Media & Entertainment Law

Maple Bats and Antitrust Law

Posted on August 18, 2009
Professor Christopher Robinette of Widener University School of Law and TortsProf Blog passes along a provocative student note written by Steve Matzura, who will be graduating from Widener Law next May. Matzura's note, which is being published by the Widener Law Journal, is titled, "Will Maple Bats Splinter Baseball's Antitrust Exemptions?: The Rule of Reason Steps to the Plate...

Alan Milstein on Clarett v. NFL and Prospect of Similar Challenge to NBA Eligibility Restriction

Posted on August 17, 2009
Alan Milstein, who litigated on behalf of Maurice Clarett in Clarett v. NFL (I was also part of Clarett's legal team), was interviewed over on Hoop Teens about the prospect of a player challenging the NBA's eligibility rule, which requires that U.S. players be at least 19-years-old by December 31 of the year of the draft and that they be one year removed from high school (In contrast, international players, defined as those who maintain a permanent residence outside of the United States for at least three years preceding the draft, need only be 19-years-old by December 31 of the year of the draft...

Alito on the Baseball Antitrust "Exemption"

Posted on August 17, 2009
In 2008, Justice Alito gave a speech to the Supreme Court Historical Society on Major League Baseball's antitrust status, as Howard and Ed Edmonds discussed here and here. Justice Alito's remarks have now been published in the Journal of Supreme Court History, and are available on-line.

What if Rick Pitino Had Been a Woman?

Posted on August 17, 2009
Professor Joseph Kohm, who teaches sports law at Regent University School of Law and is a certified MLB agent (and former member of the Syracuse men's basketball team), checks in with an interesting question:* * *My wife [Professor Lynne Marie Kohn] teaches Family Law and Gender in the Law at Regent University and she asked me a very interesting question today...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Glen "Big Baby" Davis and The $500,000 Diet

Posted on August 17, 2009
Sports contracts include all sorts of bonuses in order to incentivize behavior, but this one caught my attention:The Boston Celtics are bringing back Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who agreed to a two-year deal that could pay $6 million . . . Davis will receive $5 million in base salary and can earn an additional 500,000 per season for meeting certain weight clauses, a source told ESPN...

New Sports Law Scholarship

Posted on August 12, 2009
Recently published scholarship includes:Lindsey M. Baldwin, Note, When a goon?s goal is a green card: NHL players and the alien of extraordinary ability immigrant visa category, 22 GEORGETOWN IMMIGRATION LAW JOURNAL 715 (2008)Erin DeNatale, Comment, FORE: the problem with the LPGA?s proposed language policy, 30 WHITTIER LAW REVIEW 623 (2009)Marc Edelman, The house that taxpayers built: exploring the rise in publicly funded baseball stadiums from 1953 through the present, 16 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 257 (2009)Matthew Epps, Comment, Full court press: how collective bargaining weakened the NBA?s competitive edge in a globalized sport, 16 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 343 (2009)Victor Matheson and Brad R...

Taxi Cab Convictions?

Posted on August 11, 2009
Early Sunday morning, Chicago Blackhawks star winger, Patrick Kane, was arrested (along with his cousin) in Buffalo for allegedly beating a cab driver (Jan Radecki) and taking back the fare that they paid ($15). The charges against the Kane's are for Second Degree Robbery (per the NY Penal Code, punishment must be at least 3...

Using Social Psychology to Evaluate Race and Law in Sports

Posted on August 11, 2009
I have posted on SSRN a draft of a forthcoming chapter I've written for "Reversing Field: Examining Commercialization, Labor, Gender and Race in 21st Century Sports Law" (andré douglas pond cummings and Anne Marie Lofaso eds, forthcoming).Here is the abstract:This chapter will examine the connection between social psychology and the larger topic of race, sports, and the law...

Coming Soon: The Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

Posted on August 10, 2009
Congrats are in order for a group of Harvard Law School students for receiving their law school's approval for an official new online law journal: the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law. The editors of HJSEL are still putting everything together, but a website should soon be up and it is anticipated that HJSEL will publish one issue in its first year, likely next spring...

