Jeffrey S. Moorad serves as Chairman of Morgan Lewis’s global sports industry team and as a principal of Morgan Lewis Consulting. His business background, knowledge, and familiarity with the sports industry provide clients with unique business insight across all aspects of sports-related interests and opportunities.
Jeff currently serves as an adjunct professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, where he teaches a course on the business of sports and serves on the school’s MEMES board, its sports, media, and entertainment oversight board. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova University School of Law, his alma mater.
On the business side, Jeff serves as Chairman and CEO of Moorad Sports Partners, an investment management company he co-founded in 2013 with sports industry legend Peter Ueberroth, and as a member of the board of directors at the Translational Genomics Institute (TGen) in Arizona.
Jeff’s experience extends to all facets of sports, including prior roles on the public board of directors at sunglass and apparel manufacturer Oakley Inc. He co-founded social media company ProTrade and served on the board of directors of its successor company, Citizen Sports Network, until its sale to Yahoo in 2010.
His success goes beyond the boardroom and into the communities that he serves. Jeff strongly believes in and supports community giving and outreach. Leading by example, he endowed a baseball scholarship to his alma mater UCLA and a $5 million gift for the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law.
Outside Jeff’s current positions, he was involved in the creation and sale of Athlete Direct, a sports technology firm that he and Leigh Steinberg had partnered on with AOL; Integrated Sports International, a New York-based sports marketing firm; and legendary sports representation powerhouse Steinberg & Moorad, which was sold to Winnipeg-based Assante Corporation. During his tenure, the agency maintained the largest client practice in the National Football League (NFL) for more than 15 years, representing 25 quarterbacks, along with the second-largest Major League Baseball (MLB) practice in the industry.
In 2004, Jeff was named a member of the executive team of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and served as a general partner and the team’s CEO, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the franchise.
In 2009, Jeff headed an ownership group that purchased a 50% stake in the San Diego Padres. In conjunction with the transaction, he was named Vice-Chairman and CEO of the club, roles he filled until 2012. After the negotiation of a $1.5 billion regional sports network agreement with FOX Sports, the club was sold for $800 million, the third-highest price for an MLB franchise at the time.
His professional success and evolution over several decades, ranging from player representation to sports franchise ownership and management over multiple decades, has resulted in Jeff being named to the annual list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sports by The Sporting News on eight separate occasions.
Recommended, Industry focus: Sport, The Legal 500 US (2020–2024)
Recognized, OC 500, Orange County Business Journal (2018, 2019)
Ranked, 100 Most Powerful People in Sports, The Sporting News
Chairman and CEO, Moorad Sports Partners, LLC
Adjunct professor, Business of Sports, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Founder and Chairman, Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law, Villanova University School of Law
Contributor, Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law Annual Symposium
Member, Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and YPO Gold, Newport Beach and San Diego
Vice-Chairman and CEO, San Diego Padres (2009–2012)
CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks (2004–2009)
Former co-principal, Steinberg & Moorad (1985–2004)