Leigh Steinberg

Leigh Steinberg, Leigh Steinberg Enterprise, is widely recognized as the country's leading sports attorney. During his remarkable 30-year career, Steinberg has represented over 150 professional athletes in football, baseball, basketball, boxing and Olympic sports. His firm, Leigh Steinberg Enterprises, maintains a client roster that is highlighted by some of the most high profile names in sport. Athletes such as Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys), Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers), Ricky Williams (Miami Dolphins), Mark Brunell (Washington Redskins), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis have been among his esteemed group. He has represented the No. 1 pick overall in the NFL draft a record eight times, a milestone unrivaled within the sports industry. What distinguishes Steinberg from others within his profession is his desire for athletes make a positive contribution to society. Steinberg insists that every contract negotiated for his players include clauses that require the athlete to give back to their hometown, high school, university or national charities and foundations. According to Steinberg, this allows the athlete to function as a positive role model by repaying the community that helped shape him. As a result, Steinberg's clients have donated over $60 million to hundreds of charities and scholarships nationwide. Always one to practice what he preaches, Steinberg contributes his time and efforts to a variety of humanitarian causes. He has actively been involved with the Human Relations Commission, Children Now, Children's Miracle Network, CORO Fellows Program and the Starlight Foundation. He founded and underwrites the Steinberg Leadership Institute, a nationwide program run by the Anti-Defamation League preparing students to fight racism and inequality throughout the world. He has endowed scholarships at his high school, donated time and resources to organizations such as Special Olympics, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and Junior Achievement. He has also endowed a classroom at Boalt Hall at the University of California at Berkeley. Steinberg's community activism has drawn praise from the political world. He has received accommodations from Congress, State Senate, State Legislature, The Los Angeles City Council, Orange County Board of Supervisors, President Reagan, President Bush and President Clinton. Setting the standard for athlete marketing and positioning, Steinberg has helped pioneer the convergence between the sports and entertainment industries. He has developed original television and film content for Fox Television, Warner Brothers Studios, ABC Entertainment and HBO. He has been at the forefront of the Internet revolution, creating and building sports web-sites, strategically aligning his firm with ESPN's Sportzone and developing online marketing courseware for professionals and students alike. He has lent his marketing expertise to the video game software business and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for two software manufacturers. In an effort to share his 25 years of experience in the sports business world with others, Steinberg wrote a best selling book in 1998, Winning with Integrity, providing readers insight on how to improve their life through non-confrontational negotiating. True to form, a majority of the proceeds raised on his 1999 book tour were donated to the Junior Achievement Educational Foundation. With an abundance of resources and experiences unrivaled in sports representation, Steinberg is frequently sought out to act as a consultant on a variety of entertainment projects. He has received screen credit as a Technical Consultant on the following feature films: "Jerry Maguire," starring Tom Cruise, Oliver Stone's latest feature, "On Any Given Sunday" and "For the Love of the Game," starring Kevin Costner. He has also worked as a consultant for the HBO original series, "Arli$$" and serves as the title sponsor of the annual Newport Beach Film Festival. An accomplished speaker, Steinberg has traveled the world addressing topics ranging from sports and entertainment, to political and economic issues. In 1992, Steinberg helped lead a successful campaign to prevent the San Francisco Giants baseball club from relocating to Florida. For his efforts, then San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan honored him by declaring "Leigh Steinberg Day" in the city of SF soon after. In 1994, then Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris utilized Steinberg as a consultant in his successful bid to prevent the Oakland Athletics baseball club from relocating to Sacramento or San Jose. Steinberg also served as Co-Chairman of the "Save the Rams" committee in its unsuccessful attempt to keep the franchise from leaving Southern California and has been active in pursuits to attract a new football franchise to locate in Los Angeles. He has been featured on national television programs such as "60 Minutes ," "Larry King Live," "The Today Show" and in magazines such as Business Week, Sports Illustrated, People, Success, Forbes, Playboy and GQ. Steinberg was born and raised in Los Angeles where he attended Hamilton High School. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles for one year before transferring to the Berkeley campus. At Berkeley, he was elected student body President and subsequently attended Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law where he was elected President of his graduation class and met his first client, Cal quarterback Steve Bartkowski. Leigh resides in Newport Beach with his wife Lucy and their three children. His list of major clients has included some very famous names: • Ben Roethlisberger • Steve Young • Warren Moon • Troy Aikman • Drew Bledsoe • Derrick Thomas • Kordell Stewart • Eric Karros - MLB • John Starks - NBA • Oscar De La Hoya - Boxer