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: A Georgia Lawyer

Sports and the Law

A few items of interest for me, given my love of sports. Always a fun read when law intersects with Sports:

Delaware Lottery and NFL? Scratch that.

"In a rare move, the appellate court not only found that a lower court judge had erred in refusing to issue a preliminary injunction, but declared that the answer to the ultimate question in the case was indisputably clear -- and that a permanent injunction must be issued.

Lawyers for Delaware had urged the appellate court to greenlight the new lottery, arguing that it was protected under a PASPA exemption that grandfathered in the existing sports betting statutes in four states.

But lawyers for the sports leagues argued that Delaware was strictly limited to restarting the sort of sports betting it had conducted for a few months in the mid-1970s -- a multi-game football pool limited to betting on at least three NFL games at once.

Delaware should be blocked from launching a sports lottery at three racetracks or "racinos" that allows for single-game betting on any sport other than games played by Delaware college teams."

Read more here at the source.

FSU and NCAA: Judge says NCAA must publicly release FSU documents

Circuit Judge John C. Cooper said he'd give the NCAA two days from when he signs a written order next week to turn the documents over to The Associated Press and other media, which filed a public records lawsuit.

NCAA lawyers said they will appeal to block the release.

The documents focus on Florida State's appeal of an NCAA plan to strip coaches and athletes of wins in 10 sports.

That includes football coach Bobby Bowden, who stands to lose 14 victories. It would dim his chances of again becoming major college football's winningest coach. Bowden has 382 victories -- one behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.

The NCAA said in a statement it was "very disappointed this court has determined the NCAA's private records could be transformed to public records."

Source here.

Atlanta Spirit Lawsuit:

"Boston-based partner Steve Belkin had asked his Atlanta Spirit partners to buy out his 30 percent stake in the two teams back in August 2005, a process that was supposed to take 125 days. Ever since, the Spirit has been embroiled in a high-profile legal battle that has lasted nearly four years and earned the group a reputation as the most fractious ownership in North American professional sports.

Their arguments wound through the Maryland circuit court system and finally to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, which overturned the lower court?s ruling as too vague.

The ruling, issued Monday afternoon, tossed out the initial purchase and sale agreement to buy out Belkin and keeps him in the partnership as a minority owner. The partners are now placed back in precisely the same position they were in before August 2005. The judge?s decision came after a trial that began in February and wrapped in early May.

?We won on every single point,? Spirit co-owner and NBA Governor Michael Gearon Jr. said in a statement released by the team. ?The court did exactly what we asked it to do. We are back under the operating agreement which we think is a good agreement. We no longer have any obligation to buy out Belkin nor does Belkin have any right to purchase the Hawks and Thrashers.?

Read the whole story here at the AJC site.

Full post as published by A Georgia Lawyer on August 25, 2009 (boomark / email).