Media & Entertainment Law

No Country For Old Football Coaches?

Posted on December 22, 2010
Are older college football coaches being fired, or not hired, in part because of age? This is a topic that Stewart Mandel writes about in an SI.com column. Here is an excerpt:* * *Over the past week, new athletic directors at West Virginia and Maryland forced out incumbent coaches who, by most reasonable standards, had been relatively successful...

I would have gone with "F-E-E-T, Feet, Feet, Feet"

Posted on December 22, 2010
Alan beat me to the punch. What struck me was the potential for some very interesting cheering-speech issues at this game; this is the sort of thing that fans will be unable to resist. How are the Bears and the NFL going to handle the inevitable signs, t-shirts, chants, etc...

Is getting a tattoo a "benefit"?

Posted on December 22, 2010
As if 10% unemployment and the loss of two Congressional seats weren't enough, Ohio-ans now have to deal with the news that some of "the" Ohio State University's star football players, including last year's Rose Bowl MVP Terrelle Pryor, may miss this year's bowl showdown with Arkansas...

T-O-E-S Toes Toes Toes

Posted on December 22, 2010
Let me first confess I am an old Baltimore Colts fan (Diner era) and still hate the Jets for embarrassing us in 1969. But this is just too much to hold in.First we saw Strength Team Coach Sal Alosi and the Gang of Four, standing toe to toe, trying to keep the Punt team?s gunner from returning to the field of play and then tripping him...

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Sports Law Blog honored as Top 50 Business Professor Blog

Posted on December 21, 2010
Bschool.com, a leading online resource for MBA programs, has named Sports Law Blog one of the 50 Best Business Professor Blogs. We appreciate the recognition!

AALS Section on Law and Sports Panel Discussion

Posted on December 21, 2010
For those attending the 2011 Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Conference in San Francisco next month, the Chair of the Section on Law and Sports, Ed Edmonds, has announced this year's panel discussion:American Needle v. NFL and the Single Entity Defense:A New Frontier for Sports and Antitrust LawJanuary 8, 20113:30-5:15 PMSection on Law and SportsYosemite C, Ballroom Level, Hilton San Francisco Union SquareModerator:Edmund P...

Catching up with Links

Posted on December 20, 2010
* Ropes and Gray's Fall/Winter issue of Sports Law Today has an excellent feature article by Andrew Hohenstein on the recent Boston College Law Review symposium that delved into legal issues as the NCAA turns 100 years old. The issue has similarly impressive articles by David Mindell and Joseph Polniak on California's Student-Athletes' Right to Know Act; Daniel Adams and Matthew Bryon on rouge agents; and Christopher Conniff and Ned Sebelius on minimizing the impact of off-field activities...

Sports Lawyers in Action: How Katten Muchin Rosenmann Counsel Assisted White Sox in Internal Kickback Probe

Posted on December 18, 2010
My good friend and former law school classmate, Bryan Stroh, is among several Katten Muchin Rosenmann lawyers profiled by the American Lawyer and Law.com for their legal counsel to an internal investigation by the Chicago White Sox into kickbacks for Latin American agents who directed clients to the White Sox...

More on the Legality of the BCS: The Consumer Welfare Issue

Posted on December 17, 2010
Following up on last week's discussion regarding the legality of the BCS under antitrust law, there is one additional defense that can be asserted by the BCS that warrants some consideration. Specifically, in recent weeks BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock has argued that the BCS does not violate antitrust law because it does not harm consumers...

Institutional Failures: Duke Lacrosse

Posted on December 16, 2010
I am happy to announce publication of Institutional Failures: Duke Lacrosse, Universities, the News Media, and the Legal System, a collection of essays on the Duke controversy just published by Ashgate (and available on Amazon and in supermarket check-out aisles)...

Will the NBA Players' Association Decertify?

Posted on December 16, 2010
Maggie Gray of Sports Illustrated Video interviews Ian Thomsen and me about the possibility of the NBPA decertifying.

