Anastasia Danias

Anastasia Danias Schmidt is Major League Soccer’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, where she is a key member of the League’s strategic and operational leadership. In addition to serving as a core member of the labor bargaining team, she oversees legal and business affairs, including corporate governance, policy, litigation, expansion, player matters, intellectual property and commercial transactions.

Prior to joining MLS, Danias became the most senior woman in the history of the NFL’s legal department, serving as SVP & Deputy General Counsel and overseeing the League’s most high-profile litigation. She advised on key legislative priorities, and counseled the Commissioner, ownership and senior management on every aspect of the league’s business.

She also launched an in-house pro bono program partnering with the Lawyers’ Alliance of New York, which supported dozens of non-for-profit organizations. In addition, as a member of the Sanctuary for Families Mother’s Council, she organized an annual Thanksgiving celebration for hundreds of families living in transition.

Danias has been honored by Corporate Counsel as one of the 2019 Women, Influence & Power in Law, the Legal500’s GC Power List and Corporate Counsel 100, and the Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40. She has also been featured in publications such as Fortune, Modern Counsel and Marie Claire.

She is on the faculty of the Practicing Law Institute and has taught sports law as an Adjunct Professor at New York Law School.