Bobby Sharma

Bobby Sharma is Managing Partner of Blue Devil Holdings, LLC, an international sports, media, and entertainment investment company based in New York City.
Education
Sharma graduated from Duke University in 1995 and received a law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1998.
Before joining IMG, Sharma served as Vice President & General Counsel of the NBA Development League, from 2002 through 2010, helping lead the establishment of the NBA's first minor league. He had management responsibility for all league and team business, operations, and legal matters, including franchise administration, governance & expansion; sponsorship & ticket sales/marketing; broadcast media; arena management & operations; licensing & merchandising; basketball operations, including players, coaches & referee matters; anti-doping; and security. Sharma was responsible for development, management, and oversight of all league and team agreements, rules, policies, and procedures, as well as implementation of the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, including the right of NBA teams to assign and call-up players. He handled a variety of corporate transactional matters for the NBA, WNBA, and the NBA Development League, including joint ventures and other innovative sports transactions relating to the acquisition, financing, and operation of franchises. Sharma also led the creation of the NBA’s first international league consulting business unit.
During Sharma’s tenure at the NBA, the NBA Development League grew from 6 NBA League-owned teams in the Southeast United States, into 16 teams across the country with both NBA team and private ownership, achieving significant business growth along the way: quadrupling franchise values; setting record attendance marks and revenues from sponsorship and ticket sales; broadening media distribution via new broadcast and digital outlets; and reducing key operational costs. In addition, major NBA development goals were attained, including nearly one-quarter of all NBA players and one-half of all NBA referees having NBA D-League experience by the 2010-11 season.
Prior to that, Sharma served on the presidential campaign staff of former U.S. Senator and Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley, and practiced law in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and in New York City with Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was given the Corporate Counsel Award by the South Asian Bar Association of New York in October 2010. In January 2011, Sharma was given the Sports Counsel of the Year award by the Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel, having previously been nominated in 2008. In March 2011 he received the Rising Star Executive award from Media Partners Global, and in January 2012 the Basketball Federation of India Award. Sharma was named one of the "Top 50 Coolest" people of South Asian descent by Desiclub.com in December 2013, and was awarded the "Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business" distinction by the Asian American Business Development Center in June 2014.

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