Mitten leads charge for Marquette’s Sports Law Institute

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From the million-dollar contracts to the billion-dollar TV deals, sports is big business.

“There’s always an underlining economics issue at work in any sports litigation,” said Matt Mitten, a law professor and the director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Mitten, who has a bachelor’s degree in economics, had worked on antitrust and intellectual property cases for five years at an Atlanta law firm when he was asked to develop and later teach a class at the South Texas College of Law in Houston. He worked there from 1990 to 1999, then he joined Marquette.

The National Sports Law Institute is the only organization of its kind connected with a law school and offers multiple educational programs and conferences.

“We’re here to educate students and attorneys; we’re not an advocacy group,” said Mitten, who has written several books through the years, including a couple of textbooks.

One issue that Mitten expects to get a lot of legal and media attention is the way colleges treat their athletes. Right now, NCAA Division I athletes receive tuition, room, board and books for their work on the field and court, while coaches walk away with millions of dollars.

“It comes down again to being an economic issue,” he said. “I think the whole issue of what does it mean to be an amateur is going to be challenged.”

The institute also garners plenty of attention, Mitten said, especially when sports law creeps its way into the news, such as with the lawsuits filed by some former NFL players over concussions.

“In that case, the economics is about who is going to pay for this medical care? Should it be considered part of the cost of doing business? There’s always an issue of money at play,” he said. “Sports law is fascinating. I really think sports and sports law are microcosms for the larger world.”

Wisconsin Law Journal: What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about attorneys?
Matt Mitten: [That we’re] overzealous advocates who aren’t concerned about fairness, justice or the common good.

WLJ: What app can’t you live without?
Mitten: The O-Zone.com. I’m a huge Ohio State sports fan and it keeps me connected.

WLJ: What career would you have chosen if you hadn’t become an attorney?
Mitten: Movie director, FBI agent or emergency room doctor

WLJ: Who is someone you admire?
Mitten: Pope Francis

WLJ: If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Mitten: Chicago, where I currently live.

WLJ: What do you think is your biggest accomplishment?
Mitten: Helping a poor, elderly widow retain her deceased husband’s VA benefits in a pro bono case as a young associate and co-authoring a widely used sports law text, “Sports Law and Regulation: Cases, Materials, and Problems.”

WLJ: What kind of music gets heavy rotation on your iPod?
Mitten: ’70s and ’80s music, as well as jazz.

WLJ: What was the last book that you read?
Mitten: A Robert Ludlum novel. I’ve read all of them and enjoy reading about the adventures of Jason Bourne.

WLJ: Do you have a phrase or saying that you tend to overuse?
Mitten: ‘After all is said and done, there’s a lot more said than done,’ although I don’t know if it’s possible to be overused given its truth.