his swift, decisive style, rapid grasp of complex issues and adept problem solving abilities, Policy played a role in all five of the 49ers’ Super Bowl winning teams and helped shape the course for a 49ers’ organization that became widely viewed as the hallmark sports franchise of the 1980s and ‘90s.

While practicing law in Northeastern Ohio, Policy served the 49ers’ front office in 1983 as vice president and general counsel. Upon becoming executive vice president in 1989, he took on added responsibility for the team’s front-office activities and represented the 49ers on league matters. He became president and chief executive officer in 1991, at which time he moved to the San Francisco Bay area.

One of Policy’s biggest challenges came during and immediately after the 1993 season, when he was given a mandate to build and maintain a championship team. Creatively applying the NFL’s new salary cap rules, he helped retain key veterans and signed top-quality free agents and draft picks to create a team that responded by winning Super Bowl XXIX (1994 season). The 49ers remained Super Bowl contenders for the four years following Super Bowl XXIX.

While with the 49ers, Policy was a member of the NFL Finance Committee and the Committee on Opportunities and Challenges.

An ardent believer in public service, Policy is on the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He expects to maintain a high level of civic and charitable involvement in Cleveland similar to what he did in San Francisco. Those efforts earned him numerous honors, including the prestigious Silver Cable Car Award from the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau for contributions to the development of the city’s business community. He also received The Mayor’s Fiscal Advisory Committee Award in recognition of his managerial experience. He presently serves on several boards of local charities in Northeastern Ohio, including the Achievement Center for Children.

Policy graduated from Youngstown Ursuline High and is a 1963 graduate of Youngstown State University, which honored him as Alumnus of the Year in 1997. He earned his Juris Doctorate Degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1966, where he presently serves on the Law Center’s Board of Visitors. While he was practicing law, he was listed in all of the existing editions of the highly respected publication, The Best Lawyers in America. Inclusion in the publication is a significant honor since it is based on peer evaluation.

Policy has five children. James (a pediatric-orthopedic surgeon); Daniel (an attorney); Edward (an attorney); Kerry Rae (an MBA graduate); and Kathleen (an attorney).

Policy is married to the former Gail Moretti. They make their home in Cleveland.

McHale joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last season as the team's Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Detroit Tigers for six years and the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations of the Colorado Rockies for more than three years.

A 1971 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, McHale received law degrees from Boston College Law School in 1975 and the Georgetown University Law Center in 1982. While at Notre Dame, he played defensive end and linebacker on the football team. McHale and his wife, Sally, have three children, Duncan, William and Frances.

Michael L. Slive, Commissioner of Conference USA, was named the seventh commissioner of the Southeastern Conference on July 2, 2002. Slive was named the first commissioner of Conference USA on April 24, 1995.  Under his direction, Conference USA has quickly emerged as one of the nation’s top conferences.  In addition to achieving success on and off the playing field, Conference USA has enjoyed prominent national television exposure, NCAA automatic qualifications and major bowl tie-ins, including becoming a member of the Bowl Championship Series.

Mike's efforts have been instrumental in expanding the league's membership.  East Carolina joined football competition in 1997, Army in 1998 and UAB in 1999, while South Florida will compete in football in 2003.  ECU and TCU begin competition for all sports this season.  Mike's guidance has also been beneficial for the league on a national level as one of three C‑USA representatives on the NCAA Management Council. 

Mike has an extensive administrative and legal background in intercollegiate athletics.  He served as commissioner of the Great Midwest Conference from its formation in 1991, and played a pivotal role in the Great Midwest becoming one of the most successful and exciting conferences in the nation in the 1990s.  Other athletic administrative experience includes: assistant director of athletics at Dartmouth College (1968-69), Assistant Executive Director of the Pacific-10 Conference (1979-81), and Director of Athletics at Cornell University (1981-83), all prior to developing his sports practice specializing in representing colleges and universities in athletics-related matters.

Mike is the chair of the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee, the National Letter of Intent Appeals Committee, and the NCAA Football USA Board of Directors, and has served on the NCAA Management Council and several of its subcommittees.  Mike is also a member of the National Sports Law Institute's Board of Advisors, former member of the Board of Directors of the Sports Lawyers Association, and current President of the Collegiate Commissioners Association.

