Media & Entertainment Law

Weekend Links

Posted on January 29, 2010
I've been away for a while, hence the lack of posting, so I'll just post a few links for your weekend reading pleasure.  Before I get to the links, I will tell you that I spent last weekend in Evanston and attended the Northwestern - Illinois game...

Late Night Links

Posted on January 19, 2010
It's a bit late on Monday night.  Big Monday is over following a nice road win for Syracuse and a good win at home for K-State exposing Texas' road difficulties.  To get you ready for the start of a holiday shortened work week, here are a few links for your reading pleasure:ARTICLEURLDolphins finally find a naming rights partner, but only for 5 years at $7...

Rick Pitino to Retire in 2013?

Posted on January 15, 2010
On Rick Pitino's radio show tonight, in a discussion of the opening game opponent for the Cardinal's new downtown arena scheduled to open in the fall, Pitino gave out a possible retirement, one a little bit further out than many Cards' fans had been anticipating...

Sports and the Great Recession - What Recovery Is That Again?

Posted on January 13, 2010
The Great Recession has battered almost every aspect of the American economy with the exception of bankruptcy lawyers and repo men.  Sports has been no exception.  Auto companies, long a major advertiser with all professional sports TV broadcasts and sponsors of several PGA Tour events have severly cut back if not eliminated those sponsorships completely in the wake of the government bailout - even Ford has cut back...

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Baseball in the Holy Land

Posted on January 11, 2010
While idling flipping channels tonight looking for background noise while I caught up on email, I came across a movie showing on the MLB Network titled Holy Land Hardball.  This is a documentary on Larry Baras and the short-lived Israel Baseball League, which I reported on  here and here...

Texas Stadium Goes Better with Macaroni and Cheese

Posted on January 06, 2010
In what may be a first of a kind naming opportunity, Kraft Foods has reached an agreement with the City of Irving, Texas to sponsor the implosion of the Texas Stadium.  Kraft will play the city $75,000 and donate $75,000 worth of product to charities of the city's choice in order to name the demolition a "Cheddar Explosion...

The 10 Most Important Sports Business Stories of 2009

Posted on January 01, 2010
It's New Years Day and here in the River City, dawn is breaking cold and grey but thankfully free of snow.  I'm sitting at my computer trying to while away the hours until kickoff of the Outback Bowl to watch the Cats return to a New Years Day bowl for the first time since the 1997 Citrus Bowl (now known as the Capital One Bowl for who knows how much longer given Capital One's financial condition)...

Pitcher Sues His Catcher - What's Baseball Coming To?

Posted on December 25, 2009
You just have to love the Dodgers; they're just a fountain of stories this year.  It will be almost a shame to see the McCourts divorce ever get settled.  Now, the amazingly bizarre stories have spread to the dugout.  Former Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park has sued his former batterymate, claiming that catcher Chad Krueter stiffed him on a $460,000 loan...

Happy Holidays

Posted on December 24, 2009
I'll be traveling with my family between now and New Year's so expect posting to be sporadic if at all.  In the meantime, gorge yourself on eggnog and bowl games and I'll be back with you in full force come the new year.IARTICLEURLBest wishes to all of you for a belated Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas and for all of you my hope that you have a safe, happy, prosperous and above all, healthy new year to you and your family...

NFL Finally Acknowledges Long Term Effect of Concussions

Posted on December 21, 2009
Reality, this is the NFL; NFL, this is Reality, now shake hands and come out with real plans to deal with concussions.  After years of studies that were performed in a manner similar to those conducted by cigarette manufacturers into the safety of long-term tobacco use, the NFL has finally acknowledged that concussions can lead to long-term problems in the brain...

Books for the Holidays

Posted on December 18, 2009
Since Christmas is fast approaching, and you may be running out of ideas for gifts, I thought I would share a list of some of the sports and sports business related books from 2009 that I have enjoyed this year and found worthy of recommending.  There are in no particular order and in the case of The Blind Side, was just reissued in 2009 to tie-in with the movie (which you should go see if you haven?t)...

Tiger Endorsements Update: Accenture Departs

Posted on December 14, 2009
With this Tiger story it doesn't seem to matter when you decide to write a story, pen a post or whatever, it will be out of date almost as soon as it is released.  No sooner had I posted yesterday's post on the impact of Tiger's behavior on his endorsement empire, then Accenture announced it was terminating its relationship with him...

Chinese Investor Finalizing Purchase of Interest in Cleveland Cavs

Posted on December 14, 2009
The NBA should soon have its second major international owner, as Chinese investor Albert Hung has finalized a deal to purchase a fifteen percent in the Cleveland Cavaliers, which would make him the team's second largest owner behind the club's principal owner Dan Gilbert...

Tiger Departs the Scene But Will His Endorsements Follow Him Offstage?

Posted on December 12, 2009
I've refrained from commenting on the ongoing Tiger affairs, since so long as they were nothing but tabloid  fodder, I felt no reason to add anything to a story that I felt, and still feel, is mostly personal and not worthy of the attention it is receiving...

Pacquaio-Mayweather Title Tilt Purportedly Set for March

Posted on December 08, 2009
Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. have purportedly agreed to all of the major terms of a deal to fight each other on March 13, with an announcement coming as soon as Tuesday.  Top Rank is promoting the fight which may turn out to be one of the highest grossing fights on record...

