Media & Entertainment Law

Coyotes Auction Tomorrow, Maybe...

Posted on September 11, 2009
The US Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of the Phoenix Coyotes today held the first of what was expected to be two days of hearing in the auction of the club. Right now, there are only two bidders for the Coyotes: Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie who has made his offer contingent on moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario, and the NHL, which has said it will play in Phoenix next season while it searches for a new owner...

Insurance Companies and Lawyers Cashing In on Fantasy Teams

Posted on September 11, 2009
I suppose this was inevitable. Wherever there was this much money, you know that the lawyers and insurance companies couldn't stay away forever. You can now insure your fantasy against catastrophic loss, you know like Tom Brady, your number one draft choice, going down for the season in the first quarter of the first game, or submit your league dispute to arbitration by "real lawyers", as opposed to the ones played on TV...

Nets Get Practice Jersey Sponsor

Posted on September 09, 2009
In the NBA's closest move yet towards adding sponsors name to jerseys, the New Jersey (Brooklyn?) Nets have signed an agreement with PNY Technologies to add the company's name to the Nets' practice jersey. The company was already a Nets sponsor, with in-arena signage, and that signage will continue...

Women's Tennis Shows Strength Through Recession

Posted on September 08, 2009
The WTA has been able to withstand the Great Recession in excellent shape, according to CEO Stacey Allaster. The tour lost only one title sponsor in 2009, and is adding three new tournaments for 2010. Contrast that to the LPGA, which had to cancel seven tournaments this year because of a lack of sponsors...

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10 Ways to Invest in New Beatlemania

Posted on September 07, 2009
Happy Labor Day! Hope you're having bright sunshine and few clouds as we enjoy the end of summer. It's thunderstorms here in the Bluegrass so I'm not tempted to go outside. You're the lucky beneficiaries of the storm since I'm cooped up in the house, you get a few pearls of wisdom, or just a few interesting items I've come across over the weekend...

Lingerie Football League Debuts

Posted on September 05, 2009
Last night marked the historic debut of the Lingerie Football League as the Miami Caliente came toChicago to take on the Chicago Bliss at the Sears Center Arena. The Bliss won 29-19. For a good write-up of the game, go here.There are currently 10 teams in the LFL...

A's to San Jose Brings $130 Million a Year to South Bay

Posted on September 04, 2009
A's owner Lew Wolf is a man in search of a home. Oakland draws the second fewest fans in the majors behind only the Florida Marlins and Wolf is convinced that baseball is no longer economically viable in Oakland. He tried to build a stadium in Fremont, but that fell through earlier this year...

FIFA Gives Chelsea One Year Ban on Signing Players

Posted on September 04, 2009
Roman Abramovich's millions have transformed Chelsea into one of the major powers of European soccer. The only trophy that has eluded Chelsea in recent years has been the Champions League and they have continued to spend his millions in an effort to take that one home to Stamford Bridge as well...

Cowboys Top Most Valuable List Again

Posted on September 03, 2009
Once again, Forbes has released its list of the value of NFL franchises and once again the list is topped by the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones' golden touch has seen the franchise increase by 2% to a whopping $1.65 Billion, yes with a "B", a value exceeded in the world only by Manchester United...

NY Giants Chase Bankruptcy Claim Against Lehman

Posted on September 02, 2009
The Giants and Jets are privately funding the construction of the $1.6 billion New Giants Stadium (catchy name don't you think) now scheduled for opening in time for the kickoff of the 2010 season. To raise its $800 million portion, the Giants turned to the auction rate securities market, selling $650 million securities in August 2007...

P&G Signs On as US Olympic Sponsor

Posted on September 02, 2009
Reversing a recession induced trend, the US Olympic Committee has landed a major new sponsor.  Proctor & Gamble has signed on as a new sponsor and we will now see the USOC logo and the Olympic rings on 17 different P&G brands but especially on brands that appeal to women...

Do You Want to Sponsor a Golf Tour?

Posted on September 02, 2009
The LPGA is looking for a title or presenting sponsor for the entire 2010 tour, including a year-end championship tournament, which would include media inventory in the tour's new exclusive television deal with Golf Channel which begins next year.  The year-end championship would be moved to the beginning of the following season and include 32 golfers who earned their entry into the tournament through points earned by finishes throughout the prior season...

Delaware Limited to NFL Parley

Posted on September 02, 2009
The federal appeals court that had earlier handed the NFL a victory in its battle with Delaware over gambling, clarified what would be permissible.  The appeals court found that the grandfather clause in the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was meant to be strictly construed...

8 USL Clubs Threaten Breakaway League

Posted on September 02, 2009
Soccer in this country has had many obstacles to success. For one , the management of professional leagues before Major League Soccer has consistently chosen the wrong path and as a result, the leagues have imploded. So far, at least, MLS seems to have hit upon a financial structure that appears to be working and acceptance by the public and media seems to be growing, albeit far too slowly for my taste...

Panthers Owner Fires His Sons

Posted on September 02, 2009
What a way to start a football season. Normally the days leading up to the final exhibition game are filled with stories about the team's final roster: who's going to make it, who may be cut, free agent signings, possible trades, even, as rare as those are in the NFL...

