Media & Entertainment Law

Take Justice Sotomayor Out

Posted on September 23, 2009
Justice Sotomayor will throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium this Saturday, prior to the Red Sox-Yankees game. This fits in with a bunch of themes of the moment: She grew up in the Bronx (presumably as a Yankee fan, although I don't know), she famously "saved baseball" with her decision while on the Southern District of New York, and, as the first Hispanic Justice, is being honored as part of Hispanic Heritage Month...

More on American Needle

Posted on September 22, 2009
For those of you who just can't get enough of the NFL and antitrust law, I have posted on SSRN a draft of my forthcoming piece in the Wisconsin Law Review, titled, The Puzzling Persistence of the Single Entity Argument for Sports Leagues: American Needle and the Supreme Court's Opportunity to Reject a Flawed Defense...

Petitioner's Brief in American Needle Now Available

Posted on September 21, 2009
As Marc noted last week, American Needle's opening brief to the United States Supreme Court in American Needle v. NFL was filed on Friday. The brief is now available to be downloaded from the ABA's website. Based on the Supreme Court's docket, it does not appear that any amicus briefs were filed on Friday.

The Tax Consequences of the Chicago Cubs Sale

Posted on September 19, 2009
The Tax Prof Blog posts insight from GWU Law Professor Sarah Lawsky on the tax ramifications of the sale of the Chicago Cubs.

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More Cowbell . . . .

Posted on September 18, 2009
A few summer observations and other commentary:First, over the summer, I was fortunate to visit for several weeks in Los Angeles and San Diego where I spent my formidable years growing up. I was struck repeatedly by something I had never noticed before...

NBA Locks Out Referees

Posted on September 18, 2009
Following up on a post from last week, the NBA formally declared today that it would lock out its referees, after renewed talks collapsed on Thursday. According to the New York Times, there are three major sticking points preventing the parties from reaching an agreement...

Opening Brief in American Needle v. NFL Set for Friday

Posted on September 16, 2009
For those who have been following the Supreme Court case American Needle v. NFL, this Friday clothing manufacturer American Needle Inc. will file its opening brief, arguing that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong to define the NFL as a single-entity under Section 1 of the Sherman Act...

News That Myles Brand Has Passed Away

Posted on September 16, 2009
I just received received an email alert from the Sports Business Daily that NCAA President Myles Brand died from pancreatic cancer. Sports Business Daily reported that Brand was 73, but later reports listed Brand as 67 when he died.

Native Americans File for Cert in Their Challenge to the Washington Redskins Trademark

Posted on September 15, 2009
ESPN.com is reporting that the group of Native Americans which challenged the Washington Redskins trademark have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari at the United States Supreme Court, seeking a review of the D.C. Circuit's opinion in May rejecting the challenge on laches grounds...

Coaches teaching civ pro

Posted on September 15, 2009
I still am trying to get more legally oriented reports and documents, but it appears that the breach-of-contract dispute between the University of Kentucky and former men's basketball coach Billy Gillespie is going to turn into another object lesson in civ pro...

One of these days . . .

Posted on September 13, 2009
one of these lawsuits will finally work and hopefully stadiums and owners, especially over-officious guys like this one, will just stop doing stupid things like this.Three New Jersey high-school students have filed suit in federal court, alleging that they were berated by a team President/Owner and ejected from Newark's Riverfront Stadium for failing to stand during "God Bless America" at a Newark Bears game...

My American Needle v. NFL Piece in the Yale Law Journal

Posted on September 11, 2009
I'm going to blog more fully on this next week, but I have just posted on SSRN a draft of my forthcoming piece in the Yale Law Journal titled, "American Needle v. NFL: An Opportunity to Reshape Sports Law." I hope you have a chance to check it out. Have a great weekend.

NBA and Referees' Union Break Off Negotiations

Posted on September 10, 2009
The New York Times reported yesterday that negotiations between the NBA and its Referees' Union have broken off, with the league apparently preparing for a lockout to begin later this month. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement with the union expired on September 1st...

New Sports Law Scholarship

Posted on September 08, 2009
Recently published scholarship includes:Patrick S. Baldwin, Note, Keeping them down on the farm: the possibility of a class action by former minor league baseball players against Major League Baseball for allowing steroid abuse, 43 GEORGIA LAW REVIEW 1195 (2009) Chris Deubert & Glenn M...

Catching Up with Links

Posted on September 07, 2009
* I was interviewed on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to discuss Commonwealth of Kentucky v. David Jason Stinson (the trial of the coach who faces criminal charges for reckless homicide for the death of a former player, Max Gilpin, on the practice field)* Daniel Fitzgerald of Connecticut Sports Law has a really good post on the legislative contributions made by the late Senator Edward M...

More on NHLPA

Posted on September 03, 2009
The news that a union leader is fired by his members a mere two years after assuming his position is unusual. When the firing occurs before he even begins to negotiate the first collective bargaining agreement and is notified at 3:30 AM after a two-hour nighttime meeting , this event becomes shocking or farcical, depending on one's point of view...

