Andrew’s practice focuses on supporting and advising highly talented individuals to leverage their skills into fulfilling, enriching, and lucrative professional careers. His work spans the entertainment industry, including film, television, sports, and new media, with a particular emphasis on the global soccer industry. Andrew is one of the top experts on the intersection of the American and international soccer industries and has spoken at numerous industry events, including the AIAF Congress, the Football Transfer Forum, and Law In Sport’s Football Law Conference.
Prior to joining Vela Wood, he spent three years in the MLS Player Department advising MLS clubs on player transactions and FIFA regulatory compliance. While at MLS Andrew drafted and updated the league’s roster rules and advised clubs on salary cap compliance matters. Andrew also spearheaded the league’s management of FIFA training rewards payments and assisted the league’s clubs and managed outside counsel in matters before FIFA’s dispute resolution bodies and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
After leaving MLS, Andrew continued to advise MLS clubs and international sports governing bodies, including FIFA, on sports management and regulatory related matters through his sports management consultancy, Ad Victoriam Sports Group. He also represented coaches, players, agents and high performance personnel in transactions with soccer clubs within and outside of MLS. He continues to operate his sports management consultancy, in addition to his role at Vela Wood.
Prior to joining MLS, Andrew was a litigation associate at a wall-street law firm in New York City, and clerked for the Hon. F. Patrick McManimon in the Civil Division of New Jersey, managing the Court’s special civil mediation programs.
Andrew graduated from Villanova University School of Law in Philadelphia, PA and received a Masters in International Sports Law from the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía. While in law school Andrew interned with Morgan Sports Law where, among other things, he assisted in the anti-doping dispute of 2013/A/3327 Marin Cilic v ITF which set significant CAS precedent in anti-doping disputes involving the WADA Code. Prior to law school, Andrew graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.
When Andrew is not working, you can find him on the mats of the nearest Jiu-Jitsu academy, or working on music projects he refuses to share with any of his VW colleagues or clients.
Select Representations
*Some representations reflect Andrew’s work at prior firms.
- Advised Kai Wagner and his agents on his multi-million dollar transfer from the Philadelphia Union in MLS to Birmingham City FC in the EFL Championship, the English second division
- Advised Jonathan Agumadu in the renegotiations and drafting of his representation agreement with his NIL Agent during his transfer to UNC
- Advised a soccer-specific media on their corporate formation and business operations in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup
- Advised the 11th overall pick in the MLS Superdraft, Enzo Newman, on his representation agreement with CAA
- Advised David Da Cosa and his agents on his transfer to the Portland Timbers as a Designated Player in MLS
- Advised Eric Maxim Chopu-Moting and his agents on his transfer to the New York Red Bulls as a Designated Player in MLS
- Advised Dagur Thorhallsson and his agents on his transfer to Orlando City SC in MLS
- Advised Ercan Kara and his agents on his transfer to Orlando City SC in MLS
- Advised Ravel Morrison and his agent through the negotiation process for his buy-out with DC United from MLS
- Advised FC Cincinnati on their acquisition of the Brazilian striker Brenner, the most significant player acquisition in MLS history, and the largest in the club’s history at the time
- Advised Forrest Lasso and his agent through the process of his free transfer from the Tampa Bay Rowdies in USL to GIF Sundsvall in the Swedish first division
- Advised an MLS expansion team’s technical staff on MLS rules and strategy for their initial roster and salary budget
- Advised an international sports governing body on questions related to American collective bargaining agreements in sports
- Advised New York City Football Club on their acquisition of future MLS Golden Boot winner, Valentin “Taty” Castellanos*
Services
Sports Advisory
- Advising athletes, coaches, sport executives, and agents through the negotiation and drafting process for representation, employment, and transfer agreements in major professional sports leagues around the world
- Guiding athletes and agents through the wild west of NIL compliance and the professionalization of American college sports
- Supporting sport governing bodies, professional leagues, clubs, athletes, and agents with compliance and execution of sport regulations, including salary caps, FIFA’s Regulations of the Status and Transfer of Players, agent regulations, and the collective bargaining process
- Assisting athletes, influencers, agents, clubs, teams, brands, rights holders, and other businesses to leverage and maximize their commercial properties and assets through savvy sponsorship, endorsement, and partnership deals
Entertainment Representation
- Assisting talent and production companies in navigating and negotiating performance and talent agreements
- Drafting and negotiating film production and funding agreements that guide the operation of film production from ideation, execution, all the way to distribution and sale
- Guiding filmmakers and rights holders through the negotiation process for their licensing and distribution agreements with film distributors and digital streaming platforms
- Supporting media companies in the formation, growth, and operation of their business
Presentations
- “Commercial Practices in US Sports: Insights for the Football Industry,” 12th Annual AIAF Congress (November 6, 2025)
- “Financial Solidarity,” LawInSport Football Law Digital Conference (May 26, 2021)
- “Doing Business in the USA,” European Football Agents Association Football Transfer Forum (January 21, 2021)
Publications
- “How The FA’s Visa Requirements Apply To American & Major League Soccer Players,” LawInSport (September 2021)
- “Labor Structure and Regulations of the National Women’s Soccer League Explained,” LawInSport (July 2021)
- “Breaking Competitive Balance: MLS Salary Cap 101,” AndrewVisnovsky.com (April 2021)
- “Disciplinary Procedures in International Football: CONCACAF Disciplinary Proceedings & Regulations” Issue I-2017 (October 2017)
- “A Dispute Over Training Compensation in US Soccer: US Youth Soccer Clubs v USSF, MLS, & MLSPU,” LawInSport (April 2017)
Fun Facts:
- Avid Liverpool FC, and Pennsylvania professional sports supporter.
- Grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, home to the Penn State Nittany Lions, which is also equidistant to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, which explains his pan-pennsylvania pro sports allegiances.
- Drummer by trade, having played in numerous bands of whom he will not share his recordings.
Education:
- Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE), Madrid, LL.M.
- Villanova University School of Law, J.D.
- Pennsylvania State University, B.A.