September 26, 2017 (NEW YORK) – Proskauer Chairman and partner Joe Leccese, partner Rob Freeman and associate Frank Saviano have been named to Variety’s first ever Dealmakers Elite New York, which recognizes East Coast power players for their work in sports and media.

Chairman Joe Leccese is noted for recently advising the NHL in the league’s expansion to Las Vegas. In addition, he provided his insights on TV revenue in the direct-to-consumer streaming world. As co-head of the Firm’s renowned Sports Law Group, Joe represents sports leagues, teams and owners; college conferences; media and marketing companies; and private equity firms and financial institutions that provide capital to sports industry transactions.

Variety recognizes Rob Freeman for representing distributors such as Altice USA on carriage deals, Discovery Communications on its $100 million investment in Group Nine Media, and NFL Media and NBA Media in sports-rights deals. As co-head of Proskauer’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group, Rob negotiates complex rights agreements, traditional programming distribution agreements, content production and distribution agreements and sports licensing agreements.

Associate Frank Saviano, noted as “a sports-deal maven,” is recognized for his sports media specialty and his work on sports-rights deals totaling more than $15 billion. As a member of Proskauer’s Sports Law Group, Frank has represented, among others, the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, NASCAR and USGA in a variety of corporate matters.