Comment on Crespin v. Albuquerque Baseball Club and the Sentencing of Minor League Pitcher Julio Castillo

Posted on August 07, 2009
I think that the Crespin court is correct in its assertion in paragraph 13 that ?the question before us concerns the concept of breach of duty.? New Mexico is one of the many states to adopt a form of comparative negligence, yet courts still draw on assumption of risk in baseball foul ball (or in this case a fair ball hit into a picnic area during batting practice) cases...

Topps and Major League Baseball To Announce Exclusive Deal Starting in 2010

Posted on August 06, 2009
Topps and Major League Baseball are ready to announce today an exclusive deal starting next year to make Topps the sole licensed producer of baseball cards according to an article by Richard Sandomir in The New York Times. The deal will return baseball cards to the era of exclusivity enjoyed by Topps for many years before Fleer was successful in opening up the market to other companies...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game, to be Injured, in New Mexico

Posted on August 06, 2009
Via How Appealing, a New Mexico appellate court has rejected the "baseball rule" which shields stadium operators from liability for injuries to spectators. The opinion in Crespin v. Albequerque Isotopes provides an excellent discussion of the legal issues involved, including the implications of the abolition of "Assumption of Risk" suggested by the authors of the Restatement of Torts (Third) for the long-sacred rule that baseball arenas need only screen the most dangerous areas of the park to protect fans from injury...

Justice Sotomayor Confirmed 68 - 31

Posted on August 06, 2009
The Sports Law Blog has followed the nomination, hearings and now confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the past several months. Today, the United States Senate confirmed Justice Sotomayor as the first Hispanic member of the United States Supreme Court and the third woman...

Plaxio Burress Indicted: Will he now turn to D.C. v. Heller?

Posted on August 04, 2009
I have a new column up on SI.com on a Manhattan grand jury indicting Plaxico Burress. Here is an excerpt:* * *Today's indictment is a victory for Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has repeatedly advocated that Burress be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...

Marist University v. Matt Brady: The Legality of Non-Recruit Clauses

Posted on August 04, 2009
Over on Sienna Saints Blog, Ryan Restivo has been closely covering a lawsuit recently brought by Marist University against its former men's basektball coach, Matt Brady. Marist claims that Brady violated a contractual obligation to refrain from recruiting Sienna recruits if he were to leave Marist (which he did -- he's now coaching at James Madison University)...

Corporate Executive Compensation and the NFL

Posted on August 04, 2009
Bank Bonus Tab: $33 BillionNine Lenders That Got U.S. Aid Paid at Least $1 Million Each to 5,000 EmployeesSplashed across the the front page of the Wall Street Journal Friday (7.31.09) was the news that nearly $33 billion in executive and employee performance bonuses were paid out in 2008 by nine Wall Street banks that had accepted government bailout money through the TARP program...

Debating the Potential Effects of American Needle

Posted on July 31, 2009
Following on the heels of Lester Munson?s recent report on the American Needle case for ESPN.com ? which Howard discussed last week ? CBSSports.com National Columnist Mike Freeman has written an article similarly forecasting that a Supreme Court victory for the NFL in American Needle would be a doomsday scenario for sports fans (see Sports Law Blog?s significant previous coverage of the case for more background on the litigation)...

Plaxico Burress: The Jury Nullification Strategy?

Posted on July 30, 2009
I have a new column on SI.com concerning Plaxico Burress' unusual decision to testify before a grand jury. Here's an excerpt:* * * Depending upon the prosecutor's style and tactics, Burress may have testified in a very hostile environment. By testifying, Burress may have also unwittingly revealed his potential trial strategy to prosecutors...

Catching Up on Gillispie v. University of Kentucky Athletic Association

Posted on July 29, 2009
One increasingly interesting, sports-related lawsuit which hasn't garnered much attention here is Gillispie v. University of Kentucky Athletic Association Inc., the suit filed by former University of Kentucky men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie. As most are probably aware, Gillispie was fired by Kentucky on March 27, 2009, after completing two years of a seven-year agreement valued at $1...

