Tiffany M. Cunningham, Esq.
Tiffany M. Cunningham is a seasoned Media, Sports & Entertainment attorney and dancer. She launched her career at The Tennis Channel during its early growth stages before transitioning to The Walt Disney Company, where she spent 16 years honing her expertise in complex media rights and deal-making. Today, Tiffany serves as Of Counsel (Sports, Global Media Rights & Entertainment) for a New York-based boutique firm, anchoring the West Coast expansion of their Sports Media practice.
Viewing her role as a “problem-solver,” Tiffany finds an inextricable link between legal strategy and creativity—a philosophy rooted in her lifelong background as a dancer. To understand her instincts as an astute dealmaker, one must look to her foundation as a competitive athlete in the arts.
Dance initially chose Tiffany at age three, eventually launching her into decades of intensive ballet, jazz, and hip-hop training. Later, as a performer with the USC Dance Company, she discovered the world of competitive ballroom. While practicing law by day for Disney, Tiffany moonlighted as a competitive International Latin Ballroom dancer by night and on weekends. The discipline, agility, and determination cultivated through her sport birthed a unique grit that she applies directly to her legal practice.
As a business & legal affairs executive, Tiffany serves as a strategic advisor to clients overseeing global media rights for the world’s most valuable intellectual property and various business/product development initiatives. When high-value, high-stakes deals involving sophisticated negotiating partners arise, Tiffany’s aptitude for creativity allows her to craft language effectively harmonizing multiple competing interests. For her, closing a complex deal is as much a creative endeavor as it is a substantive legal exercise.
Tiffany’s passions for sports, the arts, and the law are perfectly married in her current practice. She daily leverages her creative predisposition and pursuit of excellence to advance her clients’ visions. Energized by out-of-the-box, solutions-oriented thinking, Tiffany views creativity as an indispensable tool for navigating the ongoing disruption of the media industry.
Ultimately, Tiffany attributes her success to God and grit (in that order), and she relentlessly pursues a standard of excellence in the service of others.
• Licensed Attorney
• USC Gould School of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)
• University of Southern California – Bachelor’s Degree
• Sports Lawyers Association
• Profluence Sports
• Women in Sports & Events
• Board member candidate for nonprofit focused on foster youth transitioning out of the system
• Mentoring youth
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to God. I have a very blessed life, and it's not one that's not had its trials, but it's had trials and triumphs, and I attribute that to him.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think it's grit, but what is a predicate for that is understanding and knowing what your purpose is. I care very much about the youth, and I mentor, and I look at young people today, and I see so many of them, sadly, walking around aimlessly, not knowing what their purpose is. One of the things that I really focus on is helping them identify what that purpose is. I really do believe we were all uniquely created to make a contribution here that only that individual can make. We have a choice to make it or not, but I do believe that we each have a unique gifting. For me, it's identifying that purpose, because that's going to be the thing that once you pinpoint it, all of the desires that you have, the things that make you excited, the things that fulfill you, those things are going to bubble up and be aligned. Once you do identify it, the grit part is easy, because you're chasing the thing that you love that energizes you and excites you.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's been such a crazy disruption in my field. Most people used to have cable bundles - they were paying Comcast or Charter, and they got sick of it because the bills were so exorbitant. Then they go to these streamers, and they think they're getting a discount, but when you add it all together, you're not. There's a strategy in all of that. I used to do those deals, I used to do the terms of use, or what we called end-user license agreements to the consumer, where you were clicking 'I agree.' There were free trials attached to it - it's a 7-day free trial, you're not gonna think about it on day 7, and that's really what they're counting on.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Faith, mentorship, creativity, collaboration, and being a connector are central to how I operate. Supporting youth—especially foster youth transitioning out of care—mentoring others, and fostering collaborative environments are critical personal and professional values.