Pepperdine Team Places Second at 2021 NFL Game Day Sports Law Case Competition
On Saturday, April 10, four students from Pepperdine's Graziadio Business School and Caruso School of Law competed virtually in the 7th Annual Game Day Sports Competition co-hosted by The Jeffery S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law and the UCLA Anderson School of Management at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. John Powers (MBA '21), Ryen Cordova (MDR '21), Darren Adjei (JD '22), and Benjamin Davies (JD/MDR '22) earned second place in this year's competition and "narrowly missed first place" by two points according to Founder Jeffrey S. Moorad. The Pepperdine team was supported by Professor Maureen Weston and alumnus Jeremy Evans (LLM '18, MBA '20).
The Game Day Sports Competition is the only sports case competition which weaves together multidisciplinary MBA, JD, MDR, and LLM students to analyze, present, and negotiate novel legal/business problems confronting the sports industry. Ten teams competed for a total of $10,000 in prize money, and winners were selected from a veteran sports panel of blue-ribbon senior executives and industry professionals who are leading and shaping the future of the sports industry.
The Pepperdine team represented the NFL Executive Committee in a two round presentation and negotiation to force the sale of a NFL club by the then current owner to a prospective purchaser (represented by an opposing team). Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School's John Powers and Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law's Ryen Cordova and Benjamin Davies presented in the first round to Judge Mitch Nathanson (Villanova University Professor of Law) while the second round was negotiated by John Powers, Darren Adjei, and Benjamin Davies to Judge Andrew Brandt (Villanova University Professor of Law).
Pepperdine competed against and beat Stanford, University of Texas, Villanova University, UCLA, and other schools. First place was awarded to the University of Miami, Pepperdine University took second place, and third place went to the University of Texas. All three finalist teams were awarded prize money.