Catching Up with Links

Posted on July 29, 2009
* Rick Karcher was interviewed by the New York Times in a recent story on a class action lawsuit filed this past spring by former college football players against Electronic Arts for using their images in video games without permission.* Tim Epstein was recently interviewed on a Chicago station to discuss the Ponzi scheme associated with Mike North?s Chicago Sports Webio, an internet radio site for Chicago sports...

The Fate of Sports Gambling in Delaware Might Rest in the Hands of...Bill Simmons

Posted on July 28, 2009
He might now know it yet, but Bill Simmons (aka, espn.com?s ?Sports Guy?) could play an important role in the outcome of the lawsuit filed by the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA against the Delaware Sports Lottery. The leagues claim that the single-game bets offered by the lottery violate federal and state law...

Rose to be reinstated? Baseball and gambling

Posted on July 27, 2009
Reports are coming out that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is considering reinstating Pete Rose to baseball, this after Henry Aaron spoke in support of Rose at Sunday's Hall of Fame induction. Reinstatement virtually ensures Rose's induction into the Hall, perhaps as early as next year...

Bojko v. Lima: Don't Call Your Kid's Coach a Pedophile

Posted on July 27, 2009
Over on Connecticut Sports Law, Dan Fitzgerald has a really good piece on a Connecticut coach who was awarded $88,000 in damages in a libel lawsuit against a parent who defamed the coach. Dan has the details on Bojko v. Lima, a Connecticut case:* * *In Bojko v...

The Next Opponent for Forrest's Killers: A Felony Murder Charge

Posted on July 27, 2009
Death Penalty Looms as Possibility for Killers of Former Welterweight and Junior Middleweight Champion Under Georgia?s Felony Murder Laws The emotionally fragile boxing community, still nursing its wounds from the recent untimely deaths of retired legends Alexis Arguello and Arturo Gatti, was rocked again on the night of Saturday, July 26, 2009 when 1992 U...

Update on Pete Rose

Posted on July 27, 2009
Late update from my initial post on reports that Bud Selig is considering reinstating Pete Rose. The updated ESPN story suggests that initial reports were overstated and that, while Selig is "seriously considering" the issue, Rose's status is not changed and Selig is not necessarily close to lifting the ban...

Update on MLB's Use of Genetic Testing

Posted on July 24, 2009
A brief update to my post from yesterday discussing MLB?s use of DNA testing on Latin American prospects. Jorge Arangure Jr., a senior writer for ESPN the Magazine, writes about the issue today, and notes that MLB?s Dominican operations are technically run through separate entities incorporated in the Dominican Republic...

Herbstreit v. IRS

Posted on July 24, 2009
Blog Emperor Paul Caron reports on a lawsuit filed against the IRS by ESPN sportscaster Kirk Herbstreit, after the IRS denied Herbstreit's request for a $ 330,000 tax deduction for donating his house to the local fire department to burn down for training and exercise purposes...

Money laundering in European football business

Posted on July 24, 2009
According to the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF"), an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the multi-billion dollar global football sector has become a vehicle for money laundering and other forms of corruption, requiring an international response...

More on O'Bannon v. NCAA

Posted on July 23, 2009
Yesterday I linked to my SI column on O'Bannon v. NCAA.This case is generating a great deal of attention. Here are a variety of commentaries from different perspectives:Pete Thamel, New York Times, O'Bannon v. NCAATim Lemke, Washington Times, O'Bannon Files Suit vs...

MLB Confirms Use of Genetic Testing on Latin American Prospects

Posted on July 23, 2009
I would like to thank Professor McCann and the rest of the team at Sports Law Blog for inviting me to participate here.Yesterday, the New York Times published an interesting article by Michael Schmidt and Alan Schwarz, reporting that Major League Baseball has used genetic testing to verify the identity and age of prospects from the Dominican Republic, including 16-year-old Miguel Sano (pictured)...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.