Sports law 'burgeoning industry,' prof asserts

If you were to ask Michael McCann what he does for a living, the answer would be simple: He is a law professor. Where he teaches is a little more complicated.

For now, McCann is a visiting professor at the the Boston College Law School. Starting next semester, he will be a tenure-track professor of law at the University of Vermont's school of law.

And before now, he was a distinguished visiting hall of fame professor of law at Mississippi College. He will return to Jackson each summer to teach a sports law class.

Sports law is where McCann has become a national figure - writing sports law-related columns for Sports lllustrated website and appearing on news networks as a sports law analyst.

Beyond the image

Mention "sports law" to the average person, and the immediate connotation is that of a sports agent, who brokers contracts and endorsement deals for professional athletes, multi-million-dollar arrangements that make the athlete and the agent outrageously rich. The profession received glamorous treatment in the hit '90s movie "Jerry Maguire," which starred Tom Cruise.