Meet the Presenters

Mark Levin: Director of Salary Cap and Agent Administration, NFL Players’ Association

Mr. Levin has served as the Director of Salary Cap and Agent Administration at the NFL Players Association since 2002. Mr. Levin assists the agents in negotiating contracts on behalf of their player clients. He offers advice in contracts and helps make sure contracts are compliant with the salary cap. He helps administer the agent certification program along with their legal department. Mr. Levin also has worked for the Washington Redskins as a Salary Cap Manager and Contract Negotiator. He has the unique experience of working on both sides of the contractual business, trying to negotiate players down and now helping get players more money. He has received his bachelor’s degree from Temple University.

Michael Nicotera: Senior Partner and Director of Baseball Operations at The Sparta Group, LLC.

Mr. Nicotera came to The Sparta Group in 1992 and immediately began negotiating endorsement and promotional contracts on behalf of existing clients as well as researching and recruiting new clients. In addition, he assisted in the preparation and negotiation of free agent and salary arbitration contracts. In 1998, Mr. Nicotera became a partner of The Sparta Group. His responsibilities include the writing, preparation, and presentation of arbitration briefs. He is a Registered Representative as well as an Investment Advisor Representative with Sagepoint Financial Advisors and works in conjunction with the Chief Financial Officer in structuring client portfolios and making investment recommendations. Mike is a Certified Player Agent by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Rex Gary, Esq.: Co-Founder of Turner-Gary Sports

As an attorney with an extensive litigation background, Rex has negotiated some of the industry’s most significant contracts and is an industry leader in the preparation and presentation of salary arbitration cases. Rex formerly served as an Assistant District Attorney (Delaware County Pennsylvania) and was a litigation partner in a large Philadelphia law firm. Rex is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Sports Lawyers Association, and is a Certified Player Agent by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Jason Belzer, Esq.: President of Game Inc.

Jason Belzer, Esq. is founder and President of GAME, Inc., an agency that specializes in the career management and marketing of coaches and the creation of collegiate sporting events. GAME manages all aspects of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Jason serves as the Executive Director of the Jewish Coaches Association, a non-profit organization that supports coaches and athletic administrators around the world. Belzer graduated from Rutgers University, earning degrees in Sport Management and Political Science. He went on to receive his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law and is a licensed attorney in New York and New Jersey. Jason now teaches both Sports Law and Organizational Behavior at Rutgers.

Jerrold Colton: Owner of CS Sports, Certified NHL and NFL Agent

A Philadelphia native, Colton attended Rutgers University for both his undergraduate career and law school. Colton is a certified agent in both the NFL and NHL. Colton’s first client was Boomer Esiason of the Cincinnati Bengals in the early 1990s. After successfully managing Boomer’s career and transition to the commentator’s booth, Colton began landing other clients, including six-time Pro Bowl guard Jahri Evans of the Green Bay Packers, cornerback William Gay of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Hall of Fame kicker David Akers of the Philadelphia Eagles. Colton is the owner of CS Sports which has other notable clients such as Anthony Henry of the Dallas Cowboys, Brian Simmons of the New Orleans Saints, and Dainius Zubrus of the New Jersey Devils amongst others.

Irwin Raij, Esq.: Sports Industry Group Co-Chair, O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Irwin has represented owners and acquirers of professional sports teams, leagues, universities, and state governments. His experience includes matters related to MLB, MiLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, NFL, and EPL, along with major colleges and universities. Irwin also is an owner of the Oklahoma City Dodgers (MiLB), and the MLS Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). Irwin has handled new stadium development projects and project program and development counseling amongst other duties. A consensus builder, Irwin also has experience successfully negotiating complex public-private partnerships.

Nick Sakiewicz: Commissioner, National Lacrosse League; former Operating Partner, New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union

Nick Sakiewicz joined the National Lacrosse League (NLL) as Commissioner in 2016 after spending more than two decades at Major League Soccer (MLS). Under his leadership, the NLL has experienced substantial growth, including launching NLLTV.com, partnering with Twitter to live-stream select games, aligning with major brands to enhance the fan experience, and increasing ticket sales across the League’s U.S. and Canadian footprint.

Prior to joining NLL, Sakiewicz served as founder, operating partner and CEO of Keystone Sports and Entertainment, the ownership entity of the MLS’ Philadelphia Union. He led negotiation efforts to develop one of the MLS’ most favorable soccer-specific stadium deals, paving the way to officially announce the Union’s inaugural season. His career highlights include launching MLS as a founding executive, managing two inaugural teams, building two soccer-specific stadiums, launching an expansion team and raising over half a billion dollars in investment capital, stadium funding, sponsorship and ticket sales.

