Athletes Turned Entrepreneurs and their Legal Counsel

Many former (and sometimes current) college and professional athletes turn to entrepreneurship after their playing careers conclude. Entrepreneurship is an obvious career choice for athletes, because there are so many similarities between sports and starting and running a business. Athletes work long hours honing their skills, fight through setbacks and injuries, compete with different personalities and backgrounds, and (last but not least) perform in competition. Similarly, entrepreneurs work feverishly and industriously to launch their businesses and sometimes just to stay afloat, overcome numerous issues and obstacles, work with people with diverging thoughts, interests, and ideas, and compete to make their companies viable and relevant in the marketplace.

Athletes also speak a similar language, so it is not uncommon for athletes turned entrepreneurs to search for a lawyer who has a similar background and can speak that language. Not to mention, when it comes time to compete, former athletes and their former athlete legal counsel will go into what I call "athlete mode" where a switch is flipped. If you have been there, you know what I am referencing. Taking from For the Love of the Game, it is when it is time to "clear the mechanism" and become hyper focused on the task at hand.

I often serve as outside general counsel and/or a trusted legal advisor to former athletes turned entrepreneurs. Although it is not traditional "sports law," working with former athletes to grow their businesses and watching their vision unfold is one of my favorite things about my job. Whether it is buying a lab, litigating a non-compete issue, performing a construction review, restructuring the organization, or everything or anything in between, I have acquired a broad practice primarily from working with former athletes who trust me to handle their disputes, analyze their risk, and help them build something special.

If you have any questions, contact Christian Dennie at cdennie@denniefirm.com.