According to Buffalo Sabres Vice President of Legal Affairs David Zygaj, the defining feature of his role is that each day usually presents a new challenge. I interviewed Zygaj a few days ago to discuss his role as in-house counsel and his views on the future of sports law. He told me that the issues that cross his desk rarely arrive on a typical schedule: one day may bring a contractual dispute with a third-party vendor related to KeyBank Center, the arena owned and played in by the Sabres, while the next may require resolving a sponsorship or intellectual-property issue for the Sabres or the Buffalo Bandits, the NLL team that Zygaj also represents. Unpredictability isn’t the exception: it’s the rule.
In addition to advising the Sabres, the Bandits, and the arena ownership group, Zygaj is also counsel for the Rochester Americans, the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, and the LECOM Harborcenter, the development adjacent to KeyBank Center where the Sabres occasionally practice. Each entity brings its own intricacies, but the work is overwhelmingly transactional: Zygaj spends much of his time reviewing, drafting, and negotiating corporate agreements for the entities he counsels.
Many fans associate sports law with player contract negotiations, but the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement has standardized most of the core contract terms. Thus, negotiations are handled by the team’s general manager and hockey operations staff. Furthermore, a trend within the league is for team assistant general managers, although not attorneys, to gain experience and familiarity with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This enables them to analyze it to nearly the same extent as a lawyer.
As Zygaj put it, his role as the Sabres’ in-house counsel means that he must always be a risk manager. The public-facing nature of professional sports elevates the importance of risk management: contractual disputes or internal disagreements can instantly become the subjects of public debate, as the Sabres learned years ago with the Jack Eichel surgery rift. Consequently, Zygaj noted that, in nearly all decisions, he and the respective companies that he represents must evaluate whether they are comfortable with the public gaining knowledge of their actions in a particular situation.
Looking ahead, Zygaj is curious as to how the evolving television broadcast landscape will pan out for the NHL. The bankruptcy of Diamond Sports (the operator of numerous regional sports networks across the country) illustrates the challenges that the traditional cable-based model is facing in today’s media landscape. As fans shift towards streaming platforms, leagues must reevaluate how they distribute games and generate revenue. The NFL’s success on Amazon’s Prime Video has attracted significant attention, but whether other leagues can replicate that viewership remains unclear. The coming years will undoubtedly bring changes as to how teams like the Sabres reach their audiences and sustain long-term financial stability.
Altogether, Zygaj’s experience underscores the vast scope that defines sports law. In-house sports lawyers often navigate complex business operations across multiple entities while preparing for what might come next. It’s a demanding role, but it’s also one that offers meaningful, engaging work for those drawn to the business side of sports.
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