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The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, June 8, 2025 39
ALAN
RIFKIN
It’s easy these days to see the appeal of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the 33-year-old Baltimore stadium that was the forerunner of a generation of retro, baseballonly venues in urban areas.
But its existence, funding and carefully calculated downtown location were hardly assured in the late 1980s when then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer — with
Alan Rifkin as his chief counsel — sought a new baseball home to ensure the Orioles didn’t leave Baltimore as the Colts had in 1984.
Stadiums, essentially multipurpose clones of one another in size and shape, were being built away from urban centers. There were concerns about Camden Yards’
potential traffic issues and parking, costs and whether it was worth preserving the adjacent warehouse.
Before the stadium could be authorized and funded, Rifkin needed to stitch together consensus among disparate stakeholders.
It’s a feat, say those who know the sports lawyer
best,thathehasrepeatedinordertocreate,preserveor
assist iconic Baltimore institutions such astheOrioles’
television network and stadiums in Baltimore and
Sarasota, Florida, as well as Pimlico Race Course and
the Preakness Stakes. Those at his law firm, Rifkin
Weiner Livingston, refer to such maneuvering as
“three-dimensional chess.”
“He played such a seminal role in the creation of the
legislationthatledtotheMarylandStadiumAuthority,
that led to the funding of Camden Yards, both the football and baseball complex,” said Janet Marie Smith,
who has overseen stadium improvements in Baltimore, Boston and Los Angeles.
“Because he worked on the government side, it
means he’s sympathetic and knowledgeable about the
publicpointofviewandthesort-ofbigpictureofdoing
things so they’re important civically,” said Smith, the
LosAngelesDodgers’seniorvicepresidentofplanning
and development.
“He has a deep appreciation for the perspective of
both the private sector and the public sector,” she said.
Rifkin, who was long the Orioles’ outside counsel, has worked with a prominent cast of characters
includingSchaefer,fourgenerationsofOriolesownership (Edward Bennett Williams, Larry Lucchino, Eli
Jacobs and Peter Angelos) and four generations of
Maryland Jockey Club ownership (Frank J. De Francis, Joseph A. “Joe” De Francis, Frank Stronach and
Belinda Stronach).
“The projects for which we are called upon to
provide counsel are generally one of a kind,” Rifkin
said. “There is no template, and so teamwork and
empowerment of others is critical. As we often say at
thefirm:‘Oneofthesedayswearegoingtodothesame
thing twice, but this is not that day.’ ”
He has represented Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.,
the iconic Oriole, who lists Rifkin among his mother,
father and agent Ron Shapiro as those who helped
nurture his charitable interests.
Name: Alan Rifkin
Age: 68
Hometown: Baltimore
Current residence: Columbia
Education: Randallstown High School;Loyola
College of Baltimore, B.S.; University of Maryland
Francis King Carey School of Law, J.D.
Career highlights: Founder and managing partner
Rifkin Weiner Livingston; primary outside counsel
to Orioles; chief counsel and legislative assistant
to Gov. William Donald Schaefer; chief counsel
to Maryland Senate; primary outside counsel
to Maryland Jockey Club and Preakness Stakes;
adjunct sports law professor, University of Maryland
Civic and charitable activities: Board member,
Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, the Aspire Foundation
and Ripken Enterprises LLC; has served on the
board of directors for the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra, Loyola University of Maryland, the
Howard County Hospital Foundation and the Cal
Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League
Family: Married to Leslie Rifkin; three children;
two grandchildren
“Their examples shine really bright, and Alan was
one of those,” Ripken said. Rifkin is a member of the
board of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, which serves
at-risk youth.
UnderAngelos’direction,Rifkinwasprimenegotiatorofa2005dealwithMajorLeagueBaseballallowing
the Washington Nationals to begin play in what was
once exclusively Orioles territory.
To mollify Angelos — who had threatened litigation
over another club entering the market — MLB gave
the Orioles a large ownership stake in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which has been shared by the
two teams, and a proportionately larger share of the
profits. While Washington fans railed against Ange-
los, the owner was “standing up for” the rights of his
franchise, Rifkin said.
Angelos, who died last year, was a famously big
personality. “Through the force of his personality,
Alan was able to have Peter and the commissioner
work together more than they would have if anybody
else had been guiding,” said Arnold Weiner, his law
firm partner.
“He makes sure everyone is heard. He would take a
lotofthingsthatseemunrelatedtotheordinaryperson
andweavethemtogetherintoawholefabricthatmade
sense,” Weiner said.
In 2019, Rifkin was instrumental in an agreement
to keep the prestigious Preakness Stakes at Pimlico
in Northwest Baltimore. The difficult negotiation
followed a suit by the City of Baltimore against officials of The Stronach Group, who had said they were
committed to holding the Preakness at Pimlico only
through 2020.
The agreement “couldn’t have happened without
the Stronach Group being represented by a lawyer
of Alan’s caliber,” said Joe De Francis, former CEO of
the Maryland Jockey Club, which ran the track for its
owner, the Stronach Group.
“The Stronach Group was not a local company,”
De Francis said. “Alan was the main voice of reason
within the organization that put forth the arguments
thatcarriedthedayintermsofbringingtheleadership
—BelindaStronach—tothetabletogetthedealdone.”
The state is hopeful that a redeveloped Pimlico can
be a catalyst for economic activity led by the track,
event space and other amenities.
Rifkinisthefirstpersoninhisfamilytogotocollege.
He credits his late father, an ex-Marine, and his
mother, who taught in the Baltimore school system
for years and was known as “Miss Sally.”
“There is no success nor any award that could ever
have happened without them,” he said.
— Jeff Barker
