Nathaniel Grow

Professor
Blanche “Peg” Philpott Faculty Fellow

Department: Business Law & Ethics

Campus: Bloomington

Biography

Nathaniel Grow is a Professor of Business Law and Ethics and a Blanche “Peg” Philpott Faculty Fellow at the Kelley

Nathaniel Grow is a Professor of Business Law and Ethics and a Blanche “Peg” Philpott Faculty Fellow at the Kelley School of Business. Before joining Kelley, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. He earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served as a contributing editor of the Michigan Law Review.

Professor Grow’s research focuses on the legal regulation of the U.S. sports industry, with particular emphasis on issues arising under federal antitrust, intellectual property, and labor law. He is the author of two books and more than two dozen law review articles, with his scholarship appearing in leading journals, such as the Vanderbilt Law Review, Boston College Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, and the American Business Law Journal. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Distinguished Junior Faculty Award from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. A nationally recognized sports law scholar, his research has been featured by leading media outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and ESPN.

Professor Grow's first book, Baseball on Trial: The Origin of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption (University of Illinois Press, 2014), offers the first comprehensive history of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1922 decision in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League, the case that established Major League Baseball’s unique exemption from federal antitrust law. The book received the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History and the Larry Ritter Book Award from the Society for American Baseball Research.

His forthcoming book, Contested Collectibles: The Legal History of the Baseball Card (Cambridge University Press, 2027), examines how legal disputes transformed baseball cards from a nineteenth-century advertising novelty into a major collectibles industry, while also shaping broader developments in American law.

Before entering academia, Professor Grow practiced law in the Washington, D.C. office of Crowell & Moring LLP, where he specialized in intellectual property and antitrust litigation.

Areas of Expertise

Antitrust law, intellectual property law, labor issues in the professional sports industry, patent law, sports law.

Academic Degrees

J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 2005
B.S., Ohio University, 2002

Professional Experience

Associate Professor of Legal Studies, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, 2015-2017
Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, 2009-2015
Associate Attorney, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, D.C., 2005-2009

Awards, Honors & Certificates

Best Sports and Entertainment Law Paper Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2021
Holmes-Cardozo Award for Distinguished Submitted Conference Paper, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2020
Jackson Lewis Outstanding Employment Law Paper Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2020
Outstanding Reviewer Award, American Business Law Journal, 2020
Trustees Teaching Award, Indiana University, 2019
SABR Baseball Research Award, Society for American Baseball Research, 2019
SEALSB Best Proceedings Paper Award, Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2018
Finalist, Trustees Teaching Award, Indiana University, 2018
Co-recipient, Larry Ritter Book Award, Society for American Baseball Research, 2015
Recipient, Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Georgia, 2015
Recipient, David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History, The Langum Charitable Trust, 2014
Recipient, Distinguished Junior Faculty Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2014
Recipient, Junior Scholar Award, Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2012
Recipient, Holmes-Cardozo Award for Outstanding Submitted Conference Paper, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2011
Recipient, Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Georgia, 2011
Recipient, Best Proceedings Paper, Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2010

Selected Publications

Grow, N. Contested Collectibles: The Legal History of the Baseball Card. Cambridge University Press (2027, in press).
Grow, N. A Modest Legislative Proposal to Help Fix the College Football Schedule. 59 Connecticut Law Review XXX (2027, in press)
Edelman, M., Grow, N., and Holden, J. The Re-Monopolization of the U.S. Sports Trading Card Industry. 2025 University of Illinois Law Review 63 (2025).
Epstein, A., Grow, N., and Kisska-Schulze, K. An Evolving Landscape: High School Athletics & Name, Image, and Likeness Rights. 77 Vanderbilt Law Review 845 (2024).
Grow, N. The Future of College Sports After Alston: Reforming the NCAA via Conditional Antitrust Immunity. 64 William and Mary Law Review 385 (2022).
Grow, N. Free Agency for the Front Office: How Data Analytics and Non-Compete Agreements Threaten to Disrupt Competitive Balance in U.S. Professional Sports Leagues. 58 American Business Law Journal 121 (2021).
Grow, N., and Haugh, T. Assessing the NCAA as a Compliance Organization. 2021 Wisconsin Law Review 787 (2021).
Grow, N., and Shackelford, S. J. The Sport of Cybersecurity: How Professional Sports Leagues Can Better Protect the Competitive Integrity of Their Games. 61 Boston College Law Review 473 (2020).
Grow, N. The Save America’s Pastime Act: Special-Interest Legislation Epitomized. 90 U. of Colorado Law Review 1013 (2019).
Grow, N. (2018). The Enduring Power of the Sports Broadcasting Act. The Oxford Handbook of American Sports Law. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Grow, N., and Flagel, Z. The Faulty Law and Economics of the 'Baseball Rule,' 60 William & Mary Law Review 59 (2018).
Grow, L., and Grow, N. Protecting Big Data in the Big Leagues: Trade Secrets in Professional Sports. 74 Washington & Lee Law Review 1567 (2017).
Flagel, Z., and Grow, N. Getting in the Game: The Demographics of Professional Sports Team In-House Legal Counsel. 7 Mississippi Sports Law Review 23 (2017).
Grow, N. Resolving the Divided Patent Infringement Dilemma. 50 Michigan Journal of Law Reform 1 (2016).
Grow, N. The Curiously Confounding Curt Flood Act. 90 Tulane Law Review 859 (2016).
Grow, N. Regulating Professional Sports Leagues. 72 Washington & Lee Law Review 573 (2015).
Alexander, C., and Grow, N. Gaming the System: The Exemption of Professional Sports Teams From the Fair Labor Standards Act. 49 U.C. Davis Law Review 123 (2015).
Grow, N. (2014). Baseball on Trial: The Origin of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption, Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Grow, N. Joint Patent Infringement Following Akamai. 51 American Business Law Journal 71 (2014).
Grow, N. Insolvent Professional Sports Teams: A Historical Case Study. 18 Lewis & Clark Law Review 345 (2014). (Symposium issue)
Grow, N. Decertifying Players' Unions: Lessons From the NFL and NBA Lockouts of 2011. 15 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 473 (2013).
Grow, N. In Defense of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption. 49 American Business Law Journal 211 (2012).
Grow, N. American Needle and the Future of the Single Entity Defense Under Section One of the Sherman Act. 48 American Business Law Journal 449 (2011).
Grow, N. Antitrust & The Bowl Championship Series. 2 Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law 53 (2011).
Grow, N. Louisville v. Duke and Its Implications for Breached College Football Scheduling Agreements. 37 Journal of College & University Law 239 (2011).
Grow, N. Defining the 'Business of Baseball': A Proposed Framework for Determining the Scope of Professional Baseball's Antitrust Exemption. 44 U.C. Davis Law Review 557 (2010).
Grow, N. Reevaluating the Curt Flood Act of 1998. 87 Nebraska Law Review 747 (2009).
Grow, N. A Proper Analysis of the National Football League Under Section One of the Sherman Act. 9 Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law 281 (2008).
Grow, N. Note: There's No 'I' in 'League': Professional Sports Leagues and the Single Entity Defense. 105 Michigan Law Review 183 (2006).

Edited on July 1, 2026