A native of Utica, N.Y., Mike was senior partner and founder of the Mike Slive-Mike Glazier Sports Group.  Prior to this he was a partner in the Chicago law firm of Coffield Ungaretti Harris & Slavin.  He also operated his own practice in Hanover, N.H., and served as judge of the Hanover District Court from 1972-77. 

Mike graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. He earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia Law School in 1965 and an LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1966. 

Bob and his wife, Julie, have two sons Grant, 6, and Eric, 4, and live in St. Louis.

In that role, he is direct understudy to Executive Director Don Fehr and is considered the union's lead negotiator in collective bargaining sessions when Fehr is not in attendance. Orza is part of a negotiating team that also includes Associate General Counsel Michael Weiner.

In his position as labor negotiator, Orza played a major role in ultimately signing the 1985, 1990 and 1994 basic agreements. He has also handled player grievances, salary arbitrations, agent relations, scheduling issues, rule changes, umpire problems, and realignment.

Orza is the union's representative on the Health Policy Advisory Council, which deals, on a confidential basis, with substance abuse matters and other medical issues concerning players.

Before he joined the union, Orza worked for the National Labor Relations Board. There, he held a number of senior positions, including Chief Counsel to one of its five board members.

He has a Bachelor's degree from Fordham University, a law degree from St. John's University and an additional degree in labor law from Georgetown University.

Jay Feaster was named General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 10, 2002. Feaster joined the Lightning on October 20, 1998, from the Hershey Bears of the AHL and spent three-plus seasons as Tampa Bay's assistant general manager, overseeing all contractual, collective bargaining and National Hockey League legal issues, as well as the organization's scouting department and its minor league affiliates in Springfield (American Hockey League) and Pensacola (East Coast Hockey League). 

To join the Lightning, Feaster, 39, resigned his post as president of the Bears and vice president of Hershey Sports and Entertainment. In that capacity, Feaster oversaw the operations of the Hershey Bears, the Hershey Wildcats professional soccer team and HersheyPark Arena/Stadium, including the Star Pavilion.

Feaster, who spent nine years with the Bears, led the team to a division title (1993-94) and a Calder Cup Championship (1997), while establishing three consecutive single-season attendance records (1991-92 - 1993-94) and entering into a five-year affiliation agreement with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. For his work, Feaster was named the AHL's Executive of the Year in 1997.

Feaster originally joined the Hershey Company as assistant to the president in 1989, and was named general manager of the Bears and HersheyPark Arena/Stadium on September 1, 1990.

As general manager of the 7,256 seat HersheyPark Arena and 25,000 capacity HersheyPark Stadium, Feaster led the historic facilities to record gross revenue performances in the year-end facility rankings compiled by Amusement Business magazine. During his tenure as general manager, HersheyPark Arena moved steadily up the charts from fifth in 1992 to fourth in 1993 and third in 1994 in world ranking of arenas with 5,001-10,000 seats. Over the same three years, HersheyPark Stadium climbed from eighth to second to first in the world for stadiums with 40,000 or fewer seats.

In 1996, Feaster negotiated the purchase of an A-League American Professional Soccer League (APSL) Division II franchise by Herco, the Hershey Wildcats, and then served on the A-League committee responsible for finalizing the merger between the APSL and USISL, Inc. In launching the Wildcats, Feaster hired the club's first general manager, who went on to become the A-League Executive of the Year in his first season in soccer management and later moved on to manage a team in the MLS. The team's first year Head Coach was named A-League Coach of the Year. In their inaugural season (1997), the Wildcats finished 19-9 and won the Atlantic Division regular season title. Feaster also served the newly constituted A-League as a member of it Executive Committee until his departure for Tampa.

Prior to joining the Hershey Company, Feaster practiced law with the firm of McNees, Wallace & Nurick in Harrisburg, PA. A native of Williamstown, PA, Feaster is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Susquehanna University and a Cum Laude graduate of The Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C.

While in Hershey, Feaster spent time on the advisory boards of the Big 33 Scholarship Foundation, the Four Diamonds Fund at the Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and the Central PA Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He also taught business law and hotel law as a visiting faculty member at the Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA.