New Book Publication: Reversing Field: Examining Commercialization, Labor, Gender, and Race in 21st Century Sports Law

Posted on December 16, 2010
Congratulations to West Virginia University College of Law Professors andré douglas pond cummings and Anne Marie Lofaso on publication of their new book Reversing Field: Examining Commercialization, Labor, Gender, and Race in 21st Century Sports Law.Here's a description:Reversing Field invites students, professionals, and enthusiasts of sport ? whether law, management and marketing, or the game itself ? to explore the legal issues and regulations surrounding collegiate and professional athletics in the United States...

Sports Ethics

Posted on December 14, 2010
In the flotsam and jetsam of the world of sports, and sports law, ethical issues arise more and more frequently. Any particular sport is by definition governed by the rule of law or, more precisely, the rules of the game. But we know as lawyers that ethics -- a moral code of what is right or permitted and what is wrong or forbidden -- and rules or laws are not always the same thing...

Professor Edward Zelinsky on Tax Considerations and Cliff Lee's deal with the Phillies

Posted on December 14, 2010
Professor Edward Zelinsky, a distinguished tax law expert at Cardozo Law School, checks in with some thoughts on Cliff Lee's decision to sign with the Phillies for 5-year, guaranteed $120 million (instead of signing with the Yankees for 6-years, guaranteed $132 million, or the Rangers for 6-years, guaranteed $138 million -- both the Yankees and Rangers offered 7th year vesting options, too):* * *Cliff Lee's decision to go to Philadelphia is interesting from a state and local tax perspective...

Legal Consequences of Jets assistant coach Sal Alosi tripping Miami Dolphins DB Nolan Carroll

Posted on December 13, 2010
If you were watching the Jets-Dolphins game this afternoon with 3:11 left in the 3rd quarter, you witnessed a disturbing incident that speaks terribly of the Jets organization and could lead to fines and possibly even legal action. While on punt coverage, Dolphins rookie corner back Nolan Carroll was intentionally tripped by Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi...

A Different Take on the Legality of the BCS

Posted on December 10, 2010
In the spirit of a little good-natured debate, and because I ultimately come out differently on the merits of the issue, I thought I'd take the time to offer a few counter-arguments to Mike's thoughtful commentary yesterday regarding the legality of the Bowl Championship Series...

Is the BCS Legal? New SI.com column

Posted on December 09, 2010
I have a new SI column on the legality of the Bowl Championship series. Here's an excerpt:* * *The BCS also arguably enhances competition through its use of empirically-influenced rankings. Each team's BCS ranking is a composite of three equally-weighted components -- the USA Today Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive College Football Poll (which comprises 114 voters, including former coaches, players, and journalists) and an average of six computer-based rankings that incorporate largely objective measurements, such as won-loss record and strength of schedule...

MMAdness - Issues Surrounding the Legalization of Mixed Martial Arts in NY

Posted on December 09, 2010
Wednesday, January 26, 2011Location: New York County Lawyers Association Building, 14 Vesey Street, New York, New YorkTime: 6:00pmConfirmed Speakers: Kurt Emhoff, Esq., attorney, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman and licensed boxing manager, and Paul Haberman, Esq...

NBPA Calls for End to Age Requirement

Posted on December 08, 2010
This afternoon ESPN.com reported that the National Basketball Players Association has called for an end to the league's age requirement. This is an interesting development on a few fronts:First, as we know from the case Clarett v. Nat'l Football League, some courts have found that sports leagues' age requirements are immune to antitrust challenge as long as they are collectively bargained with the union...

Bowl Battle for Sports Law Blog

Posted on December 05, 2010
The Golden Panthers of FIU, Sun Belt Conference champions, will play the University of Toledo Rockets in the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit on December 26. As you know, I teach at FIU; my co-editor, Geoff Rapp, teaches at Toledo.Is another food wager in the offing? May I propose stone crabs and key lime pie as the food of South Florida.