The NHLPA Fires Its Executive Director

Posted on September 01, 2009
The National Hockey League Players' Association fired its executive director, Paul Kelly, on Monday. Kelly had served in the position for 22 months. Prior to joining the union, Kelly was a founding member and trial lawyer at the Boston law firm Kelly, Libby and Hoopes...

Jason Chung on Situation of Teenage Basketball Players Who Turn Pro

Posted on September 01, 2009
Over on The Situationist, Jason Chung has a thoughtful and provocative article on why the typical life circumstances of U.S. players who would like to seek the NBA right out of high school, and who are capable of being drafted right out of high school, are often missed by advocates of the NBA's age limit...

Submissions for Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

Posted on September 01, 2009
Earlier this month, I blogged on the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, which is a brand new law journal published by Harvard Law School. The Journal's Editor-in-Chief, Aswhin Krishnan, has let me know that the Journal's website is up. He and Josh Podoll (Submissions Editor), also have some additional info on submissions:* * *On behalf of the editorial board, it is my distinct pleasure to announce the formation of the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law (JSEL)...

U.S. v. Comprehensive Drug Testing and The List of 97

Posted on August 31, 2009
Last week, I had a column on SI.com on United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, where the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the federal government's seizure of computer files which implicated 104 major league players as steroids users violated those players' Forth Amendment rights (Howard discussed this case as well)...

No Deterrence? NCAA Rules and the Men's Basketball and Football Players who Don't Follow them

Posted on August 30, 2009
San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan has a piece on star NCAA athletes who accept gifts from would-be agents (e.g., Reggie Bush; O.J. Mayo) or who otherwise break other NCAA rules (e.g., Derrick Rose/SAT exam) and how, practically, little can be done to stop that from happening...

Commonwealth of Kentucky v. David Jason Stinson: Should Coaches be held Criminally Liable for Athletes' Deaths?

Posted on August 28, 2009
I have a column on SI.com concerning the first case in which a high school coach has been criminally charged with a player's death. The trial will begin on Monday. Here's an excerpt of the column:* * *Former Pleasure Ridge High School (Louisville, Ky...

Ninth Citcuit strikes down seizure of BALCO names

Posted on August 26, 2009
The en banc Ninth Circuit today held that government investigators violated the Fourth Amendment when, during a raid on BALCO, they seized the names of 104 MLB players who tested positive for steroids, while acting on a warrant targeted at only ten players...

Dryer v. NFL: Retired NFL Players Sue for Use of Identities

Posted on August 25, 2009
As detailed by Nooman Merchant of the Associated Press, a group of retired NFL players are suing the NFL under the Lanham Act over the NFL's use (and particularly NFL Film's use) of their identities. Merchant interviewed me for the story. Here is an excerpt and my comments:* * *NFL Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea [#65 above, a defensive lineman who played for the Houston Oilers and recorded a lot of sacks while doing so] and five other players sued the league for using their names and images for profit without their permission...

More Commercialization of the Student-Athlete

Posted on August 25, 2009
Sports Business Daily, citing timteblog.com, reports that the Fort Myers Miracle minor-league baseball team is holding a "What Would Tim Tebow Do?" promotion on Wednesday night during its game against the St. Lucie Mets (See Tebow: The Minor-League Baseball Gimmick)...

Instant Replay and Appellate Review

Posted on August 25, 2009
Chad Oldfather (Marquette) and Matthew Fernholz (J.D. Candidate at Marquette) have posted Comparative Procedure on a Sunday Afternoon: Instant Replay in the NFL as a Process of Appellate Review to SSRN. The paper considers analogies and distinctions between replay review (for which I have expressed my distaste) and judicial appeals...

3rd Circuit Rejects Delaware Sports Lottery Proposal

Posted on August 24, 2009
Gabe has previously discussed the lawsuit filed by the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA seeking to prevent Delaware from effectively implementing legalized sports gambling as part of the state's lottery program. Earlier this month, the federal district court denied the leagues' and the NCAA's request for a preliminary injunction which would have prevented Delaware from offering single-game betting beginning next month...

Alan Dershowitz: MLB Needs Much Tougher Penalties on Beanballs

Posted on August 21, 2009
Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz (of many sources of fame, including being a member of O.J. Simpson's successful legal team in People of California v. Simpson and successfully representing Claus von Bulow in his murder trial), has an interesting op-ed in the Boston Globe on what he considers to be inadequate penalties for big league pitchers who throw at and hit batters, as well as the managers of those pitchers...

Freedom of Information Act & UConn's Self Reported Violations

Posted on August 20, 2009
Dave Altimari of the Hartford Courant recently made a Freedom of Information Request to discover UConn's self-reported violations for its big three sports teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, and football. Interestingly, despite the various scandals of the school -- most notably the scandal involving recruit basketball recruit Nate Miles and UConn student-manager-turned agent Josh Nochimson -- UConn only reported 17 minor infractions involving those teams over the last five years...

Burress Pleads Guilty

Posted on August 20, 2009
For those following the Plaxico Burress saga, Burress pleaded guilty this morning to one count of criminal possession of a weapon. Under his plea agreement, Burress will receive a two-year prison sentence, along with two years of post-release supervision...

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