Jay and his wife Anne have four children - Theresa (9), Bobby (7), Libby (5) and Ryan (1) - and reside in Valrico, Florida.

Brandt, who has primary responsibility in the organization for negotiating player contracts and dealing with player representatives, drew high praise from team President Bob Harlan and General Manager/Head Coach Mike Sherman for his multiple and successful efforts this past offseason.

Facing a large Salary Cap deficit, Brandt took on the daunting task of keeping the current Packers intact, re-signing the team's key free agents, and molding the contract numbers to fit under the cap while avoiding problems in future years. In his continuing reference to "fitting pieces in a puzzle," Brandt was able to do just that.

The "pieces" that he was able to fit into place included the re-signing of key free agents such as Pro Bowl safety Darren Sharper, placekicker Ryan Longwell, linebacker Nate Wayne, long snapper Rob Davis and tight end Tyrone Davis; creative restructuring of important veteran performers like LeRoy Butler, Dorsey Levens, Santana Dotson, Earl Dotson, Bernardo Harris, Marco Rivera and Frank Winters; as well as the final -- and most important -- piece, ensuring that franchise quarterback Brett Favre would retire as a Packer by virtue of a long-term contract extension.

Brandt accomplished all of the above while staying comfortably under the Salary Cap for the present and the future.

Brandt serves as Sherman's top advisor on cap and contract matters. An attorney, he also handles football-related legal matters for the organization and, in conjunction with Senior Vice President of Administration John Jones, manages the Packers' Salary Cap. In addition, Brandt is the club's liaison with the NFL Management Council and also assists in many other aspects of the team's football operations.

A native of Washington, D.C., Brandt was named to his Packers post by then-Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf on February 16, 1999. He had begun his professional career with ProServ, Inc., one of the nation's leading sports management and marketing firms, after graduating cum laude from both Stanford University and Georgetown University Law School. While at ProServ, he managed a number of NBA and NFL players, among them Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Boomer Esiason and Chris Doleman.

Before joining the Browns, Heneghan spent seven years with the National Football League Management Council, where he most recently served as director of labor relations. In that capacity, he supervised the daily operation and interpretation of the NFL salary cap and the Collective Bargaining Agreement and advised clubs on all aspects of their daily labor operations.

After joining the NFL in 1991, Heneghan initially served as labor relations counsel, where he represented clubs in grievance arbitrations and counseled clubs on a variety of labor issues. In 1993, he participated in negotiations with the NFL Players’ Association, which resulted in the 1993 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA was extended in 1996 and again in 1998.

Previously, Heneghan was a labor attorney at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C.

Heneghan received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. At Penn, he was a tight end and co-captain for the 1984 Ivy League Champion football team. During law school, he worked with the NFL Players Association in Washington, D.C.

Heneghan is a native of Rockville, Md. He and his wife, Amy, a pediatrician, have two children, Jack, and Lucy.

Maidie E. Oliveau is an expert in structuring major licensing, international and sponsorship relationships and negotiating sports and events transactions, with experience garnered from every facet of the business of sports and events. She has represented sponsors, international event organizers, television broadcasters, sports associations, and other rights holders for more than 20 years. She has negotiated and/or administered some 185 deals totaling over $500 million, including the Pacific Bell Park naming rights agreement.

Recent transactions include:

• Various NHL sponsorships
• Due diligence of sponsorship, promotion, broadcast and multimedia rights in connection with Fox's acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers
• Pacific Bell's sponsorship of the San Francisco Giants and naming rights to their new ballpark, Pac Bell Park
• Sugar Bowl's title sponsorship deal with Nokia (and previously USF&G) and Sugar Bowl's television agreement with ABC Sports
• MasterCard's sponsorship of the ISL package for the 1994 World Cup
• Fox Sports Net programming and talent deals
• Muhammad Ali Center negotiations
• New sponsorship and licensing initiatives for the Santa Monica Pier

Ms. Oliveau established her law practice in Los Angeles in 1990. For the firm's clients, she and her colleagues participate in the development of sponsorship sales plans, including the valuation and packaging of sponsorship opportunities for sales presentations to potential sponsors; negotiation and conclusion of transactions, which could include reaching agreements with television, sponsors, venues or corporate endorsees; acquisition of the sanction for an event; talent negotiations; television rights contracts; grant or acquisition of licensing or merchandising rights and trademark protection programs; and due diligence with respect to a proposal.