Gender Eligibility Rules in Golf

Posted on December 02, 2010
Earlier this week, LPGA members voted to remove the "female at birth" eligibility rule from its bylaws. The rule change comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit filed in October 2010 by Lana Lawless. Doug Robson provides a comprehensive overview of the Lawless case and other gender-related issues in his latest USA Today article...

Cam Update

Posted on December 01, 2010
Well, the verdict is in and the NCAA agreed with my earlier post that it should not punish the son because the father may have broken some rather serious rules. Not everyone is pleased. Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN writes in an article titled ?NCAA spins fairytale fodder? that this has opened up ?loophole chaos? and that ?The NCAA, for all its countless, mind-boggling rules, is apparently useless when it comes to a father trying to sell his son...

Should Bud Selig be Fired? *(by Marquette Law School)*

Posted on November 29, 2010
At the Adjunct Professor Blog, Mitchell Rubenstein (St. John's) rebukes the Marquette School of Law for retaining MLB Commissioner Selig as an Adjunct Professor. The Marquette press release is here. Prof. Rubenstein writes:I think this is a total disgrace to law professors and am disappointed in Marquette Law School...

More on Cameron Newton

Posted on November 27, 2010
Isaac Newton?s Law of Gravitation holds that every massive particle of the universe attracts every other massive particle. To state it another way, or according to Cam Newton (no relation), ?When God be blessin?, the devil be messin?.?For perhaps the most gifted quarterback to come out of the NFL farm system in a decade, both of these principles mean that success breeds a flurry of rumor mongerers, two-bit accusers looking for their five minutes of fame, and former coaches with axes to grind all intent on bringing down the latest star in the mythically pristine world of college athletics...

Sins Of The Father

Posted on November 26, 2010
The sports-law world may be about to undergo a debate of biblical proportions.Auburn, the number two team in the land and, Cameron Newton, its Heisman leading quarterback are, as most of you know, the subjects of investigations both within and outside the NCAA...

Cheering speech, again

Posted on November 24, 2010
The Cavs, the NBA, and the Cleveland Police Department are taking steps in preparation for LeBron James' return to Cleveland on December 2. These include trying to limit the anti-LeBron messages fans chant, wear, and display:The team has done research on the various crude and offensive James T-shirts in circulation locally, and officials will be stationed at entrances to make sure no fans enter with such shirts or signs that disrespect James or his family members...

Sportsmanship, ethics, and cheating

Posted on November 21, 2010
I generally do not care for the work of Selena Roberts (formerly of The Times, now of Sports Illustrated). She was one of the worst of the Mike Nifong apologists during the Duke lacrosse case and she pushed the "maybe-they-didn't-commit-rape-but-it-doesn't-matter-because-they-hired-a-stripper-so-they-deserved-what-happened-to-them" line even after...

"Law and Economics" - Sports Edition

Posted on November 19, 2010
The Southern Economic Association ("SEA") annual conference starts tomorrow in Atlanta. Of the 100+ sessions being held during the three day event, four sessions are devoted to sports. In the course of preparing for my own presentation, I perused the other sports-related papers and was struck by the relatively large number with legal overtones...

My new Boston College Law Review Article on the BCS and Postseason College Football

Posted on November 18, 2010
I just posted on SSRN a free copy of my forthcoming article in the Boston College Law Review titled, "Antitrust, Governance, and Postseason College Football." Here is the abstract:This Article examines the compatibility of the Bowl Championship Series (?BCS?) with federal antitrust law and the appropriateness of the federal government using its formal and informal powers to encourage a new format for postseason college football...

A New Perspective on the NBA Age Rule

Posted on November 17, 2010
In the course of updating my research file and wrapping up a statistical sequel to my 2008 paper about the NBA age rule, I came across a new law review article in the St. John's Law Review by Susan McAleavey. In the article, McAleavey introduces an "alternative" to the NBA current rule - a spendthrift trust system...

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