Zachary A. Flagel

Associate

Zack Flagel is a commercial litigator and sports attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Sports & Entertainment Practice Groups.

Zack represents clients in high-stakes commercial disputes, including complex contract litigation, business torts, and financial misconduct. He has led clients through all stages of the litigation process—from resolving pre-litigation disputes to managing discovery, drafting dispositive motions, and serving as trial counsel in a month-long jury trial. He has advised Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, and health systems on litigation risk and regulatory exposure.

In parallel, Zack has built a national sports law practice advising professional teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, as well as governing bodies across Olympic and college sports. He has advised on sponsorship agreements, media rights, IP licensing, NIL regulations, sports betting compliance, and league governance matters. He has successfully represented a Major League Baseball team in multiple disputes, securing summary judgment victories involving sponsorship and vendor agreements. Zack founded Foley’s NIL and Sports Betting Task Forces to support clients navigating these fast-evolving regulatory landscapes.

A graduate of Duke Law School, Zack founded the Future of College Sports speaker series, where he personally hosted conversations with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, union leaders DeMaurice Smith and Michelle Roberts, Senators Cory Booker and Chris Murphy, Hall of Famers Grant Hill and David Robinson, and ESPN’s Jay Bilas. His scholarship has been published in the William & Mary Law Review and Mississippi Sports Law Review, and featured by outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and Sports Illustrated. Zack is also a contributing author to Sports Business Journal, where he writes about legal and business issues shaping the future of professional and college sports.

Before joining Foley, Zack interned with Wasserman’s Baseball Division, the U.S. Senate, and the Atlanta Braves. He earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Georgia and studied for a year at the London School of Economics, where he served as president of his class of 325 international students.

Community Involvement

  • Duke Law Alumni Association, Board of Directors (2022–present)
  • JewishColorado, Young Adult Division Ambassador (2023–present)
  • Sports Lawyers Association, Outreach Committee Captain (2021–2023)

Presentations and Publications

  • Author, “Challenging the MLB Draft’s Grand Labor Slam: A Universal Proposal for an Amateur Ballplayer’s Choice of Team,” Sports Law Association Student Writing Competition (2019)
  • Co-Author, “The Faulty Law and Economics of the “Baseball Rule,” 60 William & Mary Law Review 62 (2018)
  • Co-Author, “Getting in the Game: The Demographics of Professional Sports Team In-House Legal Counsel,” 7:1 Mississippi Sports Law Review 23 (2018)
  • Contributor, American Bar Association, Recent Developments in Sports Law (2019 and 2020)
February 19, 2025 In the News

Foley Attorneys Explore Election Impact on NCAA

Foley & Lardner LLP attorneys Jon Israel, Zachary Flagel, and John Riley authored the Sports Business Journal article, “The 2024 U.S. election: A turning point for the NCAA?“
May 28, 2024 Foley Viewpoints

The end-around: A new model of statewide online sports betting through tribal compacts

In June, a federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C., authored a decision that could drastically alter the future of sports betting across the nation.  In West Flagler Associates Ltd. v. Haaland, the court concluded
Casino Table Games
December 12, 2023 Foley Viewpoints

Nationwide Online Sports Betting Tracker

March 8, 2023 Foley Viewpoints

The NIL Presumption: Is the Newest NCAA Measure a Boon for Enforcement or the Next Front for Legal Challenge?

The Name, Image, and Likeness era of college sports has brought headlines, rumors, and dollar signs, but little in the way of NCAA enforcement.
November 4, 2022 Foley Viewpoints

NCAA updated guidance on institutional involvement in NIL: An explainer

On Oct. 26, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors released updated name, image and likeness regulatory guidance titled “NCAA Division I Institutional Involvement in Student Athlete NIL Activities.”
August 29, 2022 Foley Viewpoints

Collegiate group licensing: A new frontier in the NIL wild west

The first year of the “NIL era” of college sports saw popular attention focused on the rise of the individual, as star student athletes began to command eye-popping fees to license their personal likenesses in any number of ways.