In May 1997, Ms. Oliveau was elected by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) as an arbitrator to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), an arbitration institution whose mission is to secure the settlement of sports-related disputes. The CAS is a real arbitral tribunal offering sufficient guarantees of independence and objectivity for its awards to be final and enforceable. She served as an arbitrator on the Ad Hoc division of the CAS during the Olympic Games in Sydney, and was on the panel of arbitrators which decided the controversial case involving the Romanian gymnast, Andreea Raducan, who lost a gold medal after testing positive for pseudoephedrine, a common cold medicine. She also served again as one of nine arbitrators worldwide on the Ad Hoc division of the CAS during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake. She regularly acts as an arbitrator in American Arbitration Association cases brought against U.S. athletes for breach of the doping regulations.

In November, 1999, Ms. Oliveau was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of the California State Parks Foundation, an independent, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing California's 265 State Parks.

Ms. Oliveau also serves as an Advisory Trustee on the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission and is a member of the group bidding for the 2012 Olympics to be held in Los Angeles.

Prior to establishing her own firm in Los Angeles in 1990, Ms. Oliveau served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel to DelWilber + Associates where she administered over $50 million in sponsorship contract commitments and handled the general legal affairs of DelWilber.

In the mid-1980's, Ms. Oliveau served as the first Managing Director of the Women's International Professional Tennis Council (now the WTA Tour, Inc.), the body charged with governing women's professional tennis and the Virginia Slims World Championship Series.

While Associate Vice President with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Ms. Oliveau managed the Corporate Relations Department which handled all of the 1984 Olympics' sponsors, suppliers and licensees. Her department administered over 200 contracts, involving the successful collection of $150+ million in revenue.

Ms. Oliveau began her career in sports in 1979 at ProServ, Inc., then operating also as the law firm of Dell, Craighill, Fentress & Benton. There, she represented professional athletes such as Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Tracy Austin, Mitch Kupchak and Tai Babilonia. She assisted in the establishment of ISL's first marketing project for the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and its first sponsorship agreement with The Coca-Cola Company. She also produced a weekly half-hour television show, SPORTS PROBE, which aired on USA Network.

Ms. Oliveau received her B.S. in 1974 from Georgetown University and her J.D. in 1977 from the Georgetown University Law Center. She is a member of the bars of California and the District of Columbia.

Dennis is a participant in the American Bar Association's Sports and Entertainment Forum, a member of the Rhode Island Black Lawyers Association, and a former speaker at the Sports Lawyers Association's Annual Conference. He serves as a director on numerous boards including the Brown University Hall of Fame.

A 1975 graduate of Brown University, Dennis earned his J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center in 1978.

As the Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Adam Brick is responsible for NCAA legislation and compliance, serves as the legal counsel for the Department of Athletics, and has administrative oversight of Hoyas Unlimited, the fundraising organization for athletics. Brick also serves as the sport administrator for baseball, women’s golf, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field.  He is responsible for coordinating the University’s efforts with respect to Title IX and the NCAA Athletics Certification program.

Brick served as the Tournament Manager when Georgetown hosted the first and second rounds of the 2002 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship at the MCI Center.

Brick has been affiliated with Georgetown athletics since his undergraduate days on the Hilltop.  In 1986, he graduated from the Georgetown School of Business with a degree in marketing and joined the Yates Field House staff as a recreation center supervisor.  In 1987, Brick assumed the job of assistant director of intramural sports and special programs.

In 1990, Brick received his juris doctor from the Georgetown Law Center and became the assistant to the director of athletics for NCAA legislation, certification and education.  In June of 1993 he was promoted to assistant director of athletics, in July 1997 to associate director of athletics, and in August 1999 to Senior Associate Director.

Brick is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Virginia Bar, and has served on various BIG EAST and NCAA Committees.

