CAPSTONE
Field of Dreams
Law student finds her niche in baseball salary arbitration
By Yasmine Iqbal
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1. The Inspiration
For Alyssa Rodarte ’25 JD, baseball wasn’t just a sport she loved—it was a pathway to opportunity. As a child growing up a stone’s throw from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, she attended games with her family and played in the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy.
Her passion led her to Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where she earned a master’s degree in Sports Law and Business, with a goal of working in baseball operations. But then she participated in a simulated baseball salary arbitration, which set her on a path to pursue Sports Law at Villanova.
“I realized I could study statistics, learn about player histories and get paid for it,” she says. “After that, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
2. The Team
The Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law is one of only a few institutes dedicated to preparing students for careers in sports law. Rodarte came to Villanova intent on winning a spot on the Baseball Sports Law Negotiation Team that would compete at the prestigious International Baseball Arbitration Competition at Tulane University in New Orleans. In this competition, teams of law students present arbitration arguments closely modeled on real-life proceedings, using actual arbitration-eligible players as cases while being judged by a panel of industry professionals.
In 2024, Rodarte, along with Alex Shaff ’24 JD and David Brake ’24 JD, bested 40 teams from across the country to win the entire competition. In 2025, Rodarte competed again with George Pla ’25 JD and Emma Keough ’26 JD; the team came in 8th out of 42 teams. The overall winning team of Zach Cioffi ’25 JD, Carl Capizzi ’25 JD and Joe Messina ’26 JD also hailed from Villanova.
The Tulane competition often leads to networking and job opportunities for participants. After her first competition, Rodarte landed an internship assisting with arbitration cases for the 2024 Major League Baseball season.
3. The Path
Rodarte is part of a team of students assisting Andrew Brandt, JD, professor of practice and executive director of the Moorad Center, on a sports law textbook that will serve as an essential resource for sports law and sports business students and professionals. The team includes Tory Belval ’26 JD, Lindsay Zimmermann ’25 JD and Janie Pierson ’24 JD.
“Alyssa has been invaluable in helping me realize the vision for this project,” says Brandt, whose book will be published in late 2025 or early 2026.
Rodarte is preparing to enter the workforce knowing that although she’s taken every opportunity to launch herself in her chosen area of practice, there will be challenges ahead. “The field of salary arbitration is incredibly niche and very competitive,” she says. “But I’m grateful that Villanova and the Moorad Center have given me the education, networking opportunities and experience to create a career in sports law.”