Satoshi Mizutani
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles (34.0° N, 118.2° W)

featuring Brian Michael Cooper, Sports, Entertainment, and Media Attorney, Frost Brown Todd, Houston (29.7° N, 95.3° W)

Let me start off by saying that it was an absolute privilege to interview Brian Michael Cooper, who is a partner at Frost Brown Todd and a member of the firm’s Entertainment, Media, and Sports Practice. He has previously served as President of the XFL Houston Roughnecks, Senior Associate Athletic Director at Rice University, and President of the NBA G-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Without the platform of Longitude.site, I would not have been able to connect with such an accomplished person and I am deeply thankful for that. I highly encourage everyone to read the transcript because I have done several interviews like this and his insights are unparalleled. It will be very helpful regardless of the industry you are interested in, not just the sports.

You’ve probably heard this phrase from Steve Job’s commencement speech at Stanford University several times: “You’ve got to find what you love.” It’s a testament to one’s need to be passionate about what you do in order to be successful. For some people, that comes easy. Whether it’s in the field of medicine or entrepreneurship, there are people who know exactly what they want to do as soon as they are done with college. However, a lot of students haven’t really figured out their life plan at that point and feel somewhat stressed that they are following the “traditional” path.

I was the latter. I’ve always loved sports, but I didn’t know how I could get into the industry, and honestly speaking, I did not know if I wanted to work in sports knowing what I can make in finance. However, after working 6.5 years in finance, I can truly say that working in sports is what I want to pursue as my next career and I have no regrets leaving finance. If you have doubts about whether your interest is worthy of making it your career, I think it’s perfectly fine to go with your alternative interest. If it is truly your passion, you will eventually find a way to get there. The fact that you have doubts about it means that it might not actually be your dream, and the initial path, which seems like it is taking you away from your interest, might actually work out in your favor. Brian was always interested in sports, but he initially thought that he either had to be a player or a coach to work in sports. He decided to pursue his interest in government and attended Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Columbia Law School to achieve that, but after realizing that there was a path that he could take to sports that complemented his skillset while he was at graduate school, he made the decision to follow his passion and practice sports law after graduating from law school. The knowledge he gained from a path that was not initially intended to lead to sports ended up paying a huge dividend for him.

The biggest takeaway I had from this interview was simple but powerful: Once you find your passion, you need to follow it, never give yourself an excuse not to, and then go the extra miles. Throughout his career, Brian refused to accept what seemed like uncontrollable external factors that would deter many people away from pursuing their goal. For example, when he applied to become the team president of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, people said he would be unlikely to get the role given his lack of experience in an executive position that oversaw business operations.  However, instead of listening to other people’s “gating techniques,” he instead focused on what he could do to prove that he is capable of performing such a task. He ended up putting together an eight-page analysis of the team and an action plan for what he would do to improve the team. Through that, he was able to show that he was more capable of leading the team than other candidates. This lesson is important regardless of what you decide to pursue in the future.

As you move up in your career, it is very likely that your resume itself will not get you to the new roles. I’ve interviewed many candidates, and I can tell you that most of them have a degree from top tier universities, and most have a stellar work experience that shows that they are competent for the role that they are pursuing. Obviously, culture fit and luck are huge factors as well, but what sets someone apart is the willingness to go the extra mile. Brian said that he would love to see candidates who take the time to do research on the role that they are applying for and have a clear roadmap on how they plan to accomplish their goals. That itself would mean more for the employers than your credentials in some cases, as proven by Brian himself. It is easy to say that you can’t apply for a role that you want to pursue because you don’t have the experience they look for, but Brian taught me that there is always a way and given the advancement in connectivity through technology, it is much easier to get noticed if you put in the effort.

There are so many other takeaways, such as how you overcome a lack of branding power to acquire new clients or businesses, which would be helpful for aspiring entrepreneurs, but I truly think that it would be best to read them in Brian’s words in the excerpts below. My final thought is the reminder to pursue a goal that you might have given up on due to external factors that you thought you could not overcome, and remember that the world is your oyster.

Highlights from the interview:      

When did you first envision yourself as being involved in sports?

