Today, sports and law combine once more when Peter A. Carfagna, adjunct professor in the School of Law and Distinguished Visiting Practitioner, resumes “Representing the Professional Athlete.” This is the second offering of Carfagna’s massive open online course (MOOC), which is produced in partnership with Information Technology Services (ITS).
Representing the Professional Athlete previously was offered last fall—running from September to November 2014. More than 6,000 students from 140 countries participated. According to an introductory survey, two-thirds of the attendees were unfamiliar with Case Western Reserve prior to enrolling in the MOOC.
With over 30 years of experience in sports law and marketing, Carfagna will guide students through the four stages of a professional athlete’s career. Through lecture videos and guest interviews of sports industry experts, the course will explore baseball, football, basketball, tennis, golf and soccer over nine weeks.
For the second run of the course, Carfagna and teaching assistant Ricky Volante will add and expand modules that examine international soccer, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and the career of LeBron James. Carfagna again will invite students to join him in several live sessions scheduled throughout the course.
“This is an outstanding opportunity to learn sports law from one of the most successful sports lawyers in U.S. history and an extremely talented teacher as well,” said Michael McCann, award-winning journalist and sports law expert. “The course was a huge hit last year and undoubtedly will be again this year.”
Sports industry experts who will make appearances during the course include:
- Fred Nance, regional managing partner, Squire Patton Boggs
- Clint Frazier, outfielder, Lake County Captains
- Jeff Schwartz, president and founder, Excel Sports Management
- John Palguta, managing director of sports, MAI Wealth Advisors, LLC
- Jim Convertino, director of professional athletes and entertainers, Britton Gallagher
- Michael Whan, commissioner, LPGA
- Danny Karbassiyoon, head North American scout, Arsenal FC
- Jeff Mostyn, chairman, AFC Bournemouth
- Dave Lightner, principal, FSM Management
- Gavin Forbes, senior vice president, IMG Tennis for Cleveland, IMG Worldwide, Inc.
- Chris Nowinski, co-founder and executive director, Sports Legacy Institute
- Craig Nard, the Galen J. Roush Professor of Law, CWRU School of Law
To learn more about the course, including the “Top 10 Things to Know about Representing Professional Athletes” visit case.edu/its/news/online-course-representing-the-professional-athlete-to-launch-march-11.html.
To enroll in the MOOC, visit coursera.org/course/sportsagents.