8 Franchise Relocations That Didn't Happen

Posted on December 08, 2009
In the spirit of my earlier post about markets that would be able to support major professional sports franchises, here is a list of eight franchise relocations that fell through.  In several cases, we can all consider ourselves blessed that the proposed relocations collapsed (the Saskatoon Blues?)...

NCAA Discusses Expanded Men's Basketball Tourney with TV

Posted on December 08, 2009
The NCAA currently has an 11 year, $6 billion deal with CBS to broadcast the men's basketball tournament. It has an escape clause that allows it to terminate the agreement after the 2010 Final Four. According to an article in the Sports Business Journal, the NCAA has begun the process of shopping the tournament to broadcast and cable networks to determine the interest level in the event it decides to open up bidding...

Where Should the Major Professional Leagues Expand and Which Markets Are Overextended?

Posted on December 07, 2009
The five major professional leagues, yes sports MLS is a major league - live with it, are currently located in most of the major metropolitan areas of the country with one glaring and obvious exception.  The NFL has been working to remedy that exception for the last twenty years...

Cats Land New Years Day Bowl

Posted on December 07, 2009
Congratulations to Pat Fitzgerald and the Northwestern Wildcats for receiving the school's first ever bid to the Outback Bowl and the Cats first bid to a New Years Day bowl since the 1997 Citrus Bowl.  The Cats will be facing the Auburn Tigers who gave the number one Alabama Crimson Tide a scare in the Iron Bowl, a week ago...

Louisville Looks to Strong

Posted on December 06, 2009
The Louisville search for a new football coach appears to be rapidly narrowing to down to Florida Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong.  Cardinal Athletic Director Tom Jurich spent several hours on Sunday talking with Strong and acknowledged:  "I was very, very impressed by him," Jurich said...

The Yankees Take On A Blogger

Posted on December 04, 2009
Do you enjoy Major League Baseball?  Are you enough of a fan that you want to start a blog and share your enthusiasm with your friends, neighbors and the friends you haven't me yet that are out there in the ether somewhere?  Well, if so, be very, very careful about the name you choose for your blog...

You Have Six Months to Fund Your Offshore Betting Account

Posted on November 28, 2009
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee wants to repeal the restrictions on online gambling and would like to legalize and then tax it since we all know the government could use all the revenue it could get.  So, far, his efforts have not been fruitful but he has not had the weight of his position behind him chairmanship and a Democratic Congress behind him until now...

Could Dickie V Call the Final Four in 2011?

Posted on November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving Week traditionally brings the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day and a raft of college football rivalry games on the weekend, usually starting on Thanksgiving with Texas - Texas A&M, as it does this year.  It also marks the first intense week of college basketball with preseason tournaments across the country and then some, from the Virgin Islands and Cancun to Hawai'i and Alaska...

MLS Expansion: Montreal 19th City? Becks Has Option for 20th Team

Posted on November 23, 2009
In interviews on the sidelines of the MLS Cup over the weekend, MLS Commissioner Don Garber confirmed what many felt was obvious following the last expansion round: Montreal is the likely destination for the 19th MLS city.  Entry into Montreal isn't likely until 2012, but Montreal must first get a stadium built...

NFL Wakes Up; Adopts Saner Policy on Concussions

Posted on November 23, 2009
It almost took an act of Congress.  The NFL has long ignored the implication of concussions suffered by its players. In addition, the current medical system of the league whereby it is the team doctor who certifies to the coach and GM that a player is ready to play is so filled with obvious conflicts of interest that it's a wonder that the NFLPA ever agreed to it...

LPGA 2010 Tour Dates Highlight Difficulties

Posted on November 21, 2009
As we all know, sports has been particularly hard hit by the Great Recession as companies slash marketing budgets,  fans are pressed to come up with cash for the ever increasing ticket prices, and TV ratings for most sports are tanking as narrowcasting takes holds...

Bayern Munich Lands Highly Lucrative Jersey Deal

Posted on November 19, 2009
In the high stakes world of European club soccer, nowhere does the battle takes place for higher stakes than for the name on the front of the jersey.  Leading the pack is Real Madrid, the Nuevo Galacticos ribery.jpgrecently renewed its deal with online gaming site Bwin, extending it for three years...

The 25 Highest Paid Coaches in the World

Posted on November 18, 2009
What do you think it would take to be among the highest paid coaches in the world?  Wouldn't you imagine that you should be at the very pinnacle of your game, having won mutliple championships either for one team. or perhaps, if you're a bit peripatetic, for multiple clubs?  As this list makes clear, the expectation of winning is often sufficient to obtain the elusive lucrative contract, especially at the lower end of this extraordinary list of overpaid managers...

Supreme Court Won't Hear Redskins Case - Name Stays For Now

Posted on November 17, 2009
After a tortuous 20 year legal battle, the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling that activists had waited too long to bring a case asserting that the Redskins name was so offensive that it did not deserve to receive trademark protection...

Federer Nets Big Deal with Credit Suisse

Posted on November 17, 2009
Who says all banks are pulling in their spending.  Tennis great Roger Federer has landed a ten year deal, which should take him right into retirement, with Credit Suisse.  The deal thought to be worth in the neighborhood of $2,000,000 per year, which puts it in line without with Federer's other endorsement deals...

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