They've Got Game

Suffolk Law alumni share notes on working in MLB, NFL

As they break new ground in the male-dominated world of the sports business, two successful Suffolk Law alumnae say they have seen important advancements in the hiring and promotion of women, but that some barriers will take time to overcome.

Kristen Kuliga JD’94 was certified as an NFL agent in 2001 and for nearly a decade was the sole woman representing an NFL player (Doug Flutie). She has mentored both male and female Suffolk Law students seeking careers as agents and founded K Sports & Entertainment in Boston in 2002. She has made her way forward, she said, by ignoring skeptics and naysayers “and always trying to come up with better ways to get the business.” Recently she merged her company with Vanguard Sports Group and the combined entities represent some 40 professional athletes.

Suffolk alum holding a football at a field.

For Mandy (Eysie) Petrillo JD’06, Club Counsel for the Boston Red Sox, two key factors helped her land her “dream job”—working for the team she has revered since her childhood in Foxboro, Mass.

First, she said, was her persistent networking, an approach she urges all Law School students to adopt. The other was “the fact that the Red Sox organization has placed a very high importance on elevating women who are qualified into leadership positions.”

Her time at Suffolk, she said, readied her for a job that has her drafting contracts for beverage sponsorships, charitable promotions, the rights to use the Red Sox logo, and other matters. She tells students to gain experience with contracts and develop other practical legal skills because “you have something to offer when you get your resume in front of someone.”

Suffolk alum sitting in the stands at Fenway Park.

“I’ve never been of the mind that I was disadvantaged because I’m a woman,” Petrillo added. “It’s hard to get into this industry in general, so I don't look at it so much as ‘it’s harder to be a female.’ I just went forward as if I was competing with everyone.”

Both women said the #MeToo movement has had an impact on the profession. Colleagues tell them some companies are recruiting female employees because they think more diversity will contribute to a more professional atmosphere. But they have also heard of a few companies that are shying away from hiring women to avoid the possibility that male employees will act inappropriately.

“The biggest change is that larger agencies have opened up more hiring opportunities,” said Kuliga, who started at a time when athletes and team officials often overlooked her abilities because of her gender.

“For the business as a whole,” she added, “the more women there are, the less discrimination and sexual harassment there will be.”