Media & Entertainment Law

Olympic Sponsors Face Darfur, Tibet Protests

Posted on March 18, 2008
The current funding model for the Olympics requires a substantial investment from the corporate sector in the form of sponsorships, often to the tune of $100 million and up for the foundation sponsors like Coke, McDonalds and Lenovo, and that is true even if the Games are held in a Communist nation like China...

What Are the Cubs Worth?

Posted on March 18, 2008
As we all know, the Tribune Company has put the Cubs up for sale. New owner Sam Zell has said that he would like to sell the Cubs and Wrigley Field in separate transactions as he believes that would maximize the return to the company. You can quibble with his logic, but he is a buyout king and a billionaire, and I'm not, so I'll defer to him on this one...

Jewish Jordan Back Home in Baltimore

Posted on March 14, 2008
After an extended tour in Israel that last saw him playing in the Israeli second level national league, Tamir Goodman, fated to be forever haunted as the "Jewish Jordan", is back home in Baltimore. He was recently signed to play with the Maryland Nighthawks of the new Premier Basketball League, a recently formed minor league which plans to take on the wild and wacky ABA...

Wrigley Not Likely to Pay Naming Rights for Wrigley Field

Posted on March 12, 2008
The new owner of the Chicago Tribune has opened a hornets nest with his suggestion, made a couple of weeks ago, that he may sell naming rights to the cozy confines of the Chicago Cubs currently known as Wrigley Field. Now, most of you probably know that the Wrigley Company once owned the Cubs but the ballpark was actually named in the 1920s, for its then owner William Wrigley...

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Does NCAA Online Viewing Account for CBS Rating Decline?

Posted on March 12, 2008
We all know that March Madness has become a national sporting icon, second only to the Super Bowl in the pantheon of the American sporting universe. The average 30 second spot in the championship game now sells for about $1.4 million, which is not quite Super Bowl money but it's certainly getting close...

Should the NHL Fear Russia?

Posted on March 02, 2008
There was an interesting article in the New York Times yesterday about the return of numerous Russian and European hockey players to Russia to play and the concerted efforts being put in by Russian officials to upgrade the Russian Superliga in an attempt to provide a meaningful alternative to the NHL...

How the SEC Got Rich

Posted on March 01, 2008
The Birmingham News has done an enormous favor for all college football fans who are interested in just how college football arrived in the sorry state in which it finds itself. In a series of articles on the history of the SEC in commemoration of the conference's 75th anniversary, the paper attempts to explain how the SEC and its counterparts among the Big Six conferences have become the financial powerhouses we know today...

Developer Buys 1/2 of Dolphins

Posted on February 22, 2008
Wayne Huizenga decided it was a good time to start cashing out Now, coming off a 1-15 season, one can argue with his timing, but after getting an offer valuing the Dolphins at $1.1 Billion, which would have placed the team fourth on the Forbes list of NFL teams by highest value, a significant upgrade from the $942 million value which Forbes placed on the team, how could he not jump at a deal?Even so, he has made a good deal, leaving him in charge of the team for the foreseeable future, which allows him to both cash out and stay in charge - no mean feat...

Finally! IRL and Champ Announce Open Wheel Racing Merger

Posted on February 22, 2008
After 13 years of disastrous competition and weeks, no years, of on again, off again merger talks, officials of Indy Racing League and Champ Car announced the signing of an agreement in principle to unify open wheel racing. Champ Car will fold and Indy Racing will go forward, adding three Champ Car fixtures to the IRL calendar: likely to be Long Beach, CA, Surfer's Paradise in Australia and Edmonton, Alberta...

Philly Gets MLS' 16th Team

Posted on February 22, 2008
According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a deal has been struck to award a MLS expansion franchise to Philadelphia. The team will play in an 18,500 seat, $115 million, soccer only stadium to be constructed in Chester, Pennsylvania. The state will provide $47 million in funding towards construction of the stadium...

Goodell Gets Religion: Churches Get to Show SuperBowls

Posted on February 21, 2008
The NFL has finally seen the light and relented from the absolutely absurd policy that prevented churches from holding viewing parties for the Super Bowl. In a letter to Senator Orrin Hatch, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, responding to a letter from Hatch, finally relented from his campaign to force every American who wished to watch the game on a set larger than that available in his house to pay the league for the privilege...

Duke Lacrosse Players Sue the University

Posted on February 21, 2008
And now another shoe drops, as the 38 members of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team who were not charged in the now infamous case brought by the Durham District Attorney have filed suit against Duke in US District Court charging the university with inflicting emotional distress and other injuries in their treatment of the students during the case...

New York City to Shutter Off Track Betting

Posted on February 20, 2008
Thoroughbred racing in New York is in turmoil and the is only getting more chaotic by the day. Last week, the state legislature and Governor Elliott Spitzer announced a plan to extend the New York Racing Association's exclusive franchise to operate Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga racetracks for an additional 25 years, together with a $105 million subsidy from the state and forgiving $125 million in debt owed by NYRA to the state...

Carnival of the Capitalists

Posted on February 13, 2008
This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is at Bizophere. I'm a little late in posting that it's up but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still get over there and check it out.

Premier League Abroad - Not So Fast

Posted on February 12, 2008
The English Premier League has proposed playing one match a year outside England in locations to be determined. This proposal was unanimously approved by the EPL owners and was developed following the success that the NFL had with its game in Wembley last fall...

