Robert Boland

references|date=September 2008Infobox Person
name = Robert Boland


image_size =
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birth_date = birth date|1964|01|12|
birth_place = Port Jervis, New York
nationality = American
other_names = Bob
education = Cumberland School of Law, J.D.; Columbia University, B.A in American History
employer = New York University
occupation = Lawyer, Sports Agent, Professor, Speaker, Author
spouse = Semone Wagner

Robert Boland (born January 12, 1964) is an American lawyer, sports agent, coach, professor, publicist, event manager, speaker, and author with vast experience and expertise in sports, sports media, and sports law. He is currently the Clinical Assistant Professor of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs in Sports Management and Sports Business at New York University.

Education

Robert Boland graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1987 where he majored in American History and lettered in varsity football and wrestling. He then went on to receive his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Alabama in 1995.

Early career

After completing his undergraduate degree, Boland remained at Columbia University where he served in a number of capacities, including acting director of women's sports information. In 1990, he joined the athletic department at the University of Tennessee as the assistant director of athletic media relations - working closely with the famed Lady Vols while also doing graduate work in sports broadcast management. While at the University of Tennessee, Boland received several "Best in Nation" awards from the College Sports Information Directors of America. He also directed media relations at many Southeastern Conference, NCAA, and United States Olympic Committee championship events.

Career

After earning his J.D from the Cumberland School of Law, Boland served as an assistant district attorney, confidential assistant to a trial judge, and as a special counsel in antitrust litigation (the most common sports law issue) at two large New York law firms. He then co-founded Global Athletic Management Enterprises (GAME) in 1998, where he represented professional athletes in endorsement contracts as well as in contract negotiations with teams in football, baseball, basketball, and soccer. He is certified by the National Football Players League Association as a contract advisor and is a member of the bar associations of New York and Georgia.

Currently a professor at New York University, Boland teaches Introduction to Sports Management, Leadership, Sports Law, and Sports Finance on the undergraduate level as well as Legal Issues in Sports Business and Economics and Finance of the Sports Industry on the graduate level. He has also taught Structures and Processes of Sports Organizations, Revenue Management in Sports Business, and Planning and Development of Major Sporting Events. Boland joined the full-time faculty of New York University in 2003 and had served as an adjunct faculty member since 2001.

Published Work

Boland has published numerous articles on sports law and sports business topics. Has has been the featured Op-Ed columnist four times in the Sports Business Journal, in 2006 and 2007. He is the co-author, with Robert Lattinville, of the law review article, "Coaching in the National Football League: A Market Analysis", which was published in January 2007 in the Marquette University Sports Law Journal.

peaking Engagements and Media Personality

A widely sought after speaker, Boland has made several significant conference presentations. He was selected as the keynote speaker on salary and contract matters at the American Hockey Coaches Association annual convention in April 2004. In October 2005, he spoke at the International Conference on Sports and Entertainment Business (ICSEB), hosted by the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. In June 2006, Boland spoke on coaching contractual issues at the Sports Lawyers Association's annual meeting, the largest gathering of attorneys working in sports worldwide, in Toronto, Canada. He spoke on trends in coaching contracts at the University of South Carolina's annual Craig Kelly Law Forum in October 2006. In May 2007, Boland was one of three New York University professors selected to present to Executive MBA students from China as part of a school-wide cultural exchange program.

Boland has been widely quoted in print media and is a frequent radio and television guest. He has been quoted in articles appearing in the New York Times, Associated Press, Orange County Register, Sports Business Journal, Fort Wayne News Sentinel, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Newsday. He has done interviews for CNN Headline News, Reuters Television, Canada's Business News Network, WCBS-Radio, Paul Finebaum Radio Network, and Al Jazerra English. As a former animal cruelty prosecutor, active sports agent and sports professor, Boland has been much sought after to comment on the Michael Vick case.

Further work

Boland has led strategic management studies for Hockey East, the nationa's leading collegiate hockey league, and Radford University athletics. His research interests and areas of expertise include sports law as well as contractual and antitrust issues. However, his scope extends to collegiate conference realignment and collegiate athletic leadership; franchise structure; valuation and economics and the impact of broadcast media on sports; as well as the topical areas of stadium finance and economic impact. As a former collegiate and amateur athlete - Boland competed in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1984 U.S. Olympics Trials - he is deeply interested in the history of sports, especially the Olympic Movement.

Personal life

Boland is married to Semone Wagner, a proud University of South Carolina Gamecock. They reside in New York City, on the New York University campus where Boland is a Faculty Fellow in Residence at the Coral Towers dormitory, as well as in Charleston, South Carolina with their fierce orange cat, Spencer.