I played sports in high school and for a couple years in college. I played football at Cornell University where I was a political science major. At the time I thought that to be involved in sports business, you either have to be a player or a coach, and there are not many avenues towards getting there. I also had equal passion for government and politics, so after graduating from Cornell, I worked for a congressman for a year and then went to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University while also working toward a law degree at Columbia University. At Harvard, my first sports-related assignment was an antitrust analysis of Proposition 48, an NCAA rule designed to regulate academic standards for participating in athletics.  In addition, at the Kennedy School, students also complete a project called a Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE). The focus of my PAE was midnight basketball, a policy program designed to assist kids as a safe haven and alternative to the streets. These basketball leagues also had an educational component. The sponsor for my PAE on midnight basketball was the NBA. After those projects, I thought there might be an opportunity for me to switch from a government-focused career to a sports-focused one. When I got to Columbia Law School, I was able to connect with a mentor in law school who was a sports lawyer who helped me identify the law firms that specialized in sports.  I was able to secure the opportunity to work at Proskauer Rose, a preeminent sports law firm, which, among other clients, represented the NBA, NHL, ATP Tennis, and MLS. I was fortunate to get a clerkship with Proskauer and then ultimately a full-time job starting out of law school. That’s how I started my career working with sports entities. 

What advice would you give to students that are aspiring to get into sports industry? What is the best way to get your foot through the door?

The most important thing is networking. The sports industry is a high-demand industry that values relationships. As president of a sports team, if I needed a new staff member, I would want that person to get up to speed fairly quickly. So, I found myself relying upon my existing network of individuals to quickly find people that fit into my staff.  To that end, I advise students to begin industry networking while in college and grad school, using that time to build some really meaningful contacts in the industry.

Internships are also great – paid or unpaid (with applicable school course credit). Many internships in sports are unpaid; however, those internships provide valuable experience.

And in the last 20 years, the internet has become a great equalizer because it allows for the acceleration of reputation and skill that may have taken longer to attain in the past.  One way to get noticed is by writing about sports business issues or sports legal issues in a blog or in a commentary. There are people who have done that and built careers at a faster pace because they were able to put together very compelling content as law students and as young lawyers to attract the attention of potential clients.

You should also put together a roadmap of where you want to be 5 to 10 years from now. Let’s say you want to be the general manager of an NBA team 10 years from now. That will require certain skills such as the skill to scout talent, the ability to read and understand contracts, and the ability to negotiate. So, you should start building all those skills that you will need 10 years from now.

You started your career as a sports attorney, but you also served as director of sports programming for Dish Network and as president of an XFL football team in Houston. How did you handle the work beyond your initial expertise and what did you do to overcome the challenges while you were president?

In 2008, I had been practicing law for about 10 years, I had been an agent representing players, and I’d been advising companies on business decisions and transactions related to sports. [That year], a colleague made me aware of an opportunity to become the team president of an NBA D-League team in Rio Grande Valley, Texas. The team was affiliated with three NBA teams: the Houston Rockets, New Orleans Hornets, and Cleveland Cavaliers. The challenge was that I’d been practicing law for 10 years and I had not been in an executive position. A colleague in the industry said the team was probably looking for a minor league baseball team president with executive experience. So, I needed to separate myself [from the other applicants]. I put together an eight-page analysis of the team, an action plan for how I saw the team, what I would do as president, and how I would build the business. I had four action items for the business: One of the items was to build closer ties with the NBA. Second, I also proposed marketing the team to underrepresented groups of consumers. Third, I said we would establish a greater presence in the community with outreach projects and grassroots marketing. Finally, I said we would make better use of technology and use tech to create projects that were a little bit outside the box. I set up that roadmap and said this is what I plan to do with the team; here are my goals, guideposts, and objectives; and you can ask me questions about how this will work. They called me for a face-to-face meeting in the Rio Grande Valley and with that plan, ultimately, I was named president of the team.  People will use gating techniques to shut you down no matter what, and one gating technique is to say that you don’t have the background that they’re looking for. Just because you haven’t technically held that title, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have the skills. I would love to get such a roadmap from a candidate because it means they took the time to learn about my business, they are invested in its success, and they’ve already outlined how they’ll get there. A lot of times candidates are scared of achieving greatness by not putting together a strategic plan and saying, “I can do this job and here’s I’m going to show you how I can do it.”