Swoosh! Inside Nike

Posted on February 09, 2008
Is it because they got their clock cleaned at the World Cup last year by archrival Adidas? Is it because the world's best marketing opportunity dawns in a few short month's in China, that is, is it because it's an Olympic year? Or is it just because it's All Star Weekend next weekend? Whatever the reason, Nike has embarked on an unprecedented public relations campaign for the notoriously secretive company that has resulted in a cover story in Forbes and an upcoming prime time documentary special on CNBC by my friend Darren Rovell...

Russia Tops Israel; Makes Fed Cup Semis

Posted on February 03, 2008
Behind Maria Sharapova, Russia blasted by Israel in the reverse singles to take their quarterfinal Fed Cup match staged in Israel today. Sharapova had little trouble with Israel's number one player, Shahar Pe'er, winning 6-1, 6-1. Pe'er could not muster any comeback against the Aussie Open champion similar to the one she staged yesterday...

Israel, Russia 1-1 in Fed Cup Play

Posted on February 02, 2008
Israel and Russia split opening day singles matches in Fed Cup quarterfinal play today at the Ramat Hasharon Tennis Center. Maria Sharapova, playing in her first ever Fed Cup match, overwhelmed Tzipi Obziler 6-0, 6-4, while Shahar Pe'er rallied to defeat Dinara Safina 0-6, 6-2, 6-2...

The NFL Says No to Religion

Posted on February 01, 2008
The NFL may have become the nation's secular religion with its meetings every Sunday and its total dominance of the nation's weekend air waves, but when it comes to the real thing, the league is quick to say no. You would think that with the $5 billion television contracts the NFL has in place, that church gatherings to view Sunday's Big Game (not a NFL trademark) would be too small for the NFL to worry about...

NCAA Settles with Student Athletes

Posted on January 31, 2008
The NCAA has agreed to settle a class action antitrust case filed by former student athletes in California alleging that the failure of the NCAA to approve scholarships that fully fund student athletes expenses constituted antitrust violations. In agreeing to settle the case, the NCAA has agreed to create a $218 million fund to cover insurance and to which student athletes could apply to receive help to cover additional expenses...

Coyotes to Sponsor PGA Golfer Finney

Posted on January 30, 2008
The Phoenix Coyotes are looking to the links for marketing and taking their brand across North America. It what is likely a first for any team in North America, the Coyotes have agreed to a one year sponsorship deal with PGA Tour golfer Jeff Quinney, starting with this week's FBR Open in, drumroll, the Coyotes nearly hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona...

An Historic Weekend in Israeli Sports

Posted on January 27, 2008
It was a week in Israeli sports that began like many others. Maccabi Tel Aviv won a EuroLeague game at Nokia Arena and looks to be on its way to a top seed in the round of 16. Half a world away, the pride of Israeli tennis, ShaharPe'er had crashed out of the Australian Open singles competition...

Liverpool Crisis Resolved as Debt Refinanced

Posted on January 25, 2008
Liverpool's North American owners closed Friday on a much anticipated 35o million pound loan from Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia Bank putting to rest for the time being any ideas that the club will be sold to Dubai Investment Corporation, the investing of Sheik Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai...

Business of Winning

Posted on January 25, 2008
Hot on the heels of my recently released Greatest Franchises in Pro Sports, CNBC comes along to confirm my somewhat controversial (at least according to the comments at Armchair GM) choice of the top franchise, the New England Patriots. Sunday night at 10:00 PM Eastern, the business network will feature Touchdown! The Patriots and The Business of Winning, a one hour look inside the franchise and at owner Robert Kraft and at how the Pats have become one of the most profitable teams in pro football...

Carnival of the Capitalists

Posted on January 22, 2008
This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is hosted by Mike from PartnerUp, the social network for entrepreneurs. Get over there and check it out as he has some great posts up worthy of your time.

Curlin Horse of the Year; Will Continue Racing

Posted on January 22, 2008
The Curlin story gets better and better. Bought as a yearling for $57,000, this time last year he had different owners, a different trainer and had yet to make his first start. Last night he was named Horse of the Year and Three Year Old Male Champion...

NFL Will Play Games in Canada, England in O8

Posted on January 21, 2008
The NFL will almost certainly approve the Buffalo Bills plan to play at least one home game in Toronto next season and will return to London for another regular season on the heels on the successful debut this past season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead a list of four teams likely to play in the game...

The 10 Greatest Pro Sports Franchises in the World Plus One

Posted on January 20, 2008
I was reading an article in the Ottawa Sun the other day that listed the greatest pro sports franchises and thought that this might be a fun exercise. The Sun professed to consider only excellence and money in compiling its list but in truth, it considered history, provincialism and Canada's national game...

Sports Business Carnival

Posted on January 19, 2008
The 8th edition of the Sports Business Carnival is now up at Take a Peck. Get over there and check it out.

The Hornets: Coming to a City Near You in 09

Posted on January 18, 2008
David Stern is a consummate marketer. He may have been trained as a lawyer and got his job because he used to the NBA general counsel, but he has kept it so long and earned the reputation he now has because he is focused above all on the image of the NBA and its players and marketing them to its sponsors and potential sponsors...

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