A Talent for Sports Law

Growing up, Rosetta Ellis-Pilie ’99 remembers watching ESPN’s “SportsCenter” broadcasts in the early years of the first round-the-clock sports network.

Both Ellis-Pilie and ESPN have come a long way since then. ESPN, which launched in 1979, is now one of the most-watched networks in the world and Ellis-Pilie has risen through the ranks to manage the network's domestic Talent Office. In this role, she is responsible for hiring, negotiating with, developing and guiding ESPN’s commentator team.

“Growing up, I did not imagine that I would become a lawyer, as I did not even know any lawyers at the time, or that my law career would turn into me overseeing the Talent Office for the ‘worldwide leader’ in sports,” Ellis-Pilie said. “That being said, it took a lot of hard work to get here, and it didn’t happen overnight.”

The hard work started in earnest when the New Jersey native joined the U.S. Army right out of high school, working as a unit supply specialist and unit armorer, a role in which Ellis-Pilie’s responsibilities included maintaining 100% accountability for weapons and other sensitive inventory for her unit prior to and during the Gulf War.

Military service helped finance her undergraduate degree, but also fostered a commitment to precision and punctuality, while cultivating an appreciation of the operational capability of a vast institution like the U.S. military.

“The military teaches and hones many important skills, such as responsibility, teamwork and maintaining calm under pressure,” she said. “After being deployed for a military conflict and having the presence of mind, ability and confidence to capably perform your job under that pressure, it gives you the confidence to believe you can handle almost any situation in the civilian world with that same adept approach.”  

After three years of service, Ellis-Pilie pursued her education at Seton Hall University, graduating with honors with a B.A. in criminal justice and a minor in business administration. Having missed out on some of the traditional college life as a commuter student, she sought to immerse herself fully in the university experience at UVA Law. She played in the North Grounds Softball League and served on several law school organizations and journals, including the Virginia Law Review, the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & Law, and the Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, where she served on the inaugural managing board.

Following law school, Ellis-Pilie worked in the New York office of McDermott Will & Emery’s labor and employment law group. Several years later, she joined the labor and employment practice group at Proskauer Rose.

That led to an in-house role overseeing Sun Chemical Corp.'s labor and employment law practice domestically and abroad, as well as serving as ethics counsel and global compliance committee chair. By that juncture, she had come to terms with the realization that her career trajectory likely would not encompass sports.

“I no longer thought much about working in sports at that point because I really liked my role and the company, and felt that I was continuing to add value,” she said.

Nearly five years later, a friend sent her a listing for an in-house labor and employment lawyer at ESPN. She declined to apply. Two months later, the position reopened.

“Long story short, my friend persuaded me to apply for the job, given my love of sports and how interested I had previously been in working in that industry,” Ellis-Pilie said. “I vividly remember the day of my interview, I met with a number of captivating people working in a dynamic company and industry and at that point I remembered why I always wanted to work in sports.”

Ellis-Pilie was hired for the position and started at the network in February 2011. Within her first three months, she assumed legal responsibility for the ESPYs — ESPN’s annual sports award show — a role she held for 10 years.

“My background and interests came together, and I was able to do a good job, and it just let me know that this was meant for me,” she said.

Ellis-Pilie was promoted three times in ESPN’s legal department. In those roles, she was instrumental in developing, negotiating and finalizing hundreds of agreements related to ESPN’s rights, content and on-air commentators, including prominent on-air personalities, and multimillion-dollar sports rights agreements, such as ESPN’s groundbreaking agreement with the UFC.

In May 2021, Ellis-Pilie moved from the legal to the business side of ESPN when she was named vice president of talent development and negotiations.

There’s no such thing as a “typical” day in her job, which could involve meeting with talent, negotiating contracts with agents, watching audition reels, collaborating with numerous stakeholders and managing talent matters with her team.  

Looking back, she’s grateful she was able to make the leap to sports media.

“I value every job that I have had in my career, and each position is special to me in its own way. My current position as head of ESPN’s Talent Office is no different — particularly given its importance to ESPN’s connection with sports fans and our overall business,” Ellis-Pilie said. “Our talent lineup is the forward-facing cornerstone of ESPN, and I am thrilled at the opportunity to play a small part in it.”