Professor of Law
Director, Center for Sport and the Law
dkoller@ubalt.edu
410.837.5761
John and Frances Angelos Law Center, Room 510
Administrative Assistant: Deborah Pinkham
410.837.4634
John and Frances Angelos Law Center, Room AL502
Education
LL.M., Harvard Law School
J.D., M.A. with honors, George Washington University
B.A., cum laude, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
In a July 1, 2020 appearance before a Senate committee, UBalt Law Prof. Dionne Koller urged Senate lawmakers to allow college athletes to earn income from endorsements, and to stifle NCAA control of athletes.
Areas of Expertise
Courses Tought: Civil Procedure I; Civil Procedure II; Advanced Civil Procedure; Sports and the Law; Introduction to Lawyering Skills
Koller’s scholarly focus is Olympic and amateur sports law, and she is a frequent media commentator and consultant to state and federal legislatures on issues related to sports and the law. In 2021, Koller was appointed by Sen. Maria Cantwell to co-chair the Commission on the State of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
She also has served as chair and as a member of the executive board for the Sports Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, is a member of the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s Administrative Review Panel, and is on the editorial board for the International Sports Law Journal.
Koller was awarded the Association of American Law School’s 2024 award for significant contributions to the field of sports law, and is also the recipient of the University of Baltimore’s President’s Faculty Award for outstanding achievement in teaching, scholarship and community service, and the University of Baltimore School of Law’s James May Teaching Award and Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award. Prior to entering law teaching, Koller was an attorney with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. in Washington, D.C.
Selected Publications
Book
More Than Play: How Law, Policy, and Politics Shape American Youth Sport (expected publication 2025)
Book Chapters
Deterring Regulation Through the Threat of Sportspocalypse in The Routledge Handbook of Sports Law and Governance (Annette Greenhow and John Wolohan, eds.)(forthcoming 2024)
“Keep It in the Locker Room”: How Athletic Departments Stifle Controversy and Dissent, in Not Playing Around: Intersectional Identities, Media Representation, and the Power of Sport, (Colombo-Dougovito et al., eds.)(co-authored with Frank LoMonte)(Rowman & Littlefield 2022)
The New Gender Equity in Elite Women's Sport, in THE HANDBOOK OF THE BUSINESS OF WOMEN'S SPORT (2019)
The Increasing Role of Disability Issues in U.S. Sports Law, in THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN SPORTS LAW (M.McCann, 2017)
"Team Physicians, Sports Medicine, and the Law: An Update," 35 Clinics in Sports Medicine 245 (2016)
Articles and Essays
Identifying Youth Sport, Yale J. L. Human. (forthcoming 2024)
The Pipeline to Title IX, 33 Marq. Sports L. J. 53 (2022)(invited symposium contribution)
A More Just, Inclusive Future for Sports Law, 31 J. Legal Aspects of Sport 201(2021)(guest editor)
"Magnifying the Problems with Collegiate Sports in the Impact of Covid-19 on Sports: A Mid-Way Assessment," Int'l Sports L.J. (July 2020)
"Amateur Regulation and the Unmoored United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee,"
9 Wake Forest L. Rev. Online 88 (Nov. 2019)
"A Twenty-First Century Olympic and Amateur Sports Act," 9 W 20 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 1027 (2018)
"Where We Go After Nassar: The Future of Protecting Young Athletes," JURIST - Academic Commentary, January 29, 2018.
"Putting Public Law into 'Private' Sport," 43 Pepp. L. Rev. 681 (2016)
"Sports, Doping, and the Regulatory “Tipping Point,'" 26 Marq. Sports L. Rev.181 (2015)
"The Four Stages of Youth Sports TBI Policymaking: Engagement, Enactment, Research, and Reform," 43:1 J. L. Med. & Ethics 87 (2015) (with K. Lowrey and H. Harvey)
"The Obese and the Elite: Using Law to Reclaim School Sports," 67 Okla. L. Rev. 383 (2015)
"High School Football: A Dangerous Game," The Baltimore Sun, Nov. 20, 2013.
