When Sport Imitates Life and Life Imitates Law
From a young age, Dylan Harriger, JD ’22 was enamored with sports. His father had introduced him to athletic competition, and Harriger embraced as many sports as he could. He eventually settled on football, discovering his strong kicking leg in middle school. Harriger went on to join the roster as a punter for Houston Baptist University’s Division I football program.
Now, as a 3L at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, Harriger is channeling the work ethic and determination he learned as a competitive athlete toward becoming an attorney with a focus on sports law.
“I think sports teach discipline, teamwork, respect, hard work, and dedication,” says Harriger, who grew up in the small town of Humble, Texas. “I think all of these values apply to being a good lawyer.”
After earning a B.S. in sports management from Houston Baptist in 2017, Harriger received his M.S. in the same field from Texas A&M University in 2019. As he looked at law schools, Harriger was interested in an institution that not only had a good reputation but also a sports law curriculum that had established excellence. He found that at UNH Franklin Pierce, particularly after meeting Professor Michael McCann, director of the Sports & Entertainment Law Institute.
“I knew about halfway through my visit that I would likely attend,” Harriger recalls. “After speaking with Professor McCann and sitting in on his class, I was convinced UNH Franklin Pierce was the school for me. Everyone was so helpful and friendly on my visit; it felt like home.”
Since arriving in Concord, Harriger has not only shown dedication to his studies, but has also taken the initiative to create opportunities for himself and other students interested in sports law. As a 2L, Harriger co-founded a student law organization called the Student Sports Law Network (SSLN). On an episode of UNH Law’s Inside Law podcast last summer, Harriger told host and Senior Media Producer A.J. Kierstead that he and five law school friends — from Florida State, Loyola, and the University of Florida — came up with the idea for the SSLN after meeting Dan Lust, an attorney in the sports and entertainment division of Geragos & Geragos, who came to campus to talk about how COVID-19 was impacting sports. The group continued to meet via Zoom to play online poker and talk about sports.
“The six of us discussed, came together, and came up with idea,” Harriger told Kierstead. “The whole purpose behind the Students Sports Law Network is to provide a free place for students across the country, and now across the globe, interested in sports law. It’s to connect, network, and interact.”
A year later, the SSLN has developed a group message platform, a podcast, and a “blawg” for interested students to share their writing. There is also a member directory and a forum. Last November, SSLN hosted a symposium via Zoom, which included a panel of speakers. In its first three months, the student group had grown to 380 members from nine countries and 100 law schools.
“Our whole thing is really for students by students,” Harriger continued, “which kind of sets us apart from a lot of the other organizations that do similar things.”
More recently, Harriger had the opportunity to speak to MBA students about sports law careers at IIM-Sambalpur, a public business school in Odisha, India. He also spoke about arbitration in sports to students through Legalify India, which helps people from diverse backgrounds to understand the law and enhance their legal knowledge.
“These opportunities allowed me to learn about sports and sports law in India, which I was not as familiar with,” Harriger says. “I was able to teach them about the professional sports leagues in North America, particularly how conflicts are resolved within the leagues via Collective Bargaining Agreements. I was also able to share career paths that involve sports law in North America. It was an honor to speak to them.”