Martin Mayhew is in his third year with the Detroit Lions as Senior Director of Football Administration/Staff Counsel.  In his current role, he is responsible for managing all aspects of Football Administration, including supervision in the area of Player Development, preseason scheduling and planning, and assisting in the coordination of football operations, including equipment, video, and team travel.  He also assists the Lions General Counsel on legal issues involving the team including employment law issues, worker’s compensation, and contract negotiations.

Previously, he served as Director of Football Administration for the XFL during the League’s start-up.  At the XFL, Martin assisted in developing football operations policies for the League, and had primary responsibility for communicating terms and conditions of the XFL Player Contract to prospective players and their agents.

Martin received a degree in Business Management from Florida State University where he was a starting cornerback and an Academic All-American.  After graduating from college, Martin had a successful NFL career and was a key contributor on the Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXVI Championship team.  He also played for the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Following his NFL playing career, Martin attended Georgetown University Law Center.  During law school, he held clerkships with the Washington office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, and the NFL Management Council.  Martin is a member of the Florida Bar.

Among them, the NFL has grown from 28 to 32 teams, operated under successive long-term labor agreements with the NFL Players Association, and secured the largest television contracts in entertainment history. During this time, the NFL also has expanded league and team commitments to community service, refocused the NFL’s efforts in developing public-private partnerships for new stadiums, and adopted a new divisional alignment and scheduling formula. In addition, the NFL has been the new media leader in sports, creating the first leaguewide Internet network for fans and unprecedented Internet “portal” distribution.

Tagliabue has presided over the adoption of a range of services to assist NFL players and their families, including the enforcement of stringent policies on steroids and other drugs. In addition, the Tagliabue era has seen the NFL expand its presence internationally and create the NFL Youth Football Fund to support the game at amateur levels.  

Under his leadership, the NFL has taken steps to guarantee the appeal and safety of the game on the field and to ensure that all teams have financial and other resources to compete effectively for championships. Fan interest, as reflected in game attendance, television audiences, and other measures, is at record levels, and the NFL is widely recognized as holding a preeminent position in sports entertainment.

Tagliabue is a member of the board of directors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and other not-for-profit organizations. Throughout the past decade, he served on the board of governors of the United Way of America, chairing it during 1998-99, and on the board of the National Urban League.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Tagliabue was named the 2000 Sports Industrialist of the Year by the Sports Business Daily, the 2001 Sports Executive of the Year by the Sports Business Journal, and the 2001 Most Powerful Person in Sports by The Sporting News.

Tagliabue took office on November 5, 1989, succeeding Pete Rozelle, who served as NFL Commissioner from 1960 to 1989.

For the prior two decades, Tagliabue represented the NFL as an attorney in important areas, including television, other business and legislative affairs, plus labor and antitrust cases. During that time, Tagliabue was a partner at Covington & Burling, a Washington, D.C., law firm, the NFL’s principal outside counsel. His NFL involvement began in 1969 when the NFL was in the process of merging with the American Football League and launching Monday Night Football.

Earlier, Tagliabue served in the office of the United States Secretary of Defense as a policy analyst, receiving the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal upon his departure, the department’s highest award. Tagliabue remains abreast of such matters as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Paul John Tagliabue was born in Jersey City, N.J., on November 24, 1940. In high school, he was an honor student and highly recruited basketball player. He received an athletic scholarship from Georgetown University, where he was captain of the 1961-62 basketball team. He also was president of his senior class, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and a Dean’s List honor graduate in 1962.

Tagliabue attended New York University School of Law, where he was an editor of the law review and graduated with honors in 1965. He is a former member of the board of trustees of NYU Law School.  For the NFL’s work on behalf many charitable, educational, and community causes, Tagliabue has been widely recognized. He has received honorary degrees from Colgate University and Northeastern University.

He and his wife, Chandler, married in 1965 and have two children -- Drew and Emily -- and two grandchildren.

However, it has been his role as the first president of the Nashville Predators, a position he assumed on July 1, 1997, that has provided him with his greatest challenge and sense of pride.

In his current role, Jack is responsible for the day-to-day hockey and business operations of this franchise, our relationship with the National Hockey League office and Nashville's business and charitable communities.