Is Formula One Racing a Sport?

Posted on August 28, 2009
One can argue about auto racing being a sport I suppose, although it seems fairly well settled, at least among the western industrialized world. In India, however, it has proved to be a different matter altogether. It seems that Formula One racing, the world's most popular form of auto racing, is not considered to be a sport, at least by the Indian government...

NHL Bids for Coyotes

Posted on August 28, 2009
The long and winding story of the Phoenix Coyotes just got more interesting. While the group led by White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf dropped its bid for the 'Yotes, saying it couldn't reach a satisfactory agreement with the City of Glendale over a lease of Jobing,com Arena, the NHL jumped in before the bankruptcy court imposed deadline to offer a bid of its own...

Mazel Tov to the Greens; Onward and Upward in the Champions League

Posted on August 25, 2009
Maccabi Haifa took care of business today, defeating Red Bull Salzburg, the sister club to Red Bull New York, 3-0 at the National Stadium in Ramat Gan, Israel to advance to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for only the second time in the club's history...

Court Kills Delaware Single Game Bets

Posted on August 24, 2009
A federal appeals court ruling today most likely ended Delaware's foray into single game betting on college and professional sports.  The appeals court, hearing an appeal filed by the NFL, found that the single game betting proposed  by Delaware violated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992...

NCAA Vacates Memphis' Final Four Run

Posted on August 21, 2009
Stop me if you've heard this one already.  It's getting to be old hat for Memphis and John Calipari; another trip to the Final Four, another investigation by the NCAA and another visit to the Final Four wiped off the record books.  Oh, the other thing that yesterday's announcement had in common with the last time Calipari took a team to the Final Four only to see its record wiped out, nothing was pinned out Coach Cal...

Former Curlin Owners Sentenced in Fraud Case

Posted on August 20, 2009
Also while I was gone, a US District Judge in Kentucky pronounced sentences for the two Kentucky lawyers who formerly owned Curlin and who were convicted of defrauding their clients out of millions of dollars in the fen-phen case.  Judge Danny Reeves sentenced William Gallion to 25 years in prison and Shirley Cunningham Jr...

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Posted on August 20, 2009
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What Did I Miss (Besides Tiger's Collapse)?

Posted on August 20, 2009
I'm back from travels into the land of the Wahoos, helping my daughter settle into her new apartment.  Seems like it was a weekend that was memorable in the sports world only for the epic collapse Tiger experienced on Sunday.  I guess we can expect to see a new putter in his bag the next time he steps onto a course...

Road Trippin'

Posted on August 13, 2009
POsting will probably be light to nonexistent over the weekend and on into next week as I'll be traveling with limited time and access, so you'll just have to carry on without me. Fortunately you have Tiger trying for a PGA win, Mike Vick searching for a contract and Rick Pitino saying who knows how many Hail Marys to keep occupied til I get back...

Jeremy Tyler Heads to Isreal

Posted on August 11, 2009
Jeremy Tyler, the high school phenom basketball player who is skipping not only his first year in college but also his last year in high school, will likely begin his professional basketball career in Israel. The New York Times is reporting that Tyler is very close to an agreement with Maccabi Haifa, runners up in the Israeli top division last season to perpetual power Maccabi Tel Aviv...

Televiso, Azteca and Univision Need El Tri Win on Wednesday

Posted on August 11, 2009
When the US and Mexico kick of in Estadio Azteca on Wednesday afternoon, there will be more riding on the game than a berth in World Cup 2010. That's not to say that World Cup qualifying isn't the most important thing at stake in the game, because there is no doubt about that - particularly for the home squad...

Pitino Admits to Sex with Extortionist

Posted on August 11, 2009
In an admission that I'm sure came as no surprise to anyone, Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitio had admitted to police investigators that he had consensual sex with Linda Sypher, the woman now indicted for extorting money from him. In addition, Pitino told police that he paid her $3,000 to have an abortion...

NCAA Bans Championships From States with Gambling

Posted on August 09, 2009
The NCAA was the first professional sports organization to react to the US District Court Judge's refusal to issue an injunction barring the implementation of single game wagering in Delaware. One day after the judge in Delaware issued his decision, the presidents of all three divisions of the NCAA voted to ban all rounds of championship events from being held in any state that permits gambling on individual games...

Texas A&M Nets Punter From Trademark Fight with Seahawks

Posted on August 09, 2009
Remember the battle between Texas A&M and the Seattle Seahawks three years ago over the trademark to the "12th Man"?.  Well, that fight, which got huge press throughout the Pacific Northwest and resulted in the Seahawks paying a license fee to A&M which had trademarked the term years earlier, paid other dividends for the Aggies...

The End of the Moneyball Era

Posted on August 09, 2009
If you look at the standings in Major League Baseball's divisional and wildcard races across all divisional lines and in both leagues, one item pops right out at you - there are almost no small teams.  The only small payroll teams still in serious contention are the Rockies and the Giants in the NL wildcard, and neither of those is truly a small market club...

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