Phil Hochberg has established a broad Washington practice, specializing in the representation of professional and collegiate sports leagues, conferences, and teams among them, the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, NASCAR, USGA, PGA, LPGA, Master’s Tournament, Football Bowl Association, Division 1-A Athletic Directors Association, and individual teams in regulatory matters, as well as legislation.  Additionally, he has developed a practice before the Federal Communications Commission, specializing in cable television and broadcasting matters.

Mr. Hochberg is the author of eight law review articles, including one cited by the Supreme Court in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Oklahoma, et. al., 468 U.S. 85, 111, n. 44 (1984), in addition to book chapters in Law of Professional and Amateur Sports  (Clark Boardman, 1988) and Government and Sport The Public Policy Issues (Rowan & Allanheld, 1985).  He has co-chaired eleven seminars for Practicing Law Institute and served from 1999-2002 as the Chair of the Sports Section of the Forum on Entertainment and Sports of the American Bar Association.  He is a frequent speaker at sports seminars and on university campuses and has taught communications courses at the University of Maryland and American University. He is also a lecturer at the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute at the Johns Hopkins campus in Gaithersburg, MD.

As an avocation, Mr. Hochberg does public address announcing at sporting events and was the first baseball and last football stadium announcer in the 54 years of Washington D.C.’s R.F.K Stadium.  He spent 38 years with the Washington Redskins and is one of 39 persons and the first non-player/coach/owner to be honored by the team in its Hall of Fame/Ring of Stars at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. He is also a member of the Washington D.C. Sports Hall of Fame.  Previously, he announced for the Washington Senators for six years and part-time for the Baltimore Orioles for three seasons.  In addition, he was the college basketball announcer for George Washington University from 1978 through 2013 and the Football Press Box P.A. Announcer for Maryland for 36 years, has done University of Maryland and American University basketball, the Army-Navy football classic in Philadelphia in 1998, and the Presidential Inaugural Parades in 1973, 1977, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009.

Professional & Community Affiliations
Martindale AV Award 2024

Recognition

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating

Publications

  • Editor, Representing Professional Athletes and Teams, Practising Law Institute
  • Editor, Representing Professional and College Sports Teams and Leagues, Practising Law Institute, 1977
  • Sports Broadcasting Chapter in Law of Professional and Amateur Sports, Clark Boardman, 1988
  • Property Rights in Sports Broadcasting: The Fundamental Issue, Chapter in Government and Sport – The Public Policy Issues, Rowman & Allanheld, 1985
  • Sports Broadcasting and the Law, 59 Indiana Law Journal 155, 1984
  • The Four Horsemen Ride Again: Cable Communications and Collegiate Athletics, 5 Journal of College and University Law, 1979
  • Congress Tackles Sports and Broadcasting, 3 Western State University Law Review 22, 1976
  • Congress Kicks and Field Goal: The Legislative Attack in the 93rd Congress of Sports Broadcasting Practices, 27 Federal Communications Bar Journal 27, 1974
  • Second and Goal to Go: The Legislatiive Attack in the 92nd Congress on Sports Broadcasting Practices, 18 New York Law Forum 841, 1973
  • The Lawyer’s Washington: Which Way is Cable TV Going?, 59 American Bar Association Journal 77, 1973
  • Broadcasting and CATV: The Beauty and the Bane of Major College Football, 38 Law & Contemporary Problems 112, 1973
  • A Step into the Regulatory Vacuum: Cable Television in the District of Columbia, 21 Catholic University Law Review 63, 1971

Seminars & Speaking Engagements

  • Former Member, Communications Faculty, American University
  • Former Member, Journalism Faculty, University of Maryland
  • Co-Chair, Practising Law Institute Seminars (1977, 1980-1986, 1988, 1990, 1993)
  • Member of Faculty, Practicing Law Institute Seminars (1974, 1979)
  • Member of Faculty, American Bar Association Seminars, 2003 – 2004
  • Member of Faculty, American Law Institute/American Bar Association Seminar, 1973

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