Diller assembled a senior management team that has created a franchise from a piece of paper and laid a foundation to serve the organization and community for years to come. Continuity and consistency have been trademarks for Diller's leadership. In fact, we are one of only a handful of NHL teams to enter the 2002-03 season with the same president/general manager/coach trio as they had leading into the 1998-99 season (our first).

Diller's time and effort go far beyond simply leading the Predators in their maturation as a Stanley Cup contender. He also serves as president of the Predators Foundation, our charitable wing which has distributed grants worth over $1 million to youth-oriented organizations in Middle Tennessee.

He was also a driving force in our efforts to host the NHL Entry Draft, which will take place in June, 2003 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Nashville will become the focus of the hockey world at that time, receiving unprecedented national and international exposure, leading to an economic impact of approximately $8 million.

In 2001, Jack headed the Davidson County American Heart Walk, an event which attracted 8,000 participants and raised over $700,000. He currently serves as chairman of the Greater Nashville board of directors of the American Heart Association.

Additionally, he serves on the boards for the YMCA, St. Thomas Health Services Fund and the Nashville Sports Council. An alumnus of Leadership Nashville, Jack is also a past recipient of Nashville Business Journal's Executive of the Year award.

Diller's pro sports resume spans more than 30 years, beginning in 1969 when he joined Madison Square Garden as its vice president of legal and business affairs. In that capacity, he also served as vice president of the NHL's New York Rangers, and the NBA's New York Knicks.

After leaving MSG and serving a one-year stint as president of the New York Sports Authority in 1974, Diller spent the next five years operating his own sports communications business before founding RCTV, a nationally-distributed cable television program service located in New York City. Diller served as RCTV's executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Diller re-joined MSG in 1987 as president of the MSG Sports Group where he was responsible for the operations of both the Rangers and Knicks. In 1993, Diller went on to serve as the executive vice president of business operations for Major League Baseball's New York Mets, where he also served on the Mets' board of directors.

Prior to his arrival in Nashville, he served as president and chief executive officer of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs from 1994-1997.

Diller, a graduate of Georgetown University, received his law degree from Yale Law School. He and his wife of 33 years, Holly, reside in Nashville and have three daughters.

Joe's sports experience includes numerous matters for the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, ATP Tour, and a number of individual sports teams and other sports-related entities, including the development and financing of the Philadelphia Eagles' new football-based stadium; the ATP Tour's $1.2 billion grant to ISL of the worldwide television and marketing rights to the ATP World Championships and Super 9 Tournaments; the formation and structuring of the Women's National Basketball Association and Team Racing Auto Circuit; the exploitation of Internet rights; national and international television contracts with major telecasters; joint ventures between sports entities and media and technology companies; franchise and tournament transfers and financings; arena and stadium leases and financings, including naming rights, seat licenses and related arrangements; licensing and other matters relating to the exploitation of intellectual property; the NHL's grants of expansion franchises to Atlanta, Columbus, Nashville and Minnesota; and the NBA's grant of expansion franchises to Toronto and Vancouver in 1995 and to Charlotte, Miami, Minnesota and Orlando in 1988 and 1989.

Joe also has been involved in a number of matters relating to NFL clubs. He represented Robert Wood Johnson IV in his acquisition of the New York Jets and the related secured financing, and Jeffrey R. Lurie in his acquisition of the Philadelphia Eagles, the secured financing related to the acquisition and the subsequent private offering of limited partnership units. Joe continues to represent the Jets and the Eagles on an ongoing basis, handling matters such as stadium development, coaches' contracts and issues relating to the teams' relationship with the National Football League.

Joe also represented Alfred Lerner and Carmen Policy in their successful bid for the Cleveland Browns expansion franchise; Roger Headrick, the managing partner of the Minnesota Vikings, in a dispute with his partners relating to his right to purchase the team, the related arbitration before Commissioner Tagliabue and the eventual sale of the team to a third party; and one of the final bidders for the Washington Redskins.

Joe's media and communications experience includes numerous acquisitions, dispositions and private and public financings relating to cable television systems, network and independent television stations, radio stations, magazines and other publishing, and trade shows.