What was your roadmap when you worked as the president of an XFL team, which was a relatively brand-new organization? Do you have any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to go against the Goliaths of the industry? 

I like being the underdog. I think it allows for us to avoid being complacent. When I ran teams in the NBA G-League and XFL, I told my staff that we would present a product for which we would not make excuses. What I meant was we would run our operations in a first-class manner and similar to major leagues like the NFL or the NBA. We would build and execute projects as if we were a member of either of those leagues. When you do that, that gets you into a mindset that, while you’re the underdog, you believe that you can deliver the same level of service that a more established brand could provide. It’s not easy, it requires more work, but the motivation is there and you know how to get those things done. For example, teams in major leagues who have established brands over decades have an easier time reaching sponsors and consumers.  In leagues that are not as established, you have to explain to sponsors and consumers why your product is valuable enough to meet their needs. Starting out, you’re looking for brands and partners. I tend to look for partners who are in a similar boat, who are equally scrappy, who are equally trying to make it to that next level. When your affiliation with those partners helps them get to that next level, it’s great to see them establish their brand. Never losing the underdog nature, but at the same time, never making excuses for it, is really the key in my opinion. 

Can you get into specifics of trying to convince your partner that advertising with your team would be more beneficial for their company than for an NBA team?

Yes, I can give you an example. At the beginning of a deal negotiation with an insurance company that was reluctant to make deals in general, we started a relationship with small projects, and we listened to what they wanted. We didn’t come in with our own pre-ordained idea of what they would want. A lot of times, you’ll see people who are pushing in that space to tell the partner or consumer what they want. However, the best approach is to listen first – find out what they want, what they need, and what’s important to them. 

First, build the initial relationship and then make sure you do well by that client not to lose them. That holds true for both sports and law. For example, we had a client who was originally not willing to do work with any brand, not just us. We started with a dialogue and we were able to talk with them about what they wanted and needed. We then gave them a much more personalized plan to meet their needs. At the end, we exceeded their expectations and that developed into a really good relationship. 

Do you foresee any specific challenges in your industry in the near future, whether it is technology-related or not?

Right now, we’re in the middle of the largest challenge that the sports industry has faced. Sports, like entertainment, is a spectator-driven entity. Live events are not happening right now and will not happen anytime soon or they will happen in a limited scale. We will not see a return to pre-COVID attendance numbers until there’s a vaccine, that vaccine is considered to be widely effective, and people feel comfortable taking it. That may be another 12–18 months away.

But I think the sports industry is going to rise to those challenges and adapt as needed. We will see more emphasis placed on digital interactions with fans from a remote location such as virtual hangouts, conferences, and Q&A sessions with players, coaches, and executives. Esports is being built for digital distribution and digital production. I think we will see greater emphasis on projects like fantasy football. Performance-based sites will start taking a more prominent role as well.

Even when individuals return to sports events, the facilities will be different. The way to manage a crowd will be different and there will be increased operational costs associated with protecting and facilitating those crowds. We’ll also see a shift in technology as well, especially in wearable device technology. At a PGA tournament in Detroit a few weeks ago, one of the wearable fitness wristbands worn by a golfer identified changes in the golfer’s breathing that resulted in the early detection of a positive test for COVID. Analytical measurements may become a bit more prominent down the road where they will take on an additional role in how the game is played, how the game is made, and how the game is analyzed. It will be very interesting to see these advances going forward. 

One big legal issue with these wearable devices is the privacy of the players or whether they get an unfair advantage over negotiations by having all these data that relate to their personal health? How will the teams manage these data from wearable devices?

Yes, there may be a legal fight in the future regarding questions of privacy.  However, I believe that the teams and players will figure out how to address their interests to their mutual benefit, managing and balancing the advantages and disadvantages of using such technology.

Interview excerpts have been lightly edited for clarity and readability and approved by the interviewee. This article only aims to share personal opinions and learnings and does not constitute the interviewee’s current or former employer(s)’ position on any of the topics discussed.