Forty Under 40: Sashi Brown

Sashi Brown Age: 38

Team: Cleveland Browns

Title: Executive vice president and general counsel

Where born: Boston

Education: Hampton University (B.A., communications), Harvard Law School

Family: Wife, Paige; sons, Robeson (3) and Ellison (1) Favorite way to unwind: A glass of wine and some music with my wife.

Cause supported: United Way.

Person in the industry I'd most like to meet: Gregg Popovich.

Most thrilling/adventurous thing I've ever done: Free diving in the Caribbean.

If I could change jobs with anyone for a day, it would be: Point guard for the Knicks for a home playoff game … or POTUS.

2015 will be a good year if: The Browns are competitive in the chase for the AFC North title and we successfully complete the second phase of our renovation of FirstEnergy Stadium.

My fellow Forty Under 40 class members would be surprised to know that I: Don’t watch that much sports outside of football.



CLEVELAND BROWNS



A

s a young associate at the Washington, D.C., law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, Sashi Brown didn’t go looking for sports work so much as it found him.

“I wish I could tell you there was some well-thought-out, sophisticated plan, but there really wasn’t,” Brown said. “I was doing traditional corporate work. Venture capital and private equity. I got an opportunity to start

{podcast} SBJ Podcast:

Forty Under 40 editor Mark Mensheha and Executive Editor Abraham Madkour discuss this year's class, some of the more interesting stories in it and how the selection process works.

working on some sports transactions.

“It piqued my interest.”

When Brown started at Wilmer in 2002, its corporate practice was headed by Dick Cass, now president of the Baltimore Ravens and whose sports work included Jerry Jones’ purchase of the Dallas Cowboys, the sale of the Washington Redskins to Dan Snyder, and Steve Bisciotti’s purchase of the Ravens. Brown did some work on Bisciotti’s buyout of Art Modell to complete his purchase of the team, as well as on the sale of a minority interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and on some sponsorship contracts for the Dallas Cowboys.

“I started peeking under the hood of what clubs deal with day to day, what makes some good or bad, and at some league issues,” Brown said. “It was all interesting to learn about.”

Brown left the firm in 2005 for an in-house counsel job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He made the move to Cleveland in 2013. With the Browns, he has expanded his responsibilities to include both business and football, dealing with sponsor, media and facility negotiations as well as cap management issues.

“I really enjoy both sides of the business,” Brown said. “As I move forward, I would hope to continue in that sort of role and not get pushed to either side.”

— Bill King