"How the Expressive Power of Title IX Dilutes it Promise," 3 Harv. J. Sports & Ent. L. 103 (2012)
"Not Just One of the Boys: A Post-Feminist Critique of Title IX's Vision for Gender Equity in Sports," 43 Conn. Law Rev. 401 (2010) (lead article)
"How the United States Government Sacrifices Athletes' Constitutional Rights in the Pursuit of National Prestige," 2008 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 1465 (2008)
"From Medals to Morality:Sportive Nationalism and the Problem of Doping in Sports," 19 MARQ. SPORTS L. J. 91 (symposium issue, Fall 2008)
"Frozen in Time: The State Action Doctrine's Application to Amateur Sports," 82 St. John's Law Rev. 183 (2007)
"Does the Constitution Apply to the Actions of the United States Anti-Doping Agency?," 50 St. Louis U. L.J. 91 (Health Law Symposium, 2005)
Articles on Social Science Research Network
Recent Media/Public Policy
Legislative Testimony: Testimony in support of the Jordan McNair Safe and Fair Play Act, Maryland House of Delegates, Jan. 27, 2021; Presentation before the Senate Bill 206 Statutory Community College Athlete Name, Image, and Likeness Working Group Public Hearings, Title IX and Athlete NIL Rights, Nov. 12, 2020; Testimony before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Exploring a Compensation Framework for Intercollegiate Athletes, July 1, 2020; Testimony in support of the Jordan McNair Safe and Fair Play Act, Maryland House of Delegates, Feb. 18, 2020; Testimony in support of HB 548 Collective Bargaining for Athletes in University System of Maryland, March 2019
Radio and Television: The Business of Youth Sports (Aug. 2022); NBC Sports Podcast: In Their Court, Episode 5, the Sports Apocalypse (May, 2022); Guest, Show Me the Money, MD Dems podcast, Ep. 23, Dec. 12, 2019; Guest, Is it Time to Pay NCAA Athletes?, Maryland Public Television Direct Connection, April 1, 2019; Guest, Why Not Pay NCAA Athletes?, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU 88.5, March 27, 2019; Guest, WBAL 11 TV Hill, Winter Games: Doping and Russia, February 4, 2018; Guest, The NFL Lockout, Maryland Public Television Direct Connection, March 7, 2011
Op-eds: An Olympic Anti-Doping Champion , The New York Times, June 16, 2016; What Flag Football Can Teach Baltimore About Improving Youth Sports , Aspen Institute Project Play Blog, August 29, 2018; Why Maryland Rejected Banning Tackle Football for Kids, Aspen Institute Project Play Blog, March 29, 2018; A Gold Medal Moment for Drug-Free Sports, U.S. News and World Report, December 6, 2017; Five Ring Fraud, U.S. News and World Report, July 20, 2016; Don’t Go Easy on Maria Sharapova, U.S. News and World Report, March 9, 2016; High School Football: A Dangerous Game, The Baltimore Sun, November 20, 2013; All U.S. Sports Need An Anti-Doping Agency, The Baltimore Sun, January 20, 2013; What Title IX Means to Women’s Athletics Today, Journal of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine at 38, 2013; Title IX’s 40th Anniversary: Thinking Beyond the Headlines, Faculty Voice, Fall, 2012; It’s a Guy Thing at Penn State, and that’s a Problem, The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 21, 2011; Title IX Isn’t the Issue, The Baltimore Sun, September 18, 2009; IOC’s Failure on Gymnasts’ Ages Taints Games, The Baltimore Examiner, August 31, 2008; Trampling Athletes’ Due Process Rights, The Baltimore Sun, March 29, 2007
Substantially Quoted: Washington Post, Supreme Court rules unanimously against NCAA restrictions on colleges offering educational perks to compensate student-athletes, June 21, 2021; Better drug tests can stop cheaters. They also might punish innocent athletes, June 18, 2021; USA Today: Are college football players the ‘guinea pig” for COVID-19 protocol planning at universities, Jul. 17, 2020; Senate hearing on NCAA name, image and likeness takes pointed turn toward COVID-19, athlete safety, Jul. 1, 2020; Sex abuse scandal highlights USOC’s longstanding faults, Feb. 21, 2019; Horse trainer’s suicide has equestrian community questioning sexual abuse investigations, Jul. 9, 2019; Washington Post: If college football players have complications from coronavirus, expect lawsuits to follow, Aug. 17, 2020; Time Magazine, Athlete of the Year, U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, 2019; Law360, Ball in Congress’ court as states tackle athlete pay, Aug. 26, 2020; New York Times: Cup stacking, a sport whose growth runneth over, March 31, 2016; Sports Illustrated: The lawyer who took on the NFL over concussions has a new strategy that could devastate the NCAA, Oct. 16, 2020; Yahoo! Sports: Are H.S. sports in need of radical reform? And if so, how can it be done?, Dec. 16, 2020
'Women's soccer shows how far we've come since Title IX – and what battles remain' published on The Conversation
'Don't Go Easy on Maria Sharapova' Her case is a big, important indicator for where anti-doping efforts stand
High School Football: A Dangerous Game, THE BALTIMORE SUN, November 20, 2013
All U.S. Sports Need an Anti-Doping Agency, THE BALTIMORE SUN, January 20, 2013
What Title IX Means to Women's Athletics Today, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ORTHOPEDIC SOCIETY FOR SPORTS MEDICINE at 38, 2013
Title IX's 40th Anniversary: Thinking Beyond the Headlines, FACULTY VOICE, Fall, 2012
It's a Guy Thing at Penn State, and That's a Problem, THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, November 21, 2011