Dan Malasky ’97
Dan Malasky ’97, the chief legal officer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, remembers when a Skidmore professor asked the entire class, “What does the world revolve around?” Malasky’s unexpected response was “sport,” eclipsing the typical answer relating to religion, family, or financial security.
“There’s nothing that unites people and communities more than the power of sport,”
says Malasky, who quarterbacks complex legal affairs, human resources, facility security,
and government relations for the NFL club. “Sport has always played a huge role in
who I am. I wanted a career in sports, but at the time I didn’t know what that would
look like.”
He was influenced greatly by his father, a respected commercial litigator at several law firms; Professor Jeffrey Segrave, who still teaches sports studies at Skidmore; and Glenn Schwartzman, a Skidmore alum and sports agent who showed him the ropes.
“Professor Segrave and Glenn shaped my interest in sports management,” says Malasky, who has been a guest lecturer in several of Segrave’s sports and social issues classes.
In 2020, Malasky helped ensure the Buccaneers could play during the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing how a health crisis could paralyze any number of business areas, from sponsorships and ticket sales to potential game cancellations. The team made extensive modifications to how players trained and worked tirelessly with government and medical leaders to ensure the health and safety of players and fans. In February 2021, the Bucs became the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl in its own stadium despite the challenges that the pandemic posed.
Before joining the Bucs in 2018, Malasky served as general counsel for several other sport enterprises, including DIRT MotorSports and the US Tennis Association’s National Campus, where he helped lead the US Open in the development of a 64-acre, 100-court tennis facility in Orlando dubbed as the Home of American Tennis.
Malasky, from Maryland, attended two years as a Skidmore business major before completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, where he played sprint football. He attained his law degree from Boston University. He has several cousins who graduated from Skidmore: Bruce Malasky ’85 and Stephen Malasky ’88, and their wives, Ellen ‘84 and Robin ‘89, respectively.