Joe is a graduate of Georgetown University and The University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review.

Joe also served as law clerk to Judge Joseph J. Longobardi in the Federal District of Delaware.

The league office's primary liaison to the MLS Board of Governors, Abbott has been involved with Major League Soccer since its inception. He was the principal author of the league's business plan that was ultimately approved by FIFA. Abbott played a primary role in creating MLS' structure and negotiating with the initial investor-operator group.

Prior to joining MLS in 1993 as the league's first employee, Abbott, 36, was a corporate lawyer with Latham & Watkins, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and commercial law.

Born August 20, 1964, in Wigston, England, Abbott earned his Law Degree in 1989 from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Abbott was the Managing Editor of the California Law Review. A soccer player as a youth, Abbott is a 1986 graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Foreign Service degree in international economics, cum laude, and an honors certificate in international business diplomacy.

Abott is a co-founder of the National Campaign Against Youth Violence and serves on its Board of Directors. An avid runner, Abbott resides in Connecticut with his wife, daughter and son.

Tim joined the Office of the Commissioner in 1991 as Vice President of International Business Affairs. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball International in 1994 and to Senior Vice President, Domestic and International Properties in 1998.

Prior to joining Major League Baseball, Brosnan was appointed to the New York State Commission on Government Integrity by Governor Mario Cuomo in 1987 and two years later was appointed counsel to the Chairman for that Commission. In 1989, Tim was selected as a Regional Finalist for the White House Fellowships. He earned a BA from Georgetown University where he was a four-year player and captain of the baseball team and a JD from Fordham University School of Law where he graduated as President of the Student Bar and Commencement Speaker. He began his career practicing law at the Park Avenue offices of Kelley Drye and Warren.

Tim is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Fordham Law Alumni Association and several of its fundraising arms. Tim also serves on the Board of Directors of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. He is a member of the New York City Bar Association Sports Law Committee and is a founder and Board Member of the De la Salle Academy, a private non-profit school for underprivileged, gifted children.

Tim and his wife, Claire O'Brien, have three children -- Helen, Kevin and Charlotte -- and reside in Westchester County, New York.

Pierce O'Donnell is one of the leading trial lawyers in the country. A partner in O'Donnell & Shaeffer LLP, Mr. O'Donnell has handled numerous complex cases in a variety of fields, including entertainment, environmental, intellectual property, energy, securities, products liability, toxic tort, antitrust real estate, constitutional law, and finance. A honors graduate of Georgetown and Yale, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White and Ninth Circuit Judge Shirley M. Hufstedler.

In recognition of winning numerous precedent-setting cases, Mr. O'Donnell was recently named one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" by the National Law Journal. He was lead counsel for Firestone in the landmark "fear of cancer" case in Potter v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 6 Cal. 4th 965 (1993). He also served as lead trial counsel for Pfizer Inc, successfully defending 375 anxiety/emotional distress cases involving allegedly defective Shiley heart valves. In 1995, Mr. O'Donnell won the landmark case of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 900 F. Supp.1287 (C.D. Cal. 1995), which recognized federal copyright protection of the fictional movie character James Bond. Three years later, he successfully enjoined Sony Corporation from launching its own competing James Bond movie franchise. (Danjaq, LLC v. Sony Corp., 49 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1341, aff'd, 165 F.3d 915 (9th Cir. 1998)).

Most recently, he successfully defended Lockheed Martin Corporation against 3,200 toxic tort claims. Following his preliminary injunction and appellate victory in GoTo.com v. Walt Disney Co., 202 F.3d 1199 (9th Cir. 2000), Mr. O'Donnell obtained a $21.5 million trademark infringement settlement for his client GoTo.com. In a series of environmental cost recovery cases under CERCLA, he has won judgments or settlements for his clients of over $350 million. Mr. O'Donnell has developed innovative methods for budgeting litigation, streamlining discovery, and mediation of complex cases.

