Full Name
Derrick Heggans
Job Title
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Company
Shepherd Park Sports Properties
Speaker Bio
Derrick Heggans is a sports and entertainment business industrialist. He is the Founder and CEO of Shepherd Park Sports Properties, a consultancy focused on supporting primarily diverse individuals interested in team ownership and advising controlling owners of sports teams interested in adding limited partners to their portfolio. In Shepherd Park’s first team sale and purchase transaction, Heggans worked with Atlanta Falcons controlling owner Arthur Blank and his team to add four (4) black Limited Partners to the Falcons’ ownership group, including U.S. Olympic icon Dominique Dawes and Hollywood Film producer Will Packer. Heggans is the Founder and CEO of Global Sports and Entertainment Business Academies (“GSB Academy”), a private education provider for those interested in pursuing careers in sports and entertainment business. He previously served as a faculty member at Georgetown University in their “Sports Industry Management” program and as Faculty Champion of the Sports Management Fellows Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, Smith School of Business. In 2020 and 2021, he served as Senior Advisor to the President of the NFL’s Washington Football Team.
Heggans served as the sports segment lead for President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, working with the White House and U.S. Department of Education. Prior to that, Heggans served as Managing Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, a research and education-focused think tank.
Heggans led AOL’s Sports Channel, as General Manager overseeing all business and programming. In 2008, he was named by Sports Business Journal as one of the “20 Most Influential in Sports Digital Media”. In 2009, Heggans was named in Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” list of most dynamic young executives in the business of Sports.
During his time with the National Football League, he served in various legal and business affairs roles. Working in the Office of the Commissioner, he supported the Media Department, NFL Films, and NFL Productions in negotiating, structuring, and administering contracts; served as chief business affairs counsel for implementation of the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and other NFL special events; served on the Super Bowl Policy Committee and negotiated League Sponsorship Agreements.
Prior to the NFL, Heggans worked at Advantage International (now “Octagon”) as an NBPA-certified player agent in the basketball division, negotiating NBA team deals and endorsement deals for clients including Grant Hill and Kenny Smith.
A native and resident of Washington, DC, Heggans graduated with a B.A. from Duke University in 1992 and received a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law in 1998. He is a member of the New York State Bar.
Heggans served as the sports segment lead for President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, working with the White House and U.S. Department of Education. Prior to that, Heggans served as Managing Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, a research and education-focused think tank.
Heggans led AOL’s Sports Channel, as General Manager overseeing all business and programming. In 2008, he was named by Sports Business Journal as one of the “20 Most Influential in Sports Digital Media”. In 2009, Heggans was named in Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” list of most dynamic young executives in the business of Sports.
During his time with the National Football League, he served in various legal and business affairs roles. Working in the Office of the Commissioner, he supported the Media Department, NFL Films, and NFL Productions in negotiating, structuring, and administering contracts; served as chief business affairs counsel for implementation of the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and other NFL special events; served on the Super Bowl Policy Committee and negotiated League Sponsorship Agreements.
Prior to the NFL, Heggans worked at Advantage International (now “Octagon”) as an NBPA-certified player agent in the basketball division, negotiating NBA team deals and endorsement deals for clients including Grant Hill and Kenny Smith.
A native and resident of Washington, DC, Heggans graduated with a B.A. from Duke University in 1992 and received a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law in 1998. He is a member of the New York State Bar.