Kenneth Jacobsen: Practice Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law; Founding Partner, Wilmington Blue Rocks Professional Baseball Club

A prolific author of articles and commentary, Professor Jacobsen is a frequent lecturer and seminar participant on topics involving sports law, trial practice and procedure and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Jacobsen is also a businessman who co-owns successful businesses in the sports and entertainment industries. Among Mr. Jacobsen’s businesses is his ownership interest in the Wilmington Blue Rocks Professional Baseball Club, a single “A” affiliate of the Kansas City Royals who play in a 6,500 seat multi-purpose stadium adjacent to Interstate 95 in Wilmington, Delaware. Through his law office and sports marketing company Sports Concepts, Inc., Mr. Jacobsen provides legal advisory and consulting services to professional athletes on promotions, product endorsements, appearances and other marketing activities. Among Mr. Jacobsen’s clients are former Phillies All Star outfielder Shane Victorino; former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick; NBA basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving and other present and former notable professional athletes.

Rick Eckstein: Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Villanova University

Rick Eckstein is a Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Villanova University. He has co-authored the award-winning monograph Public Dollars, Private Stadiums: the Battle over Building Sports Stadiums (Rutgers U Press), and numerous academic and general-audience articles on publicly financed stadiums. Beyond this topic, he has recently published How College Athletics are Hurting Girls’ Sports: the Pay to Play Pipeline (Rowman and Littlefield).

Bill Bergman: Vice President of Public Affairs, Temple University

Bergman came to Temple in 1996 after 27 years with the Philadelphia Police Department, where he served as chief inspector of the Detective Bureau, chief inspector of the Communications Bureau and Deputy Police Commissioner, to oversee the university’s public safety operation. He rose through the university’s senior management ranks and became vice president of operations and business services in 1999. In 2010, Bill was announced as Vice President of Public Affairs and continues to work with the local community with Temple’s construction ideas, most notably building a football stadium on campus.

David Cohen, Esq.: Former General Counsel of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cohen reports to the COO, one of five C-Level executives responsible for day-to-day operation of NFL teams. He works collaboratively to minimize legal/business risk, ensure legal compliance, identify/implement creative solutions to problems and innovative strategies to grow the business. He manages Vice-President of Human Resources, Director of Security, Assistant General Counsel, and a department of 16 full-time and part-time staff supporting a high-profile business with 1,000 employees.

Neil Hartman: Vice President Sports Programming at The Workshop, former Anchor of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia

Hartman was an award-winning television sportscaster in Philadelphia for nearly three decades prior to joining independent content studio, The Workshop as Vice President of Sports Programming. Prior to the Workshop, Hartman spent nearly 20-years as prime-time anchor for Comcast SportsNet. Before joining CSN, he served as sports anchor and reporter in Philadelphia for KYW-TV as well as WPHL-TV and was named “Best of Philly” Sports Talk Show Host by Philadelphia Magazine while working for 1210 AM. Hartman also spent five years as a talk-show host for Sportsradio WIP.

Fran Dunphy: Head Coach, Temple University Men’s Basketball

One of 25 active NCAA Division I coaches with 500 victories, Coach Dunphy is in his 12th season at the helm of the Temple men’s basketball program in 2017-18. The all-time winningest coach in Philadelphia Big 5 history, Dunphy is also just the fifth coach to win 200 at two different Division I programs while also taking both schools to six or more NCAA Tournaments.

A part of Big 5 Basketball for the last six decades, Dunphy starred at La Salle as a player (1967- 70) and served on the Explorer staff as an assistant coach before embarking on a 17-year stint as the head coach of the Penn Quakers (1989-06). He became the first person to serve as the head men’s basketball coach at two Philadelphia Big 5 institutions when he took over the reins of the Temple program.

George Daniel: Managing Partner, Lanza, Reich & Daniel LLP; former General Counsel and Commissioner, National Lacrosse League

George has over 25 years of experience in sports law, including serving as General Counsel and Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. As Commissioner, George negotiated six collective bargaining agreements with the Players Association, represented the league at player disciplinary hearings and arbitration appeals and administered player discipline in on and off field incidents. George is a proud graduate of Temple Law as a member of the class of 1988.

Jeremy Jordan, Ph.D.: Associate Dean & Associate Professor, Temple University School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management; Temple University Faculty Athletics Representative

Dr. Jordan’s research focuses on the community benefits of mass participation at sporting events. Specifically, his research examines consumer expectations and satisfaction, motives for participation, commitment to the event and/or activity, and economic activity, all within the theoretical framework of involvement. He was commissioned by the NCAA to do a study on the NCAA Infractions Committee, looking into if they were consistent in how they penalized member schools due to the infractions that were committed.