Mr. O'Donnell's litigation clients include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Pfizer Inc, Reebok, Bridgestone/Firestone, General Electric Capital, National Broadcasting Company, Phillips Petroleum, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc./United Artists Corporation, DreamWorks SKG, Texaco, W.R. Grace, McCarthy Construction, Miramax Films, New Line Cinema, Republic of France, State of Nevada, and the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, Anaheim, and Newport Beach. He also represents many celebrities, including Ron Isley in an appeal preserving his $6.5 million copyright infringement verdict against Michael Bolton (212 F.3d 477 (2000)) and Faye Dunaway in her lawsuit against Andrew Lloyd Webber over her wrongful termination from the Los Angeles production of "Sunset Boulevard." He obtained a $2.5 million jury verdict against a Labatts subsidiary for Fred Dryer for breach of a contract to fund a feature motion picture.

A noted author of over 200 articles and five books, O'Donnell co-authored Fatal Subtraction: How Hollywood Really Does Business (Doubleday, 1992), a best-selling account of his successful representation of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Art Buchwald against Paramount Pictures in the famous "Coming to America" case. In the wake of his triumph, Forbes Magazine hailed Mr. O'Donnell as "the new Perry Mason in Hollywood." He also co-authored the screenplay for the feature film Home Team (starring Steve Guttenberg). His most recent book is Dawn's Early Light (Rosebud 2001), a collection of poems.

An expert in media and First Amendment Law, Mr. O'Donnell has represented reporters, newspapers, and television networks in libel, rights of privacy, and public access to judicial process cases. He successfully opened up to the media the high profile Katzenberg v. Walt Disney Co. case.

Mr. O'Donnell frequently lectures at Harvard, UCLA, USC, Loyola, and Pepperdine. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at the UCLA Independent Film and Television Producers Program and as a consultant to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on federal criminal law reform. He regularly opens as a commentator on national television programs (Larry King Live, CNN, Extra, Entertainment Tonight) and National Public Radio. Mr. O'Donnell is an elected member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, American Board of Trial Advocates, American Law Institue, and P.E.N., and former President of the Economic Round Table of Los Angeles. He devotes substantial time to pro bono causes such as protecting artists and writers' creative works, death penalty appeals, historic preservation, preserving open spaces, public libraries, fair rent for senior citizens, and children's rights and welfare. Mr. O'Donnell lives with his wife Dawn and five children in Pasadena where he is actively involved in youth sports and building baseball fields and playgrounds.

Several swimmers have been ranked number one in the world. Nancy Hogshead did it at the age of 14. In fact, she was the only American swimmer to be number one in international competition in 1977. A year later Nancy left home to train for the 1980 Olympics. She qualified for the team, but the boycott of the Games kept her home. Later, at Duke University, she shattered nearly every school record. Through high school and college dual meets she was undefeated. Other major national awards include the Come-Back Swimmer of the Year Award and the prestigious Kiphuth Award, given to the best all-around swimmer nationally.

At the age of 22, Nancy capped eight years as a world class swimmer. At the 1984 Olympics, she won more medals than any other swimmer - three Gold medals and one Silver. She has been inducted into six Halls of Fame, including the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In June of 2001 she was inducted into the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame.

Since retiring from swimming, Hogshead-Makar has been a high profile advocate of gender equity in sports. She is one of the nation's foremost exponents of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, particularly within the context of intercollegiate sports. She is a former President of the Women's Sports Foundation (1992-94) and currently serves on its Board of Stewards. She has testified in Congress numerous times on the topic of gender equity in athletics and has served on two Presidential Committees. She has been a frequent guest on national news programs on the topic of sports and gender equity. In private practice at Holland & Knight LLP, she represented student-athletes and universities in Title IX matters with the primary goal of achieving legal compliance without litigation.

Today Nancy is a Professor of Law at the Florida Coastal School of Law, where she teaches torts and sports law. In addition, she is the director of a legal advocacy center for women in sports. After graduating from Georgetown University Law School, she was in private practice at Holland & Knight, where her practice included sports and employment law.

Speaking from her personal victory over asthma for 15 years, Nancy at one time spoke to over 100 groups annually throughout America on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. She wrote the book Asthma and Exercise and has made an exercise video for asthmatics. Her book recounts inspirational stories of other world class athletes that have learned to manage their condition to reach the highest levels of achievement. In addition, Nancy has earned the title of National Spokesperson for the American Lung Association.