Villanova Students Win Fifth Annual Tulane Professional Football Negotiation Competition

Two Villanova Law teams competed

A team of students from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law recently competed in and won the Fifth Annual Tulane Professional Football Negotiation Competition, sponsored by the Tulane Sports Law Society. The competition provided participants with the opportunity to sharpen their negotiation skills as well as their knowledge of NFL contracts.

The first-place team consisted of Anthony Malky ’20, Arun Thottakara ’21, Stephen Dranoff ’21 and was coached by Jason Kaner ‘19. Villanova Law triumphed in the simulated contract negotiation, which used real-life scenarios and actual upcoming NFL free agents.

Competing teams, who represented either the football team or the free agent, received a set of confidential objectives that served as guidelines for the negotiation. They were also provided with an Excel workbook that allowed them to quickly make calculations and determine whether or not the contract proposals met their requirements.

Industry experts—including representatives from the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers—served as judges for each negotiation and concluded the competition with a discussion on relevant topics in the NFL.

A second Villanova team, comprised of Kelsey Simchick ‘20, Richard Chakejian ’21 and James D'Arcangelo ’21 also competed.