John Langel, Esq.: (Retired) Litigation Partner at Ballard Spahr LLP

Mr. Langel has experience representing 45 Olympic teams. Was an adjunct professor at Temple; and is engaged in the Law School in many other capacities. Langel, a well-known sports industry lawyer who retired from Ballard Spahr in July 2016 after 41 years at the firm, previously served as outside general counsel to the U.S. women’s national soccer team from 1998 to 2014. He helped organize and create victory tours for the women’s soccer team following their World Cup victories, renegotiated their contracts with the U.S. Soccer Federation and helped start two professional women’s soccer leagues. Mr. Langel is a 1974 TULaw graduate who now sponsors a scholarship each year for an incoming student who participated in college sports.

David Kairys: Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Civil Rights Lawyer, Author

David is Professor of Law, the first James E. Beasley Chair (2001-07), and one of the nation’s leading civil rights lawyers. He authored Philadelphia Freedom, Memoir of a Civil Rights Lawyer and With Liberty and Justice for Some, and co-authored the bestselling progressive critique of the law, The Politics of Law, as well as over 35 articles and book chapters. His columns have appeared in major periodicals, and he has been profiled in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Wall Street Journal, and Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine. He is featured in the Netflix Errol Morris docudrama Wormwood. As a civil rights lawyer (full-time 1968-90), Professor Kairys won the leading race discrimination case against the FBI, won challenges to unrepresentative juries around the country, stopped police sweeps of minority neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and represented Dr. Benjamin Spock in a free speech case before the Supreme Court.

Terri Jackson: Director of Operations WNBPA

Jackson comes to the WNBPA after spending the last four years with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Indianapolis, most recently serving as the Director of Law, Policy and Governance. In this role, she was the primary contact and staff support to university chancellors, presidents and athletics administrators who comprised the Association’s highest governing body, the NCAA Board of Governors. Jackson also worked with all divisions of governance (Divisions I, II, III) and association-wide committees to ensure consistency of process and strategic coordination in legislative and policy matters. Jackson also served as the Associate Director for the NCAA’s Office of the Committees on Infractions (COI), where she led the training for members of the Division I and II Committees on Infractions on NCAA enforcement reform.

Prior to her time at the NCAA, Jackson served as Legal Counsel for Athletics and, later, Assistant General Counsel and FOIA Officer for the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). At UDC, she worked closely with NCAA Athletic Department senior staff on Title IX Compliance, student-athlete welfare, NCAA rules education and corporate sponsorship agreements.

Matthew Graham: Legal & Player Affairs at the World Players Association

Matthew Graham is an Switzerland based, Australian labour lawyer, currently responsible for legal & player affairs at the World Players Association. Holding a Master’s of International Labour Law he focuses on industrial relations and regulatory issues relevant to the collective representation of professional athletes. He represents athletes’ interests in a variety of international fora such as the Council of Europe, European Commission and the International Labour Organization.

Prior to commencing his current role he was engaged as a consultant at the Centre for Sports Law Research (Edge Hill University UK), and the University of Amsterdam. He has also spent a number of years in private practice focussing on labour law and dispute resolution, including arbitrations in the English Premier League.

George Daniel: Managing Partner, Lanza, Reich & Daniel LLP; former General Counsel and Commissioner, National Lacrosse League

George has over 25 years of experience in sports law, including serving as General Counsel and Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. As Commissioner, George negotiated six collective bargaining agreements with the Players Association, represented the league at player disciplinary hearings and arbitration appeals and administered player discipline in on and off field incidents. George is a proud graduate of Temple Law as a member of the class of 1988.

Alan Milstein, Esq.: Partner, Sherman, Silverstein, Kohl, Rose & Podolsky, P.A.

Mr. Milstein’s expertise on bioethics issues has made him a sought-after television guest. He has appeared on Dateline, Sixty Minutes, 48 Hours, Hannity and Colmes, The Today Show, Sunday Morning, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, BBC’s Science and Nature, ZDF German Public Television, and NHK Japanese Public Television. Mr. Milstein is also a sought-after commentator on issues involving Sports Law. He has appeared on HBO’s NFL Week, Cold Pizza, ESPN SportsCenter and James Brown’s Radio Show.

C.J. Fisher, Esq.: Associate, Fox Rothschild LLP

C.J. represents clients in a range of corporate and gaming law matters. He has represented and advised various entities and individuals in gaming licensing, regulatory and compliance matters, including internet gaming operators and service providers. C.J. has also represented casino licensees before various domestic gaming regulatory agencies, including the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board. C.J. has been featured in several publications concerning sports betting, daily fantasy sports and skill-based gaming topics, including the American Gaming Lawyer, Global Gaming Business Magazine, Law 360 and Casino Journal.

George Diemer: Assistant Professor, Temple University School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management

George Diemer is an assistant professor at Temple University in the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. He is a sports economist and holds degrees from LaSalle University and Temple University. Dr. Diemer specializes in examining the gambling markets and using nonparametric probability density functions as a means to conduct corruption investigations.